Beef Tenderloin Tips

[E Mann]

Howdy folks, I've decided to bite the bullet and smoke a beef tenderloin for thanksgiving. They are on sale at Costco right now and I've always wanted to cook one. Can the brilliant minds on this forum help a brother out? A few questions...

1) Do I need to wet age it at all?
2) What rub do you use? Just S&P, a brisket rub?
3) Reverse sear?
4) How long to smoke?
5) Any other tips?

Thanks for all the help!!

 

[timothy]

I've done quite a few and always follow this with great results.http://virtualweberbullet.com/beeftenderloin1.html
It's pretty mild on it's own so I go with a Montreal or Chicago steak rub which I add some worsh and evo to make a paste. I think in the link it mentions to use a mild fruitwood like apple, I prefer to use something more robust like red oak.

Tim

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Were it me, I would not go slow and smoked. I'd go high heat, simple salt and pepper, maybe garlic either spiked in or granulated garlic.
Tenderloin is such a delicate flavor, too much smoke will overpower that. It's not like a brisket which benefits from long low and slow smoking. Tenderloin is just that "Tender" not full of connective tissue which needs to be broken down for chewability, it's a beautiful stack of arguably the finest steak cut of all. A train of fllet mignon all in one piece. Do it simply and elegantly, put a little effort into a Bernaise Sauce or something special. No chipotle barbecue flavor hider, use some drippings and make a nice pan sauce with a little (dry) sherry to deglaze and beurre manie to enrich the end product.
Think before you dive into the smoke pond with that.
Check out Alton Brown's vid from "Good Eats", it will be fabulous no matter what you do so, have some fun!
Reverse sear makes a bit of sense btw.