Pork Tenderloin

[Frank C. in NY]

Cook #2 last night. A small pork tenderloin.

My last smoke I under shot the coals, this one I over shot it. But, I did close all the vents after and saved some coals. I impressed myself with that one.

The meat was pre-marinated in a honey mustard sauce from the grocer. I usually grill this up for the family on the gasser and everyone loves it. I thought I would smoke it instead and see how I fared.

I got the same positives on this cook as I did my last one. Very moist and very tender.

This time though, I used to much cherry wood. The color saturated the pork, and was clearly too smokey. Everyone still gobbled it up, but for smaller cuts of meat I need to learn to use smaller pieces of wood. Also another negative was that I had no bark or crunchy taste to the outside. I think the next time I'll throw it on the bottom grate over the coals like I did with the chicken in my first smoke to crisp it up.

Overall I would do it again, but I definitely learned from some mistakes on this one.



On a side note, the temps were much better and higher now that I put the heat deflector in the proper place. Smoked at about 270, I had all three vents back to about %25 or so. But, much better then I was getting before.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Tenderloin looks great, Frank. Nice job!

 

[John Solak]

Tenderloin looks like it perfectly cooked!!! Sides look great too, nicely done!!!

 

[Frank C. in NY]

Thanks fellas. It was smokey, but they ate it right up! Smaller wood chunks next time, or maybe a different kind.

 

[ChuckO]

Looks great, good cook! I'm down to the first hour of smoke and that's it, too much smoke is too much

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

The tenderloin looks tasty. Imo, you use too many lit and unlit briqs for this piece of meat. You need to get to 145 final IT and at 270 the cook last 1 hour or less. For me you have to start w/ 15 lit briqs, let the T stabilize (1 hour) and then smoke the meat S&L round 200/220. If you like some bark, you can stop smoking round 130 IT and put the meat in the gas oven / electric oven for grilling action and searing effect, otherwise on the WSM it could be super complicated/expensive to sear the meat.

 

[Mike Coffman]

Tenderloin and sides look real tasty Frank.

 

[John Sp]

Frank - that looks pretty good to me. You are right sometimes less is more when it comes to smoke. It usually takes a while to learn that but you are picking it up quickly. Any day you learn something from a mistake and the family still gobbles it up is a good day as far as I am concerned. Some of my early 'mistakes' resulted in ordering pizza...

Regards,

John

 

[Tony]

That looks super tasty Frank! A smaller cut like tenderloin is gonna cook pretty quick, so getting bark on it without killing it may be tough on that cut. I'll defer to some of the more experienced members here on that insight.

My gut feeling is that on larger cuts like pork butts or brisket, you'll see a lot of bark because the outside will be exposed to more heat/smoke well before the middle of these larger cuts finally gets some heat.

All in all.....looks great to me!!!!

 

[Frank C. in NY]

The tenderloin looks tasty. Imo, you use too many lit and unlit briqs for this piece of meat. You need to get to 145 final IT and at 270 the cook last 1 hour or less. For me you have to start w/ 15 lit briqs, let the T stabilize (1 hour) and then smoke the meat S&L round 200/220. If you like some bark, you can stop smoking round 130 IT and put the meat in the gas oven / electric oven for grilling action and searing effect, otherwise on the WSM it could be super complicated/expensive to sear the meat.

I agree. I used the lower section of the chimney this time and figured I was over shooting the charcoal. I did let the temp come up to about 225 and tried to control it from there but I really couldn't keep it lower then 260. I did pull it at 145 so I know it was not overcooked, I was just surprised it took only an hour or so to cook. Again, live and learn.

 

[Frank C. in NY]

Frank - that looks pretty good to me. You are right sometimes less is more when it comes to smoke. It usually takes a while to learn that but you are picking it up quickly. Any day you learn something from a mistake and the family still gobbles it up is a good day as far as I am concerned. Some of my early 'mistakes' resulted in ordering pizza...

Regards,

John

lol..my first smoke got real close to ordering Italian that night, only because my dad couldn't wait any longer. lol

 

[Frank C. in NY]

Thank you everyone for the kind words.

I'm thinking I'm close to a Pork butt for cook #3. Considering simple EVOSP to start (mainly because I have NO CLUE which rub to start with and naturally I want to make my own and really haven't even looked at recipe's)

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

I agree. I used the lower section of the chimney this time and figured I was over shooting the charcoal. I did let the temp come up to about 225 and tried to control it from there but I really couldn't keep it lower then 260. I did pull it at 145 so I know it was not overcooked, I was just surprised it took only an hour or so to cook. Again, live and learn.

....live and learn..... This sad but true!

 

[Frank H]

Can I be Frank with you , Frank? That's a swell looking plate.

 

[Brian Dahl]

You're getting the hang of it, Frank. And as long as it all get eaten... well, that's the point!

 

[Dwain Pannell]

You're learning on every cook Frank. You'll learn what you and your family prefer and will be pitmaster very soon at this rate.

For your butt I'd like to recommend the Renowned Mr Brown recipe. It's a classic and for good reason. http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork2.html

 

[Rita Y]

Frank, you say you'd like a crustier outside for your pork tenderloin. You might think about using a dry rub instead of, or in addition to, a marinade - if using a marinade, dry it off very well before applying a rub. Congratulations on a successful cook - you learned a lot and it sounds as if everyone enjoyed it. When I first started smoking, I overdid it too. I've been using less and less smokewood through the years.

Rita

 

[Jim Lampe]

Live and learn is true, but if everyone gobbled it up, it must of been pretty damn tasty Frank!
As Rita types: CONGRATULATIONS!
and as John mentioned, order-out as the last resort. Thank goodness you did not have to call pizzaman delivery.

Dinner looks spectacular from here! You're brave AND smart using family for your initial cooks... they are the HONEST judges.

I ♥ It!!

 

[Tony R]

Looks good to me.

 

[Matt Gard]

I love a nicely cooked pork tenderloin and that fits the bill.