Slow n Sear Pork Tenderloin ideas


 
G

GarciaWork

TVWBB Member
My wife has pork tenderloin on the menu for tonight, and I want to use the kettle rather than the genesis. I am still new to kettle cooking, and would love to employ my SnS, since I, well, bought it, and it would seem a great way to low and slow for a bit, and then sear to get a crust at the end. I did see one recipe that said to dump a chimney into the SnS, cover, get the tempt to around 275, and let 'er rip to 140, but I was going to modf that to run till 120ish, and then sear with a lot of rapid flipping over the coals till I get to my temp. Only trouble, I have no idea how long the slow part may take.

Anyone have any previous experience they could volunteer? Or alternate methods?

FWIW, planning to rub with salt/pepper/garlic, MAYBE a bbq sauce glaze, and use a wood chunk or two.
 
When using the SnS for low and slow cooking, I usually just fill it with charcoal and wood chunks, and light one end of it. My personal experience is that dumping a lit chimney (even the smaller chimneys) will end up too hot no matter how much I choke down the air flow.

Can always add a lit chimney at the end for searing if you need more heat.

I'm using the SnS in an 18" kettle, so it may be different with a different size kettle.
 
Richard S said:
For tenderloins an easier method might be just a two zone and go indirect before searing. Those babies cook pretty fast and it is good to get some char on them. Total cook time won't be more than 20 minutes typically.
Click to expand...
So, just dump a full (or close to full) chimney on one side, lay the tenerloins down on the opposite (large side closer to the heat), and then move over when ready to sear? May be the easiest if so!
 
I treat pork tenderloin similar to beef tenderloin. Except knowing the pork has way less flavor so there is always a marinade involved to at least give it some taste
 
I do this with the SnS all the time, usually in conjunction with some other things like chicken, sausages, etc. to cook for the week. I've now added the CI DnG to catch the drippings.

I usually light a small chimney and pour it over additional coals with some smoking wood in with the cold briquettes. I run it at about 250º and have never had any difficulty "choking" it down to maintain that temp.

When the tenderloin reaches about 130º I pull it from the "Slow" side over to the "Sear" side. Sometimes, the top of the tenderloin already has a good crust on it so I may only be looking to replicate that on the bottom. I am looking for somewhere in the 140º-145º range when I pull it off.

Same basic process, further into the cook, with the chicken since I cook it to 165º IT.

For the record, I have used the process of lighting a small amount of briquettes (6-10) and adding them to one end of the SnS. This works more like the minion method that I used when I still had my WSM. But I use that more for longer cooks, like St. Louis ribs, beef Short Ribs, etc., where I am not really looking to Sear anything.

In the FWIW category . . . I also typically fill the water trough when using either of these methods.
 
BLever said:
I do this with the SnS all the time, usually in conjunction with some other things like chicken, sausages, etc. to cook for the week. I've now added the CI DnG to catch the drippings.

I usually light a small chimney and pour it over additional coals with some smoking wood in with the cold briquettes. I run it at about 250º and have never had any difficulty "choking" it down to maintain that temp.

When the tenderloin reaches about 130º I pull it from the "Slow" side over to the "Sear" side. Sometimes, the top of the tenderloin already has a good crust on it so I may only be looking to replicate that on the bottom. I am looking for somewhere in the 140º-145º range when I pull it off.

Same basic process, further into the cook, with the chicken since I cook it to 165º IT.

For the record, I have used the process of lighting a small amount of briquettes (6-10) and adding them to one end of the SnS. This works more like the minion method that I used when I still had my WSM. But I use that more for longer cooks, like St. Louis ribs, beef Short Ribs, etc., where I am not really looking to Sear anything.

In the FWIW category . . . I also typically fill the water trough when using either of these methods.
Click to expand...
I will have to give this a shot next time. I just got the kettle in October, and am still learning techniques, so I am going with the method above (chimney is getting going as we speak). I really do want to learn the SnS though, enough people swear by it, but I have only tried it once thusfar, and that was months ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top