Nice!!! Looks good to me!!!
I find myself wondering about the bitterness you mentioned on the potatoes...I've never had that with taters. Apple wood shouldn't really be the cause, as it is a sweeter smoke. Was it only on the potatoes, or was there a slight bitterness on the tenderloin as well (may not have been as prominent as it was with the taters)? I don't think your prep ingredients for the taters could cause this. Be sure your exhaust vent is fully open, unless you're having trouble maintaining the desired smoke chamber temp. If there is too little draft, the smoke can get stale and cause a bitter taste similar to having creosote from the smoke.
OK, I went back through your threads and found you're running a
Chargriller Pro. What was your fuel for this smoke? Was it lump or briquette, and what brand? Also, were you using some form of the minion method for fire control, or just adding cold fuel or hot coals to the fire to maintain temps?
Just trying to wrap my head around this and see if we can identify what the cause for the bitterness was...don't need to go through that if you can help it.
As for the potatoes not fully cooking in the smoker, they need around 300* to cook quickly...275* will work with some extra time...250* is about the low limit, from my past experience. What I like to do is run the smoker temps how I want it for the meat, and when it comes out to rest, crank the smoker temp up to get the taters finished. Texture will be better than when you nuke 'em, but nuking will get it done, just the same.
Come on back and we'll figure this out together, cool?
Eric
