A tale of two beef tenderloins!

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realtorterry

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Jun 5, 2009
2,859
79
Bullhead City, AZ
So I was planning on smoking what I thought was a large, marinated beef tenderloin for this weekend. I was surprised when I opened it to find two Small, but It's all good. The wind was awful, 40-50. My smoker fought bravely, to sat at 225-235. The wood of choice was hickory. I had just got done spring cleaning the little guy. Removed alot of the build up & gave him a new sanding/coat of paint. So here we go

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I don't know if it was the extremely high winds, making it hard to judge the amount of smoke, or the cleaning, or the wood, but it was very smokey & dry. I know tenderloins dry out easy, but I usually don't have that problem? I took it to 140, & let it coast up to 145? It's all good! I still ate it & since they're sold in two packs I have another try for later. Thanks for looking!
 
Looks great, I would bet the wind was hiding from you how much smoke was really being applied. The heavy wind may have also been feeding so much oxygen to the heat source that it was burning hotter, thus the drying the meat more than usual. Not sure what type of smoker you are using, wouldn't think my analogy may apply to electric and burning hotter? Looks excellent anyways!
 
Ya it's hard to tell the TBS on a windy day but they look great from here. I agree we had some high winds the last week. 
 
Nice smoke ring and 125° - 130° would probably been more than enough and let them rest 10-15 minutes; you'd get a quick 5° or more bump being that small.  You can always cook them a bit more if you want them a bit firmer and less rare, or wrap them in foil for 15 minutes and let the internal heat bring them higher, but you can't uncook them if they get too done.
 
I agree with Pops, I would have pulled them at 120, and let them coast to 130 in foil. Still they look good & have a great smoke ring.
 
Looks tasty to me...we prefer a little more rare here..  ok still mooing.

  Have a great day!!

  Craig
 
Looking good Terry. Windy days are tough and like Pops and Al suggested take them out a little earlier and let them coast
 
Thanks guys! I will be taking it out earlier on the next one. I was going for 145, but I think 135  would have been good. I don't like it that rare.
 
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