This past Saturday I was a little bit bored and wanted to smoke something for dinner. Making this decision at about 3pm didn't leave a whole lot of time to do much, but further inspection of my meat selections gave me an idea...PORK TENDERLOIN!
Now I only have to feed me and my girlfriend, so we're talking probably a 2lb tenderloin. Also, staying aware of the lack of fat on this specific cut of pork made me realize I would have to take special precautions to keep this tasty little piece from drying out.
Solution? BACON!
After trimming off any silver skin I found, I decided to shake a moderate coating of Montreal Steak Seasoning on the tenderloin. I use this very frequently when grilling a tenderloin, and figured it would translate well into the smoking application as well.
Then came the bacon wrap. Using a Oscar Meyer Center Cut packaged bacon, I started at one end and then wrapped the whole way to the other. I would start each consecutive piece about one inch overlapping the previous piece and wrap so about a quarter of an inch of the slice stayed tucked under the next piece. This held really well and only required one toothpick to hold the last piece in place.
I won't ramble on any longer about this other than to say this meal was INCREDIBLE! I was super pleased with the tenderness, hickory smoke flavoring was perfect, the smoke ring was excellent (sorry, Blackberry pics of it sucked) and it only took about 1.5hrs to do! I pulled it off when I hit an internal temp of 160 degrees.
There is no doubt I will be doing this one again considering how cheap tenderloin can be, and maybe next time I will use Jeff's rub under the bacon instead of the Montreal Steak Seasoning.
Here's to my first qview! Sorry there aren't more photos.
And the finished product:
Now I only have to feed me and my girlfriend, so we're talking probably a 2lb tenderloin. Also, staying aware of the lack of fat on this specific cut of pork made me realize I would have to take special precautions to keep this tasty little piece from drying out.
Solution? BACON!
After trimming off any silver skin I found, I decided to shake a moderate coating of Montreal Steak Seasoning on the tenderloin. I use this very frequently when grilling a tenderloin, and figured it would translate well into the smoking application as well.
Then came the bacon wrap. Using a Oscar Meyer Center Cut packaged bacon, I started at one end and then wrapped the whole way to the other. I would start each consecutive piece about one inch overlapping the previous piece and wrap so about a quarter of an inch of the slice stayed tucked under the next piece. This held really well and only required one toothpick to hold the last piece in place.
I won't ramble on any longer about this other than to say this meal was INCREDIBLE! I was super pleased with the tenderness, hickory smoke flavoring was perfect, the smoke ring was excellent (sorry, Blackberry pics of it sucked) and it only took about 1.5hrs to do! I pulled it off when I hit an internal temp of 160 degrees.
There is no doubt I will be doing this one again considering how cheap tenderloin can be, and maybe next time I will use Jeff's rub under the bacon instead of the Montreal Steak Seasoning.
Here's to my first qview! Sorry there aren't more photos.
And the finished product: