Been meaning to try this one for a while. I'm thinking of new things to give out for Christmas gifts this year and I hate shopping, but funny enough, I love smoking.
I treated this pretty much the same way as back bacon (Canadian bacon).
For me this a test-run of dry cured pork tenderloin to see if I'd enjoy it before doing up a larger batch and giving it away to people without even trying it.
Day #1 (Prep day):
Yanked a pack of two pork tenderloins out of the freezer, weighed in at close to a pound each (one a few grams over, one a few grams under), measured out the TQ and brown sugar and started the curing process. I gave these little guys 8 days.
Day #7:
Took them out of the fridge, rinsed in cold water and pat dried. Sliced one in half at the thickest point to check cure, looked good. Sliced off a piece for a salt fry-test. Tasted perfect!
Seasoned them up with forluvofsmoke's Hawg Heaven Rub, placed on smoker rack and into the fridge uncovered overnight to form pellicle.
Day #8 (Smoke day):
7:15: Woke up, flicked on the Big Chief. Made some coffee while the Big Chief warmed up. Checked the weather... -20*C!
8:00: Dressed up for the arctic cold and put my cured tenderloins into the Big Chief with a 50/50 mix cherry and apple chips and set my probes up. Big Chief at 60*F.
9:00: Big Chief - 93*F, IT - 72*F
10:00: BC - 97*F, IT - 82*F.... added some more chips, same mix. Big Chief temp seemed to max out here uninsulated, Since my Big Chief has no heat control (it's either on or off) I put on it's silver insulation parka.
11:00: BC - 120*F, IT - 91*F
12:00: BC - 151*F, IT - 108*F...added more chips, same mix, BC temp plummeted to 115*F after taking the hot smoldering chips out. Slowly made it's way back up.
13:00: BC - 151*F, IT - 111*F
14:00: BC - 147*F, IT - 129*F...out of apple chips, threw in the last of my cherry chips. Knowing the temps would plummet again, and I'm ready to bring the meat up to temp, I added 2 lit charcoal briquettes to the pan to combat that.
15:00: BC - 180*F, IT - 138*F
15:45: BC - 181*F, IT - 149*F....Done. Probed the others at 151*F and 150*F. Pull the rack out and set on the counter to cool down.
17:00: Put tenderloins on a plate, wrapped up and let rest in the fridge to mellow overnight.
Day #9:
Sliced up some tenderloin for a little snack with some crackers, left small pieces in a sandwich bag for more snacking later. Vac sealed the rest up and put in the freezer.
I'll be keeping my eyes open for sales on pork tenderloin, I'll be doing this again soon in a larger batch. Delicious!
Prep time
Fat and sliver skin trimmed
TQ weighed for each after trimming
Before anyone points it out, I did in fact use my good zip bags.
After 7 days..Cured to the center
Salt fry-test. Perfect!
Sent to Hawg Heaven
Time for some smoke
Post-smoke
Sliced pics
I treated this pretty much the same way as back bacon (Canadian bacon).
For me this a test-run of dry cured pork tenderloin to see if I'd enjoy it before doing up a larger batch and giving it away to people without even trying it.
Day #1 (Prep day):
Yanked a pack of two pork tenderloins out of the freezer, weighed in at close to a pound each (one a few grams over, one a few grams under), measured out the TQ and brown sugar and started the curing process. I gave these little guys 8 days.
Day #7:
Took them out of the fridge, rinsed in cold water and pat dried. Sliced one in half at the thickest point to check cure, looked good. Sliced off a piece for a salt fry-test. Tasted perfect!
Seasoned them up with forluvofsmoke's Hawg Heaven Rub, placed on smoker rack and into the fridge uncovered overnight to form pellicle.
Day #8 (Smoke day):
7:15: Woke up, flicked on the Big Chief. Made some coffee while the Big Chief warmed up. Checked the weather... -20*C!
8:00: Dressed up for the arctic cold and put my cured tenderloins into the Big Chief with a 50/50 mix cherry and apple chips and set my probes up. Big Chief at 60*F.
9:00: Big Chief - 93*F, IT - 72*F
10:00: BC - 97*F, IT - 82*F.... added some more chips, same mix. Big Chief temp seemed to max out here uninsulated, Since my Big Chief has no heat control (it's either on or off) I put on it's silver insulation parka.
11:00: BC - 120*F, IT - 91*F
12:00: BC - 151*F, IT - 108*F...added more chips, same mix, BC temp plummeted to 115*F after taking the hot smoldering chips out. Slowly made it's way back up.
13:00: BC - 151*F, IT - 111*F
14:00: BC - 147*F, IT - 129*F...out of apple chips, threw in the last of my cherry chips. Knowing the temps would plummet again, and I'm ready to bring the meat up to temp, I added 2 lit charcoal briquettes to the pan to combat that.
15:00: BC - 180*F, IT - 138*F
15:45: BC - 181*F, IT - 149*F....Done. Probed the others at 151*F and 150*F. Pull the rack out and set on the counter to cool down.
17:00: Put tenderloins on a plate, wrapped up and let rest in the fridge to mellow overnight.
Day #9:
Sliced up some tenderloin for a little snack with some crackers, left small pieces in a sandwich bag for more snacking later. Vac sealed the rest up and put in the freezer.
I'll be keeping my eyes open for sales on pork tenderloin, I'll be doing this again soon in a larger batch. Delicious!
Prep time
Fat and sliver skin trimmed
TQ weighed for each after trimming
Before anyone points it out, I did in fact use my good zip bags.
After 7 days..Cured to the center
Salt fry-test. Perfect!
Sent to Hawg Heaven
Time for some smoke
Post-smoke
Sliced pics
