Pork Tenderloin and Pulled Pork

[MW196]

After our first successful pulled pork last weekend, we decided to try a pork tenderloin and another round of pulled pork this past weekend (especially since the leftovers will feed us lunch for the week). These are with the MES 30 inch analog model. I don't think either came out as good as last weekend, but I also think that could be a flavor preference.

First, the pork tenderloin. We brushed on some olive oil and used Weber Honey Garlic Rub on it. Had it in for about three hours at 250F until it hit 145F. Pulled and rested in a foil pan under foil for a half hour. We also put some potatoes in for those three hours, and by far they were the best baked potatoes I've ever had. My wife made some garlic butter for on the potatoes. We used apple wood for both this and the pulled pork. One thing we need to fix for next time is that tenderloin cooled considerably by the time it got on our plates.

 

[Geebs]

Looks good, I love doing pork loins on the smoker. They do tend to cool pretty quick, I cut them after about a 10 min rest.

 

[MW196]

For the pulled pork, we used olive oil and What a Jerk Seasoning and Rub from Pepper Palace. Opted to use apple wood again, since there was a good bit of cinnamon in the rub. We had it at about 250F for 6 hours and then due to time finished it at 275F for another 3 hours up to 195F internal temperature. We then let it rest for a half hour before shredding it.

The potatoes were on for the last three hours, and of course some of the garlic butter with them.

I don't think this pulled pork turned out as well as our first one did last weekend (check the thread I created in the Electric Smokers section for pictures), but I think there's a variety of reasons why that could be. One is that this piece of pork did not seem to be as high of a quality as the previous one. Two, I think I preferred the flavor of the rub we used last weekend. Three, I also think the hickory wood chips provided more flavor than the apple wood chips. Four, I think we may have upped the temperature too quick during that last three hours, which resulted in a few tougher parts of the pork, although as I said the quality wasn't as good as our first one either.

 

[kruizer]

Pork loin is good.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

After our first successful pulled pork last weekend, we decided to try a pork tenderloin and another round of pulled pork this past weekend (especially since the leftovers will feed us lunch for the week). These are with the MES 30 inch analog model. I don't think either came out as good as last weekend, but I also think that could be a flavor preference.

First, the pork tenderloin. We brushed on some olive oil and used Weber Honey Garlic Rub on it. Had it in for about three hours at 250F until it hit 145F. Pulled and rested in a foil pan under foil for a half hour. We also put some potatoes in for those three hours, and by far they were the best baked potatoes I've ever had. My wife made some garlic butter for on the potatoes. We used apple wood for both this and the pulled pork. One thing we need to fix for next time is that tenderloin cooled considerably by the time it got on our plates.

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I don't really let my pork loin rest for more than a few minutes. The cooler finished IT makes it too easy to get cold like you say. If you have everything else ready to go before the meat then it's good to just give it 5-10 minutes max to rest then slice and devour. Everything looks great and the choice of Weber honey garlic rub is very good with pork loin. That is one of our favorite combos here. Looking good.

George

 

[SmokinAl]

Good looking loin!
Al

 

[MW196]

I don't really let my pork loin rest for more than a few minutes. The cooler finished IT makes it too easy to get cold like you say. If you have everything else ready to go before the meat then it's good to just give it 5-10 minutes max to rest then slice and devour. Everything looks great and the choice of Weber honey garlic rub is very good with pork loin. That is one of our favorite combos here. Looking good.

George

The reason for the 30 minute rest on the tenderloin was that I did some searching and found a thread on here where I could have sworn people were saying to let it rest for 30 minutes. Maybe I was getting confused. We'll probably try about 10 minutes next time. We have another one we intend to try, probably this weekend. We have a Wine Seasong/Rub from the aforementioned Pepper Palace (a lot of their stuff just seems to suit our tastes) for it.

The tenderloin tasted great warmed up for lunch today.

 

[Lookn4u]

looks great !!

 

[dan the mano]

The reason for the 30 minute rest on the tenderloin was that I did some searching and found a thread on here where I could have sworn people were saying to let it rest for 30 minutes. Maybe I was getting confused. We'll probably try about 10 minutes next time. We have another one we intend to try, probably this weekend. We have a Wine Seasong/Rub from the aforementioned Pepper Palace (a lot of their stuff just seems to suit our tastes) for it.

The tenderloin tasted great warmed up for lunch today.

just a question here for you ... i understand the time and temperature part of this , but can a person let it cool for say 30-60 mins and then vacuum seal the tenderloin and then freeze.Then when it comes time to serve ... bring out and let thaw out then heat up in microwave still in bag , but having a corner cut open so not make a mess in the microwave .
thanks for the information ,i am just wondering about there other part .

 

[gmc2003]

The loin looks really good. I usually try to time them for dinner time so I cut pretty much right away and serve with some type of gravy. As for the PP I would say the rub and type of wood changed the flavor profile more then the quality or smokers temp.

Point for sure.

just a question here for you ... i understand the time and temperature part of this , but can a person let it cool for say 30-60 mins and then vacuum seal the tenderloin and then freeze.Then when it comes time to serve ... bring out and let thaw out then heat up in microwave still in bag , but having a corner cut open so not make a mess in the microwave .
thanks for the information ,i am just wondering about there other part .

Short answer is yes, I would let it cool down then toss it into the fridge before vacuum sealing. Once cooled and sealed plop her into the freezer. When heating you'r probably better off to reheat it vacuum sealed in a pot of simmering water then a microwave. Micro wave can give you uneven heat distribution.

Chris

 

[MW196]

just a question here for you ... i understand the time and temperature part of this , but can a person let it cool for say 30-60 mins and then vacuum seal the tenderloin and then freeze.Then when it comes time to serve ... bring out and let thaw out then heat up in microwave still in bag , but having a corner cut open so not make a mess in the microwave .
thanks for the information ,i am just wondering about there other part .

I honestly wasn't sure on this, but had the feeling there was no reason you couldn't do this. I'm glad gmc2003 jumped in to answer this question for you.

Regarding the pulled pork, it seemed to taste better warmed up for lunch yesterday. I'm not sure the particular rub we used works great for pork, it's probably better suited for chicken.