Pork Tenderloin - Foil and cooler, or chill????

scottm4300

scottm4300

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Mar 1, 2005
Location
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Hey Gang! Question for you all.

I'm being asked to smoke up a couple of pork tenderloins for Easter at a relatives house about an hour away. Originally, it was supposed to be a 6:00 pm dinner. Now they are saying noon - or at least my M-I-L is saying noon. There is no way I can have the traditional Easter festivities with my kids here on Easter morning, then transport the smoker, etc for an hour and get pork tenderloins smoked by noon.

So - my thought is to do the smoking late Saturday and bring it over there Sunday. I've read a lot about foiling and coolering, but that seems like it best applies to larger cuts of meat like briskets or butts.

Am I OK using this technique for pork tenderloins - and if so, how long can I let the meat sit in the cooler? Or - am I better to smoke Saturday, then chill the tenderloins and rehet them at their house Sunday when we get there? If that's the better option, what's the best way to reheat these?

A bit of a long post - but I hope you guys can give a rookie a little advise.

Thanks!
 
If you really mean tenderloins - don't smoke 'em. They'll dry out - marinade and grill them.

If you mean a pork loin - then you can slow cook and depending on when you're going to eat it - either cooler and transport. Or you can chill it and reheat later.
 
David,

This surprises me! I've smoked tenderloins several times with good success. I just use a littel Brinkmann Cook n Carry, but with a full waterpan, they've never dried out on me. I'm assuming that your avatar is a pic of your smoker. Do you use water?

Thanks
 
How long do you cook them? What temps?

True tenderloins are lean and small - they do better with a hotter fire and grilling.

However, if you've had success then there's no need to ask us how to cook 'em.

We won't get into a "what does the water pan do" discussion. :D

Now a full loin on the other hand does very well in a 250 cooker for several hours - cook to 165 or so, foil, let rest, and eat!!

However, this is just my opinion and your mileage may vary. :D
 
Oh, about the avatar: that's my current dream cooker! Kingfisher Gator model. 4-shelf rotisserie, central firebox, and the grill can either grill with a seperate coal bed or share the offset firebox.

No water pan - but it does have a steam injection system.
 
DF your right on target with the tenderloin. I know a lot of people who incorrectly call a pork centerloin roast a pork tenderloin.
 
Around here, they sell 2 kinds of pork tenderloin; boneless and bone-in. I've smoked both several times. The only real difference is the bone-in ones have bones in them (DOH!). I suppose they can get dry but, if you marinate beforehand, use your WATER pan and spray, this should not be an issue. As far as foiling, spray well first and then foil. That way, you should insure its plenty moist.
 
I just smoked a whole pork loin last weekend. Kept the chamber temp around 220*-250*, foiled the loin after 2-3 hours, brought the internal temp to 160*, coolered it for 2 hours...it was the best one I did, moist and flavorful!

If you're real ambitious, get up early Sunday morning and do it. The loins I have smoked only take 5- 6 hours (bout 45 min to an hour per pound). Biggest thing is just get the internal temp of the loin to 160* and then cooler it.

If you put those loins in a small cooler, they'll stay hot in there for a long time. I coolered various meats for over three hours and they still were nice and hot when I serverd it (in fact I think it makes it better the longer you can cooler it).
 
Let me take a minute to do some clarification here. There are 2 different cuts. The pork loin and the pork tenderloin. These are 2 completely different animals. The whole tenderloin weighs 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. A pork loin is bigger around longer and weighs 6 to 8 pounds. Don't ask me where the cuts come from.
 
I think Greg is right about boneless pork loin and tenderloing being different cuts. At least stuff sold as tenderloin seems to be smaller in diameter. Smoking technique should be the same though (with obvious exception to time). With true tenderloin and an early Sunday start (plus marinating, using the water pan, spraying and foiling) and then coolering till time to eat; that should maximize your success.
 
Don't ask me where the cuts come from.
Click to expand...

The smaller and more expensive cut, the tenderloin, is on the inside of the ribs bones, runs along the spine on both side. Basically the inner most of the animal near the spine and runs about half the length of the animal.

The Pork Loin, the larger least expensive cut runs the full length of the hog, from neck to tail bone and can be found still inside the ribcage but on top of the tenderloin and where the muscle is used morass then the tenderloin. When looking at a full pork loin there is one end that is always a little larger and oval in shape. This is the area where the tender loin connects to the loin and will run down almost halfway to the other end.

To get a real good picture of what I am talking about take a whole chicken breast and flip it over. You will find this little flap, almost the size of a chicken tender. This is the tenderloin of the chicken. It can be easily pulled from the breast without tearing. The same principle applies when butchering any animal for both the loin and the tender loin.
 
Mark said:
With true tenderloin and an early Sunday start (plus marinating, using the water pan, spraying and foiling) and then coolering till time to eat; that should maximize your success.
Click to expand...

It's the smaller, true tenderloins that I'm going to smoke. Thanks for all the feedback guys. It seems the early morning Sunday start is going to be my best bet.

Thanks!
 
BigBelly said:
Don't ask me where the cuts come from.
Click to expand...

When looking a full lion
Click to expand...

.....must....not....hijack........
.....must....not....hijack........
.....must....not....hijack........
.....must....not....hijack........
.....must....not....hijack........
.....must....not....hijack........
 
Fixed that minor oversight.

Racer is a meat gazer. Pass it on!
 
A friend of mine does a lot of guiding for deer and nilgai hunts here in South Texas. When helping field dress animals, he call the the true tenderloin, the "poison glands" that only he can safely remove and dispose of.

This is not my friend, but here is what a nilgai looks like.
np01_0504.jpg
 
Poison gland - I like that! Nothing like hijacking somebody's backstrap for their own protection! :twisted:
 
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