It’s that time of year again, my favorite beers on the store shelves again – the pumpkin ales. If I had them year round, they probably wouldn’t be, as the limited availability adds to my love for them, so I do my best to maximize my experience with them as you can see in the Apple Pumpkin Ribs that were inspired by the very beer I will use as a key ingredient in this post.
Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins, tied together
Brine Ingredients:
2 bottles pumpkin ale (O’Fallon Pumpkin in this case)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup salt
12 turns of black and white pepper each
Rub Ingredients:
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated garlic
1.5 tsp paprika
10 turns of black and white pepper
Tie the tenderloins together, fat end to skinny and vice versa so they will cook evenly:
Combine the brine ingredients in a ziplock bag and churn the beer until the salt is dissolved:
Place the tenderloins in the brine and refrigerate overnight. I don’t normally brine more than about 12 hours.
The following day, combine the rub ingredients and mix together with your fingers or the back of a fork to break up any lumps. If you need more rub, follow the same ratio above which is equal parts pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar and granulated garlic and a half part of paprika. I was trying to balance out the two sweets and two savories.
Remove the tenderloins from the brine and rinse them off under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Then apply the rub:
Normally I salt anything just before I put it on the grill, but the brine covered that step.
Set up the grill for two zone cooking, coals on one side and nothing on the other with a target temp between 250-275. Place the meat over the side with no coals and smoke wood on the other (in this case pear wood):
After 60 minutes, slide the tenderloins over the heat and sear all the way around, not just top and bottom, but left and right as well:
More cooking will happen during this searing process than the hour on the grill indirect because the sear is 360 degrees. Once seared, remove from the heat and let rest. After 10 minutes, carve and serve.
The spice of the beer permeated the meat all the way through and meshed really well with the pumpkin rub on the outside. This was definitely an outstanding flavor combo and I will do it again soon. If I don’t do it soon, I’ll have to wait till next fall.
