Pecan & Oak Smoked Pork Tenderloin: Cooked perfectly, but...

[Moose]

The missus picked up a large pork tenderloin the other night that I had high hopes for. Since it was a large piece of meat, I cut it in two so I could more evenly cook it.

First, I seasoned it up with Rub Company Original & BBQ seasoning. I just love this stuff!



After letting the meat sit for a while, absorbing the delicious seasonings and spices, I prepped my Kingsford Oval for indirect, and threw on a piece of oak and pecan:



Then I put the meat on so it could cook indirect and pick up some of that good oak and pecan smoky goodness.



20 mins later, and after flipping the meat earlier once, I moved it closer to the heat:



Another 10 mins or so later, I put it on the hot side for a good hot sear:



After the meat was done and had reached an internal temp of 140-145, I brought it inside and let it sit for about 10 mins. It sure looked good!



I began slicing the meat:



As I was slicing, I knew something was different about this tenderloin. It felt very firm, and the meat looked uniformly pink, despite my thermo reading. Upon tasting it, it had a distinctly "hammy" taste. It was then I realized the tenderloin had been sitting in some kind of brine/solution. Upon further examination of the meat wrapper, I was correct.

Not my cup of tea...it was edible, but I will avoid these at all cost in the future.

[tish]

This is what I've heard about wet brining... that it makes everything taste hammy. Not a terrible thing if you're smoking a ham. But I hear that it will give that hammy taste to turkey, too. I think I'm gonna try the dry brine for my birds, and anything else that I'd rather not impart that taste to in my finished product.

[Ron_L]

Properly brined meats don't have a hammy taste. That can happen if the meat is cured by keeping it in the brine too long.

In this case, the tenderloin was injected with a solution by the packer in order to try to keep it moist when someone who has no clue how to properly cook pork tried to cook it. Unfortunately, since the injection sits in the meat for a long time, the meat will taste more like ham than fresh pork, even if cooked properly. I avoid all enhanced meats. I would rather brine it myself if that's what I decide to do.

[Midnight Smoke]

But, it sure looks good!

[tish]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

Properly brined meats don't have a hammy taste. That can happen if the meat is cured by keeping it in the brine too long.

In this case, the tenderloin was injected with a solution by the packer in order to try to keep it moist when someone who has no clue how to properly cook pork tried to cook it. Unfortunately, since the injection sits in the meat for a long time, the meat will taste more like ham than fresh pork, even if cooked properly. I avoid all enhanced meats. I would rather brine it myself if that's what I decide to do.

So, you've never gotten that hammy taste, Ron?

[Moose]

Originally Posted by {Midnight ☼ Smoke}

But, it sure looks good!

I thought it looked good, too. But, both The Missus and I found that it tasted closer to Canadian Bacon than pork tenderloin. Not a taste I want to experience again, at least from a pork tenderloin.

[NorthwestBBQ]

I love the taste of Ham! Looks really good bro.

[Big Bears BBQ]

Pretty good looking pork .....

[Phubar]

I stay away from injected stuPh from the supermarket like that...Pharked up the taste of my meat a couple of times.
Over here they inject it with a water solution that contains salt and other stuPh I don't want in there.

Great lookin Pron Moose!

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

I think they inject to enhance profit, not to enhance the taste. They are selling salt water for the price of meat.

That looks so good! I am going to look for an unenhanced one very soon.

[Gore]

We've done so many tenderloins hot and fast in so many different ways. Will have to go back to some low and slow. Thanks for the post and idea! Those look beautiful!

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by tish

So, you've never gotten that hammy taste, Ron?

Not from brining. I've only gotten it when I bought enhanced pork, and once I figured that out I stopped buying it.

Now, it is possible to cure meat using a brine, but that typically takes days to do. For a normal brine the rule of thumb is 1 cup of salt to one gallon of water, and one hour per pound brine time. I brine poultry, and smaller pork cuts like pork chops, pork tenderloins, pork loins, etc. I don't brine big cuts like a pork roast since the amount of time for the brine to work properly would be pretty long and injecting is easier. I also don't brine ribs since it is way to easy to over brine since there really isn't much meat.

One of our members, Smokin' Okie (Russ) wrote a great guide to brining...

Brining 101

[TIMMAY]

Well, although you weren't looking for that hammy taste at the dinner table, I bet that pork would taste real good with scrambled eggs in the morning!