Sous Vide vs Smoked - Head2Head - Hatch Chili Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloins

[Stlsportster]

Deal at Costco, $3 off a pack of tenderloins.

Figured I needed some variety and what a better way to test and play with a few cookers at a time.

Hatch Chili graciously provided by Carl/PigFarmer. Stuffed with medium heat and some Brie. Wrapped in homemade bacon. Seasoned with ObieCue Sweet N Heat.

One in the bath at 139 for 90 min. The other on the smoker at about 250 probably for an hour. Using the Good One Open Range so I can sear the sous vide loin at the end.

Starting positions.

 

[ShadowDriver]

I love these head to head cook-offs.

I really like what you've put together. Thoroughly interested in how each turns out.

Either way, you come out a winner!

op2:

 

[Stlsportster]

Oh. And this too.

 

[tom b]

in for the results

 

[Stlsportster]

So it’s interesting so far. Here are both loins after 90 minutes or so. Smoked loin exactly as expected. So is sous vide. But with the bacon I discovered the sear wouldn’t work. So the bacon is cooked. Twice as I warm smoked it before slicing. But unappealing and rubbery. So after searing for a few min I switched to smoke. But after about 10 min I pulled it as I’m not liking the result.

I read on one forum about totally cooling the loin and then hot smoking at 350 until it hits 130ish again. Everything resting for now. Time out.

 

[ronbrad62]

Interesting cook comparison. It takes experiments like this to work out the links for anyone looking to attempt either. Waiting for the final results.

 

[Stlsportster]

So win on the cornbread.

The regular smoked loin was great, although as usual the bacon not quite crisp enough and some cheese loss.

The sous vide was cooked perfectly the cheese didn’t leak but the bacon was a terrible texture even after the sear and smoke. I need to play a bit more. But not sure it’s worth it.

Time, flavor, and texture better on the smoked. Interested to see if I sear some slices off in a cast iron or on the stone if it would make a difference.

First pic. Top slice sous vide. Bottom slice smoked.

 

[BillN]

Mmmm Mmmm Good!

 

[Happy Hapgood]

I'm showing the same thing with bacon in the sous vide even with blowtorch searing. Better ways to do bacon before adding the wrap. But the beef is killer! Thanks for the test!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I would love to do a taste test here

 

[pmad]

You would have had better results if you sous vide and then wrapped the bacon.
Bacon does not sous vide well.

 

[Pig_Farmer]

Looks damn good, even if the bacon didn't turn out great. Nice cook Joel.

 

[Mikhail]

I'm not sure sous vide is so great for combination dishes. It does a fantastic job breaking down beef ribs and such, and can surely get a steak ready for a quick sear, but I think one is better off to just keep it to the meat.

Anyone have different experiences?