Aspiring new Q'er looking for loin advice

Welcome to the CS forums Rubes.

Pork tenderloins, like beef, sit on the backbone opposite from the loin (sirloin) muscle. They average about 1.5 lbs each and are sold by the each, or Cry-o-Vac packs of 2. While it's an extremely tender cut of meat, it requires some preparation...mainly the trimming of silver skinwhich is an inedible tissue covering about 2/3rds of the meat. The tenderloin, once trimmed, is almost devoid of fat. As you'll see in the following post link, they generally don't do well in a smoker unless cooked hot and fast. I prefer grilling them.

Pork loins are sold several ways: whole, bone-in roast (sirloin or rib) or boneless. The muscle is covered by a layer of fat, which helps maintain moisture when smoked. From a flavor standpoint, a bone-in rib roast is the perfect beast for a smoker. The bones add flavor and help retain moisture. When purchasing, you want to ask for a chine bone off roast. The chine is essentially half of the backbone. Removing it makes slicing a lot easier to handle.

You'll find some recent comments on smoking pork HERE. It sounds as though you're on the right track. Brining helps a lot, as does injecting a flavor solution. (See link) If you have an high end meat market available, ask about Berkshire Pork. Berkshire is a specific breed of pig, bred for high fat content...the way God intended You're other option is to buy a whole boneless pork loin at a box store...they weigh about 9 lbs. Cut and cook as you wish.

Hope this helps...holler back if you have more questions.

MaxQue, thank you so much for your advice / feedback. I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately, because of some schedule issues for today, I ended up having to hit the store last night and now have 8 pork tenderloins sitting in my fridge. Looks like I went in the wrong direction. Shoot.

If I brine 'em for 6-8 hrs, marinate 'em overnight (found an interesting sounding recipe for Applewood Thyme-Smoked pork tenderloin in the 2nd CS recipe book), watch 'em like a hawk while I smoke 'em (and pull at 140), and then sauce them with the recipe from the book, do you think that they will turn out ok or do you think that I should just abort the mission and save the smokey goodness for another day? If proceeding in the smoker, is there anything I can do to help my chances (i.e., start in a smoker and finish in a cast iron skillet? smoke at a as high of a heat as the 020 will allow? etc...)? Alternatively, is there anyway to get that smoke flavor back into them outside of the smoker?

As always, thanks for any help / advice. I really appreciate it and promise that this will be my last question on this meal.

BTW, did not know that they Bred pigs to have a higher fat content. That could be the best thing I have heard since I learned of the donut place in town that sells maple-glazed bacon donuts. Mmmmm....bacon donuts...

The smoker should start wood to smoking ,about 140*.You could take the steak lovers approach and get the cooker full of smoke.

Add tenderloins and cook to an internal of about 115*-120* internal. Cover with foil tent and let cool 15 mins.

Then grill,or hot skillet,or oven broil until about 140*.

Wrap in foil and transport to party.

Not as good as the hot grill-but.

Slice on a bias and sauce of choice.

I'll let you pick brines,sauces,marinades-if you wish.

Have fun.

Tom,

Thank you so much for the thoughts. I followed all of your advice: pre-heated the smoker, pulled them a bit early, and finished them in a cast iron skillet. The tenderloins were incredibly tender and juicy. Several people said that it was the best pork they have ever eaten.

My only complaint was one that I did see a bit in advance, which was getting a bit of a hammy taste. It wasn't bad; just not exactly what I was looking for. I found it to be a lot more pronounced as the tenderloins hung out longer. I didn't notice that they were injected with anything in advance (although I suppose its possible). I also used applewood, which may have done it. Either way, the pork was juicy and delicious -- just more of a variance in flavor profiles.

Again, thanks for all of the help. You and MaxQue totally saved the day for me.

Hope you guys had a great weekend as well!

curing or salt will give it a hammy taste.

Too much rub for too long can do it.

I didn't use a rub, but I did put it in a brine for about 7 hours. Maybe that was the culprit? I was trying to ensure that it didn't dry out. May skip that step next time (if I do these again). Personally, though, I will take ribs or brisket over pork tenderloin any day of the week so am not sure that the tenderloin becomes a regular feature coming out of the smoker ... Again, thanks for all of the advice / help. I really appreciate it. The CS forum is truly an amazing support group.