Maple Bourbon Brine Recipe
2 pork tenderloins
-1 quart water
-2/3 cup kosher salt
-3/4 cup maple syrup (I used pure)
-1/2 cup bourbon (maybe a tad more)
-1 tablespoon ground mustard
-1 bay leaf
-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
-2 quarts ice
Bring all the ingredients (except the tenderloins and the ice) to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes or so. Now add the 2 qts ice to bring the brine to a cold temp. After a couple minutes add the pork tenderloins and throw into fridge overnight. Could actually brine 4 or more tenderloins in this recipe if I had used zip lock bags or such.
Here are the tenderloins ready for a little trimming and then their bath.
Here they are after the overnight brine, trimmed of a little fat and the silverskin, ends tied for evenness, rubbed and sprinkled with Williams Rib Tickler Rub.
I then threw them back into the fridge for a few hours until they were ready for the smoker. Preheat the smoker to 225* with some apple wood (apple and pork) until the smoker starts to smoke. Add the tenderloins and smoke until an internal of 135*, apprx. 45 minutes. They'll be a little pink inside. Mrs. Pags actually tossed hers into the microwave.
Sorry. No pics of the finished product. My son and his new bride dropped by to see the work we did to the house and joined us for dinner. I forgot to take a picture.
However, the tenderloins were great. Lean, moist, smoky, tender...could cut them with a fork. Could actually pick up the maple and bourbon (just slightly) flavoring. Very, very tender.
