Meats: Hot-Smoked Pork Tenderloin

Don't let the fancy name fool you; this is basically just barbecue. Sure, it doesn't benefit from the smoking process the way a pork shoulder would, but it's a lot lower maintenance after the fact. Just slice it up, there's no bones or connective tissue. It is more prone to drying out, so I do have to watch it more closely.

We're going to have dinner at a friend's house tonight, so this is my contribution. I was going to do ribs, but I couldn't find any that I liked on sale, so I had a tenderloin in the freezer, and set it out to thaw. By last night it was ready to go, and I did the dry rub and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Dry Rub Recipe

4T. chili powder
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
1 t. mustard powder
2 T. olive oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. crushed coriander seeds
1 T. kosher salt

Combine ingredients in a gallon resealable plastic bag and add the meat. Seal the bag. Try to get as much air out of the bag as possible. Squish the meat and dry rub around to mix the ingredients and evenly cover the meat. Refrigerate overnight.

About 7:30 this morning, I set up the smoker. I had some hickory chips soaking in water overnight, the wetter they are, the longer they'll smoke. Then I took the tenderloin out and placed it in the smoker. It'll be there until early evening. Like I mentioned earlier, a tenderloin will dry out if left alone for too long. I don't trim whatever fat is on it, I just try to keep the fat side up throughout most of the smoking process, so that the fat renders down over the meat, kind of a self-basting thing. I also mop the meat about every 45 minutes to an hour. I use a thin, vinegar-based sauce for this, anything too thick will build up a thick, syrupy coating that can get kinda gross.

Mop sauce recipe

Take what's left over from the dry rub bag and empty into a saucepan. Add:
1 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar,
1 c.dark brown sugar,
3 T mustard (just regular mustard, not mustard powder)
1 c. water
Disclaimer: I also added the rest of a bottle of Moscato (about a cup) that was sitting in the fridge. You can add whatever else you think might work.

Bring to a simmer and spread over the meat with a brush or similar utensil every hour or so. Keep it simmering on the stove. If you run low, make some more.

I took the tenderloin off the smoker at about 5pm. We sliced and chopped some and had it on sandwiches with slaw.














Good eatin'.