Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Sometimes, certain things don’t come to the forefront when you’re thinking about firing up your smoker. This smoked pork tenderloin is one of those things. You may have been missing out.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
If you’re like me, you love firing up the smoker. I do it year-round, but when it starts to warm up a bit and the winter months have fallen away, it’s not uncommon for our smoker to be going every week.
But perhaps, like me, you want to mix it up. Ribs, butts, and brisket, the mainstay of backyard BBQ, will always be there, but what else can we smoke?
I’ll be honest: I never did a smoked pork tenderloin until I started wondering what else we could do. We usually do our pork tenderloins on the grill .. it’s fabulous! But just lost in thought one day, I was like, ‘It’s gotta be good!’ And I was right.
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As far as BBQ goes, it doesn’t get any easier than this. Apply your favorite rub, smoke it, and then chomp down. You can use your favorite rub and your favorite wood. It’s super easy and super delicious.
The meat is tender and smoky, has a great smoke ring, and is usually done in three hours or less. Smoked pork Nirvana!
Some cool, tasty, Macaroni Salad, tangy Easy, Barbecue Baked Beans, or a flavorful Summer Succotash can round out a great weekend BBQ spread!
Ingredients
Ingredients are simple. A couple of pork tenderloins, your favorite rub, and your favorite wood. That’s it.
I firmly believe in our rub, so if you don’t have one, give ours a whirl. I have spent many hours tweaking it, and we put it on all of our smoked pork. It’s a standard Memphis-style rub and is the best, in my humble opinion. 🙂
How To Make Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Remove the tenderloins from their packaging and dry them with a paper towel or two.
Trim off any unruly silver skin or bits that might burn while smoking.
Apply your favorite rub to the tenderloins generously. Feel free to use a binder if that’s what you like to do. As there isn’t any real fat to speak of on tenderloins, I find that the rub sticks just fine without it.
You can do this the day before and let that rub really get into the meat, or you can go pretty quick with these. Just allow them to get to room temperature before tossing them onto your smoker.
Set the smoker to 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit and place your tenderloins in. Smoke the tenderloins until their internal temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit, then remove them. Use a Thermapen if you have one to check the temp. If you don’t have one, get one. The best tool you will ever own!
pro tip
If you want to apply some BBQ sauce, do this around the 140 mark. This will allow enough time for the sauce to tighten up and get nice and sticky!
Allow the smoked pork tenderloins to rest for a few minutes before slicing. When ready, slice into medallions and serve with your favorite barbecue sides, like our Rosemary Garlic Grilled Baby Potato Skewers and Grilled Corn On The Cob.
As previously mentioned, this is a great cut of pork to smoke. You might even think to throw some on while doing a butt or some ribs for a mid-cook meat snack!
Give it a whirl if you haven’t already. You’re gonna love it!
Tips
- Trussing this cut isn’t a horrible idea. This will allow for a more even cook.
- If it’s not trussed up, push the ends of the tenderloin in when placing it on the grate, making the whole tenderloin thicker (and a hair shorter). This will allow for more even cooking.
- I turn the tenderloin tips under to add thickness to the ends for more even cooking.
- Use a meat thermometer to nail that perfect 145 degrees F. The meat will be juicy and tender!
Other Smoked Pork Recipes
Smoked Pork Tenderloin Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Pork Tenderloins
Memphis Style Rub – Yields app. 2 cups
- 1/2 cup Paprika
- 2 tbsp Smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1/4 cup Chili powder
- 3 tbsp Kosher salt
- 3 tbsp Black pepper
- 3 tbsp Brown sugar
- packed
- 1 tbsp Dried oregano
- 1 tbsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Dried mustard
- 1 tsp Cayenne powder
Instructions
- If using our rub, add all rub ingredients together in a mixing bowl and whisk until fully combined.
- Remove pork tenderloins from packaging, pat dry, and trim any silver skin.
- Apply your favorite rub generously. (or try ours!)
- Preheat smoker to 225-250°F.
- Place tenderloins in smoker.
- Smoke until internal temperature reaches 145°F, then remove.
- Optionally, apply BBQ sauce around 140°F for a sticky coating.
- Let rest before slicing into medallions.
- Serve with your favorite BBQ sides.