It was a sample of hot smoked pork tenderloin which we tasted at the Devon County Show many years ago that first got us into food smoking! The meat just melted in your mouth (and I hate chewy meat…). The smokiness was subtle and totally in tune with the combined flavour of the pork and the slightly spicy rub used to season it. Best of all, this is a truly easy hot smoking dish with the taste rewards for this inexpensive cut of meat surpassing the effort involved.
1. Cook a couple of pork loins at once, one to eat hot, the other can be sliced for sandwiches, salads or pasta dishes
2. Trim off any of the fatty membrane and lay the pork loin onto a square of cling film.
3. Coat with a little oil and then sprinkle with coarse sea salt and a generous covering of a spicy BBQ rub. Smoked paprika, chilli and garlic are headline flavours for a homemade rub. Chop the coriander coarsely (leave the stems) and sprinkle over the meat. Wrap tightly in the cling film.
4. Allow the meat to season whilst it reaches room temperature. For a deeper seasoning effect, leave the wrapped meat in the fridge overnight.
5. Prepare your BBQ or smoker. You will be cooking slowing at around 110 deg C for up to 3 hours but sear the meat on a higher heat then remove before allowing the flames to die back and the lower temperature to stabilise.
6. Add hickory chips for a mellow but robust smoky flavour or maple chips for something a little more subtle to your fire (wrap in a foil pouch or place in a smoker box).
7. Place the meat back in your smoker and cook gently. If you’re using a water pan add some fresh coriander and a few sprigs of parsley to the water. The heat will gradually die back, but leave the loins in place to cook very slowly. The meat will be cooked when the internal temperature reaches 63 deg C.
8. Remove from your smoker and allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice thinly and serve with vegetable skewers which you can have smoking gently on the same rack towards the end of cooking .
Recipe stages for hot smoked pork tenderloin
INGREDIENTS
- 2 x pork tenderloin
- olive oil
- salt
- BBQ rub (smoked paprika, chilli, garlice)
- fresh coriander
Wood Chips
- hickory for a fuller smoker, or maple for a more mellow smoke flavour
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