Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Maple Syrup Brined Pork Tenderloin

Jan 13 2014

I was glad to get back out cooking on my smoker today. I had made the brine yesterday and got the tenderloins in brining at 3 am. They would brine for 12 hours.

It was a nice 40 deg. day with a little breeze. I took the time to clean some cooking equipment I had left under the smoker dirty. I washed down some of the bird doo roosting birds had left behind and hung two bags of mothballs  and two CD’s; hoping to keep the birds away. I cleaned the grate and filled the hopper with Cookin Pellets 100% hickory and was ready to cook.

The cyropac tenderloin was actually two small ones in a neat roll. I took them out of the brine at 3:00pm and tied to keep in an even sized roll. I seasoned them with some Penzey’s Cajun seasoning. They went in the fridge on a rack until my 4:30 cooking time. I wanted them done by 6:00pm.

I can’t use the temp read out to cook by on my new Ortech controller so I use my Maverick ET 732 to monitor the grill level and meat temp. I got them on my preheated Traeger at 4:30; I did them at 250 deg. for 45 minutes. I went to 300 deg. for 20 minutes and then 350 deg. for the last 25 minutes for a total of 1 ½ hours to get 145 deg. IT in the tenderloins.

Just after I put the tenderloins on I baked a small take home and bake baguette to have. I took out enough potatoes, Ore Ida wedges with olive oil and sea salt, and nuked them for a minute to thaw.
They went in a wire basket and on the smoker for the last 45 minutes.

When the tenderloins were done I turned the smoker down and left the potatoes in. I tented the tenderloins with foil and did my veggies, Green Giant carrots, broccoli and cauliflower in cheese sauce, for 8 minutes in the microwave.


I brought the potatoes in, sliced the meat and served with bread and butter. The tenderloins were some of the best I have done, moist and fork tender; like eating pork filet mignon. It will make a good sandwich tomorrow for supper. There was a definite maple syrup taste and the Cajun seasoning complimented it. I would have liked a little more maple syrup taste, maybe a longer brine the next time or brush on some maple syrup and sear at the end.
Brine Ingredients














The brine














Tied and seasoned after the brine














All done














Ready to slice


Sliced













My Plate


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