Lomo al Trapo? Beef in a salty towel?

[otherdave]

I saw this on Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/l...alt-crust.html

I really want to give it a try. I also really love pork tenderloin. Does anyone with more experience have any advice for substituting pork for beef? I'm not sure how fast one cooks compared to the other or if there's any reason pork would be a terrible idea.

I'm hoping this works, mainly to have it as a simple camping recipe since it doesn't require a lot of work AND you burn up or eat most of the equipment so there's less to pack up to take back home!

[_John_]

Looks pretty awesome, I would be interested in the pork aspect, seems like pork loin would be too thick and tenderloin too thin, though you could remove it early. Let us know how it goes!

[x101airborne]

I am SOOO doing that with some venison backstraps.

[(brownie)]

Take two pork tenderloins, thick end to skinny end tied together.

[DJ DeSpain]

I recommended this to a buddy of mine who is a pack leader for cub scouts as that would be an ideal test for camping conditions. If he does it. I'll post his results.

[OGMrWhite]

I saw this on serious eats as well. Told my dad about it (who lives in Ecuador and owns every BBQ I want to own), his friend saw my post and decided to beat him to the punch. They reported that they did 10 min, flip 15 minute and it was overdone (like M. well). They felt that 10 min flip 10 min would be better, and to crack off the crust right away, since it seemed to climb 30 degrees (their words, not mine. I don't think they used a thermo) after pulling off the coals and resting with the wrap still on.

[otherdave]

OGMrWhite - it's good to see that their experiences match up with what the dude in SE says regarding the temp climbing after it was pulled off. I'll make sure I'm careful when I do it.

I'm hoping to get to the butcher soon and have something to play with over the long weekend.

Thanks to everyone here for the ideas & encouragement. I'm generally forgetful when it comes to snapping pictures while cooking but I'll try to capture something and post my results if I can make this happen.

[Hondo]

This looks fantastic! I've got to try this... my crew loves a good show!

[andrwgrcia]

I saw this on serious eats as well. Told my dad about it (who lives in Ecuador and owns every BBQ I want to own), his friend saw my post and decided to beat him to the punch. They reported that they did 10 min, flip 15 minute and it was overdone (like M. well). They felt that 10 min flip 10 min would be better, and to crack off the crust right away, since it seemed to climb 30 degrees (their words, not mine. I don't think they used a thermo) after pulling off the coals and resting with the wrap still on.

Not sure if you are still following this thread. I came across the recipe on SE the other day and cooked it over the weekend. I interpreted the instructions a bit differently than you, they are far from clear, and cooked it for 10 minutes on the first side and an additional 5 minutes on the second side for a cumulative 15 minutes. When I probed the meat it was about 90 - 95 degrees in the center depending where I probed. I then rested it for 10 minutes and it continued to heat to about 120 - 125 degrees. So, results were roughly inline with what the author suggested.

I did find that it cooked unevenly, which I believe is probably a result of my not getting an even 1/2" of salt all the way around as I rolled it, but I think this is something that should improve with practice.

I would be interested to hear if you have continued to play with the recipe, or if the novelty wore off. If you continue to play with it, have you experimented with other proteins such as pork?

[Polarbear777]

Old thread, but I’ve done this before. And it is fun.

It is guaranteed to cook unevenly with this method because of the huge thermal gradient, but if you get it out at the right time, you can still get a rareish center. Outside is well done but very salty so if you eat slices you’ll get the right mix of salt, crust, and rare/med-rare juiciness.

Not ideal cooking in that perfect sense but it does make tenderloin much more interesting and fun.

[mountainsmoker]

Yes remember a salt dome will always hold the heat in. Even a normal carry over cook will raise temps 5-10 degrees. The salt dome being a mineral blanket will hold the heat even better and the 20-25 degrees is not unheard of. That is why they crack the dome of a fish as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Well good luck on your cook and may it come out

[Polarbear777]

Yep. It’s tricky to get it right. You can probe temp it when you pull it. But that carry over is significant and somewhat variable and you have to allow for it.

[FireMan]

Sounds very, very cool! Looks cool too!