I have a couple of tenderloins I'm going to cook on the SnS kettle via 2-zone for dinner tonight. I've seen posts here and elsewhere that do this, and some do a front sear, 60-90 sec per side, then indirect until IT of 140-145, others the other way around, indirect to the high 130s then sear it off at the end.
At those temps I'm guessing you're talking pork not beef. Personally I'd do it front sear so that I'd get the amount of crust I want first then move to finish interior since pork is so unforgiving about dryness if you overshoot by just a few degrees. IMO rear sear involves some level of guessing on how much temp increase during sear and then carryover.
I just opened up the package, and it turns out that the two pieces are radically different shape/size:
The smaller one is super thin on the pointy end, very challenging to cook on high heat, so I'm going to sous vide that one and sear it quickly. I might cut the other one in half to have two kinds of seasoning, with one being the same as the SV piece. That step will allow a comparison of the same seasoning but different process, and if I cut the big piece in half, I'll be able to test different seasonings on the same process. My experimentalist heart is naturally attracted to that...
I've had good results folding the thin end back toward the thick end enough to even out the diameter of the total. A couple pieces of twine and you're good to go.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
fzxdoc You don't show up enough but when you do I always learn something new. I have sever selections of skewers but never put 2+2 together. Thank you.
I almost always cook ones that have been marinated... either in the package or by me.
I like to do a reverse sear. Especially if the marinade is a sweet one.
I cook mine to an IT of 150 before pulling and resting. Removes all of the pink, but still plenty juicy.
Reverse sear is my way with a big Apple fire, or a really hot cast iron in the house, but it’s hard to imagine messing up a pork temderloin my only bit is consider carry over when you pull it off to build your sear fire.
Ostensibly the fire would be plenty hot already, on the hot side. In my experience, the hot side becomes sear-ready within just a minute or two, so once the IT is there I can just lift the lid and wait til it's G2G.
IT at 140*F max for me or I seem to over cook them.
I "reverse sear", as it were, in my Traeger.
It seems when meat is cold and damp, they take on smoke flavor.
therefore, smoke first and then turn up the heat,
This is on a pellet grill, I never done this over charcoal, but you can getter done'
Don't forget pictures.
Traegerized a pork tenderloin
seasoned with Traeger Pork and Poultry rub.
1 hour at 225*F with super smoke
set temperature to 375*F
Done at 140*F internal.
Did not overcook this time.
Maybe should have rested a little longer.
Just for chips and giggles, I asked MS Copilot about it, and this is what I got back.
When you sear raw, you're fighting surface moisture that hasn't migrated yet, so it takes longer to get past evaporation into actual browning. Plus raw proteins contract more violently, potentially squeezing out juices right at the surface.
With reverse sear, the surface has already dried during the indirect phase, proteins are partially denatured, and there's less moisture blocking the Maillard reaction—so you get faster, deeper browning with less gray band underneath. The trade-off: sear-first gives you that crust locked in early (some argue it adds flavor to the indirect phase), while reverse-sear risks overcooking if you're not precise with your timing.
With tenderloin specifically, you're dealing with such a lean, delicate cut that the thermal history matters even more than with fattier cuts. The traditional sear-first method came from restaurant kitchens needing speed and workflow efficiency, not necessarily optimal results. Home cooks with good zone control (like your SnS setup) can exploit the science better: let the proteins relax and surface moisture migrate during the indirect phase, then hit them with concentrated heat when they're primed for rapid Maillard development.
Is it on any kind of right track there? It sure sounds plausible. I have wondered this for some time.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
However, I will preface by saying that after years of doing the reverse sear, I am in camp front sear lately, as I have found I am much less likely to overcook things.
And either way, fold that skinny bit back to make a more uniform shape as others suggested. Otherwise, it will be way way overdone even if just cooked indirect, without a sear.
Anyway, back to reverse sear. If you go that route, I would pull the protein at 120, then let it COOL for a bit before doing the sear. The trick is that the pork will still have a bit of carry over cooking no matter when you pull it, and if you cook it past 140, this tenderloin is gonna be dried out. You may want to only sear until you have an IT of 135 in fact, due to carry over.
Aw, thanks Jim! I will absolutely tie back that flap as suggested. Don't know why that didn't occur to me. I may try to get fancy and do one of each on the same load of coals as an experiment. I did that once before on a pair of strip steaks. It's a juggling act for sure... we'll see...
I'm a reverse sear guy, pull about 135 and crank up the fire and sear. These always come out good. I always cook 2 together, tied them head to tail so I get a uniform shape. The picture is 4 tenderloins, tied 2 together. Cooked on a PK 360.
I don't have any sliced up pics, as we took these to a dinner we did for some of our local unhoused group.
Here's a recipe for the plum sauce that we used, it's good.
Ingredients
1-13 oz. jar red plum preserves. We like the Bonne Maman brand
2 Tbl. butter
1 small onion diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup chili sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 TBL. lemon juice
2 tsp dry mustard
3 drops of hot sauce
Directions
Sauté onion in butter until clear, 4-5 minutes Mix plum preserves and all ingredients together, add to the onion, cook over medium heat, uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring often. It will thicken and become a beautiful red color
fzxdoc I could literally just drink the sauce, it's that good. We'll usually have mashed potatoes with the pork and I end up putting the sauce all over them.
I’m a BIG fan of the reverse sear, and tell all my non grilling friends about it. However, for a small/thin cut like this I tend to do the front sear, as the browning can take more time (relatively speaking, in proportion to the total cook time), and this way it helps avoid overcooking. Just my thoughts.
Hey folks, here are the deliverables for this experiment. I managed to test two things at the same time: 1) One tenderloin cleft in twain, same seasoning on both pieces, one cooked front sear, the other reverse sear. 2) Two pieces, both reverse seared, but with different seasonings.
We keep a supply of those little skewers fzxdoc Kathryn wrote about above, so I used a few to regularize the shape of that smaller piece. I cut the larger in half, and both of those got Jenni In A Bottle rub, and the smaller piece got just salt, pepper, garlic powder (at lower right below).
I ran half a chimney of B&B coals, and had another half chimney of lump ready to light if need be, but that turned out not to be necessary, the B&B handled it all like a champ. First step was to sear one half of the larger cut, 90 seconds per "side", given that the things are a little bit squared off. Then over to the indirect side with the other two.
Turns out the front seared piece reached almost 125/52 just from the searing step, so it came off fifteen minutes later at 145/63. I let it sit in this dish covered in foil right on the kettle shelf for about ten minutes to pump the brakes on carryover, then stuck it in the oven in the kitchen at its lowest setting of 170/77 while the other two pieces finished cooking.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the rev sear pieces did their thing. SPG on the left, JIAB on the right.
Then seared after pulling them in the high 130s/just under 60.
Only the rev seared JIAB piece overshot, reaching 152/67, but the other two pieces did not exceed 145/63. Note the front-seared piece was kept above 130/54 while in the holding oven. Left to right: SPG, JIAB rev sear, JIAB front sear.
All three pieces were juicy as all getout when slicing. Same order as above.
Plated with jasmine rice and green beans. Now L to R it's the rev sear SPG piece, rev sear JIAB, front sear JIAB.
Both my lovely bride and I had a hard time telling these apart, aside from the seasonings. I expected the piece that hit the higher temp to be significantly drier, but it really wasn't. It was noticeable, but very slight. All three were absolutely tender and delicious.
I could just detect a slight difference in bite between the rev seared and front seared pieces. The front-seared crust seemed thinner and had some strength to it, meaning I could feel it being bitten through. The rev seared pieces seemed to lack that feature - and we're talking about a *very* subtle difference. I doubt I would have picked it up if I hadn't been looking for a difference, given the test that was afoot.
The one thing I find advantageous about doing rev sear for this cut on a charcoal cooker is this. In a front sear, you have to get the kettle temp back down for the indirect step after searing, and that takes time, potentially complicating the cook depending on what else you have on the menu. That was a challenge last night, along with the front-seared piece having a much higher IT after the sear than I'd anticipated.
On the other hand, in rev sear, you don't care. Complete the indirect step, take the lid off and open the vents, sear, walk away for the night. Given how trivial the differences were here, next time I do this cut on the kettle, I'll reverse sear for sure.
Thanks for following along on my navel-gazing adventure!
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