Servings: pcs.
Homemade Smoked Tenderloin
Delicious homemade cold-smoked pork tenderloin, perfect for a Danish lunch table. The process takes a long time, but the meat takes care of itself for most of it, and the result is outstanding.
Equipment
- Pot
- Chef'S Knife
- Cutting Board
- Storage Container
- Smoking Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pcs. Pork Tenderloin
- 0.5 l Water
- 75 gram Salt
- 25 gram Sugar
- Spices Peppercorns and bay leaves to taste
Instructions
Curing/Brining
- Start by making a brine consisting of 3/4 salt and 1/4 sugar, along with a few peppercorns and bay leaves.
- Bring the brine to a boil in a pot.
- Let it boil until the salt and sugar are dissolved, and let it cool to room temperature.
- Trim the tenderloin of tendons and fat.
- Place the tenderloin in a plastic container and cover it completely with the brine.
- Let it sit for 1-2 days, depending on how salty you want the meat.
- Rinse the tenderloin under running water until you are sure all the salt is gone.
- If you don't do this thoroughly, the meat will continue to "cook" where there's salt. Ensure it dries well afterward so it is ready to dry/age.
- Age the meat in the refrigerator, or better yet, in a dry-aging bag or a curing cabinet. Let it age for 2-7 days, depending on how firm you want the meat. We experimented in this case and aged it for 30 days, which was too long.
- You now have the following two options to complete the process:
Cold Smoking
- The temperature should be below 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), and the meat can be smoked for 5-10 hours, depending on how smoky you want the flavor.
Hot Smoking
- Heat your smoker to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 degrees Fahrenheit) and smoke the meat for 2-3 hours, depending on how smoky you want the flavor.
Notes
Feel free to make several tenderloins at once since it doesn’t take longer to make a larger batch. The meat is sliced thin and used like smoked pork loin. Smoked tenderloin can also be used as a flavorful and lower-fat alternative to bacon, and it can replace other types of pork charcuterie (like Serrano or Parma ham) if you enjoy the smoky flavor. Store the finished smoked tenderloins in the refrigerator, wrapped in a paper towel in an airtight container. They can also be frozen in the same packaging. The shelf life is about 14 days in the refrigerator and about 2 months in the freezer.