For a meal that is celebratory, you just can’t beat tenderloin. Its tenderness and luxuriousness practically scream important dinner, and its cost backs that claim up. Most people don’t just toss a tenderloin in the oven because—I don’t know, it’s Wednesday? This is meat for special occasions. And the great thing about tenderloin is that it doesn’t need a lot of work to make it fantastic. Simple seasoning, proper temperature control, and you’re there.

But have you tried smoking a beef tenderloin? Oh, you should! Take all the ease, all the deliciousness, all the tender goodness, and add a nice, light layer of smoke to it? Please! This dish is a killer combination of fun smoke flavor and total beef tenderness, and it’s only going to take about an hour. But hold tight, let’s look at what’s going on.

Tenderloin Techniques

As you may have seen on our blog before, tenderloin comes from one of the most under-used muscle areas on a cow, meaning it is exceedingly tender. But this tenderness is accompanied by an extreme leanness, meaning the meat can be easy to overcook and dry out.

We ran tests to find out whether a traditional high-heat cook in the oven was the best method of cooking this cut, and we found that lower and slower heat yielded a more evenly cooked tenderloin than did the heat-blast method, without taking too long to cook.

Slow-cooking advantages

The advantages of this lower-temp cooking method include edge-to-edge pinkness without almost any gray band, and a decreased risk of overcooking an expensive cut of meat. But this method also means that tenderloin is an ideal cut for smoking! Low, slow cooking is, of course, the mantra of the pitmaster, and the tenderloin plays very well by those rules.

The lack of connective tissue separates the tenderloin from the traditional smoking meats like brisket, pork shoulder, and ribs, but that actually plays to our advantage. Tenderloin will be done at around 125°F (52°C), meaning you won’t have to get past the dreaded ‘stall,’ and you don’t have to wait for collagen to break down into gelatin. You just get the meat warm enough to become palatable to you, and it’s done. There’s no pressure on the muscle fibrils to expel their water, no extreme denaturing of the proteins, just a perfect medium rare (or medium, depending on your taste) tenderloin.

For the exact degree of doneness that you like, use the Smoke X4™ or RFX MEAT to monitor the meat temperature. The two probe channels and the long-range receiver make it super easy to track your cook, which is important so that you don’t overcook your tenderloin by even a few degrees.

How to Smoke the Tenderloin

For this cook, we followed Steven Raichlen’s recipe for whole smoked tenderloin, which is as basic a recipe as you can get but is wonderful for how it showcases the tenderness and succulence of this mild cut of beef. Strongly flavored rubs will hide the flavor of a tenderloin, so a simple rub with salt—and/or smoked salt— and pepper is all that is needed. The meat is put on the smoker without an initial sear and is cooked at a mere 300°F (149°C). If you wanted to drop that temp even lower, to a smoker temp of ~220°F (104°C), you absolutely could. It will take longer, but even more smoke flavor will imbue itself into the meat. Either way, be sure to verify the doneness temperature with a fast and accurate thermometer like Thermapen^® ONE so you can be sure everything is just right.

You will also want to trim and tie the tenderloin (or have a butcher trim and tie it for you). Tying the tenderloin creates a more uniform shape along the length of the meat, which means more even cooking. If the tail is flopping around in the smoker, it will be well overcooked by the time the center is done. A cylindrical shape is very effective for even heat transfer, so that’s what we’re shooting for.

A tenderloin is a great way to celebrate, and celebrate big, not only because it’s easy, it’s fast, but also—especially—because it’s incredibly delicious. And with your Smoke X4 or RFX MEAT, you can monitor this expensive cut to a perfect doneness that will be the delight of you and all your guests. Give it a try, we think you’ll like it.