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Smoked Pork Tenderloin

Create the most amazing, melt-in-your-mouth Smoked Pork Tenderloin with this simple recipe! This is seriously the best pork tenderloin you've ever had! It starts with an overnight brine that tenderizes the meat, then it's coated in a flavorful bbq rub and finished on the smoker with either bbq sauce or pepper jelly for an amazing flavor. This juicy, tender pork recipe is one that you'll want to toss on your smoker again and again!
Servings: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Brine Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 10 hours 50 minutes
Author: Whitney Bond
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Instructions

Brine

  • In a medium pot on the stove, bring 16 ounces of water to a boil.
  • Once the water is boiling, add the kosher salt and sugar.
  • Stir for 2-3 minutes, or until the sugar and salt are dissolved into the water.
  • Set aside and add 3-4 cups of ice cubes to the pot of water. This will help cool down the brine quickly, so that you can pour it over the pork tenderloin.
  • Once the brine water is at room temperature, or below, pour it over the pork tenderloin in a large bowl or zipper bag.
  • Add additional cold water, if needed, to cover the pork tenderloin.
  • Place in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours, or overnight.

Smoke

  • Preheat a smoker to 225 degrees F. Fill the smoker with applewood pellets, or another mild-to-medium flavored wood.
  • Remove the pork tenderloins from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Rub bbq seasoning on all sides of the pork tenderloins, until they’re completely covered.
  • Place the pork tenderloins in the preheated smoker.
  • Smoke until the internal temperature of the pork tenderloin reaches 138°F. You can expect around 2 hours, but remember to always smoke to temperature, not time!
  • Brush the jelly or bbq sauce on top of the pork tenderloin on the smoker. Leave the pork tenderloins on the smoker until they reach 140°F.
  • Remove the pork tenderloins from the smoker and place them on a cutting board. Loosely tent with foil, and rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. During this time, the pork tenderloins internal temperature will rise 5-10 degrees.
  • Slice into ¼ inch slices using an electric knife, or sharp butchers knife.

Notes

  • Optional: spritz the pork with apple juice every 30 minutes while it’s on the smoker. This keeps the pork nice and juicy, but it’s optional. If you don’t want to open the smoker while the pork is cooking, you can skip this step.
  • Cook to temperature, not time! The cooking time for smoked pork tenderloins will vary based on a number of things. For this reason, I always recommend using temperature, not time, to determine when to remove the pork from the smoker. That being said, you can expect between 2.5-3 hours for a standard pork tenderloin that’s between 1- 1.5 pounds. I recommend using an instant-read meat thermometer to begin checking the pork tenderloin after 2 hours. Then check it every 15-20 minutes after that, depending on where the temperature is at when you check it the first time.
  • You always want to trim any silver skin from the pork tenderloin before starting this recipe. Use a small, sharp knife to loosen it at the corner, then use a paper towel to pull it off of the tenderloin and discard it.
  • If you don’t have a kitchen scale to measure the weight of the salt and sugar in ounces, you can use 4 tablespoons kosher salt and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for this recipe.
  • You can skip the brining step if you’re short on time. The flavorful rub and low, slow smoke will still create flavorful, tender meat, even without the overnight brine.
  • Do not brine the pork for more than 16 hours. The pork tenderloins will become overly salty and it can ruin the texture of the pork.
  • Leftover smoked pork tenderloin will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to thinly slice the pork and make sandwiches or wraps. I also love to dice the pork and use it on salads or in egg scrambles. The pork is delicious diced up and repurposed in several different ways, either served cold or reheated.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 357kcal (18%)Carbohydrates 21g (7%)Protein 48g (96%)Fat 9g (14%)Saturated Fat 3g (15%)Polyunsaturated Fat 1gMonounsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 147mg (49%)Sodium 5626mg (234%)Potassium 943mg (27%)Fiber 1g (4%)Sugar 15g (17%)Vitamin A 336mg (7%)Vitamin C 3mg (4%)Calcium 94mg (9%)Iron 5mg (28%)
Did you make this recipe?Tag @WhitneyBond on Instagram and hashtag it #WBRecipes!