You can never go wrong with smoked chicken thighs, smoked turkey and this easy and fabulous smoked pork. It’s tender, juicy and packed with tons of flavor.
Smoked Pork Tenderloin Ingredients
When you smoke pork tenderloin you will first need a brine made with apple cider (not apple cider vinegar), water, salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns, an orange, a lemon, rosemary and bay leaves. To smoke the pork you will want pork tenderloin, BBQ dry rub and BBQ sauce. Add some fantastic summer side dishes like dill potato salad, grilled peaches or avocado corn salad for a delicious dinner!
How Do You Smoke Pork Tenderloin?
The first step to this recipe is to trim any excess fat or silver skin. Some pork tenderloin is sold already trimmed and you can skip this step. Next prepare a simple brine made with apple cider, salt, sugar, citrus, garlic and herbs. The pork needs to soak in the brine for 2 hours. Brining the pork helps to prevent it from drying out during the low and slow cooking process. After the pork is brined, it’s rolled in homemade spice rub and then goes into the smoker. Heat it to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to keep track of the temperature. Slather on BBQ sauce put it back in the smoker at a lower temperature for 30 minutes. Then you’ll be ready to eat!
Tips For Smoked Pork Tenderloin
I prepare this recipe with two tenderloins so that it feeds more people. Often you can find two tenderloins packaged together. If you prefer to smoke just one piece of meat, you can easily cut the recipe in half. You can cook your pork directly on the grill grates of the smoker, or in a disposable aluminum foil pan which makes clean up a lot easier. Use a sharp knife for cutting nice, even slices of pork. If you have the time, I recommend whipping up a batch of my homemade BBQ sauce to go on your pork. That being said, a high quality store bought sauce would also be delicious! I like to use fruit woods like apple wood or cherry wood for a mild smoky flavor. For a more intense smoke you can use hickory wood.
Smoked Pork Variations
While this recipe is fantastic as-is, there are some ways to customize it to your own taste:
Spicy: Add a tablespoon of hot sauce to your barbecue sauce for a little extra zing. Teriyaki: Try adding two tablespoons of teriyaki sauce to your barbecue sauce for a delicious flavor. Mexican: Try using a tablespoon of taco seasoning as your dry rub and omit the barbecue sauce.
What I love about this recipe is that the combination of the brine and rub turns out perfect results every time. Eat this pork tenderloin over mashed potatoes or rice, or slice it thin and pile it on a sandwich. Regardless of how you serve it, it’s sure to bring in rave reviews!
