Smoking one for Christmas this year and looked at recipes with Meat Church, Traeger, and Aaron Franklin to get some ideas. Figured I'd get some ideas from all of you on what has worked best.

Pretty much do Meat Church's, although I do salt the day before and put on rack in a sheet pan. I also take mine off around 105, and then when i'm searing it off, I also baste it with melted butter, because why not. By taking off a few degrees earlier, I can make sure I get the sear I want without over cooking it.

I usually tie it up (wrap the tail so its not too thin), rub with olive oil and add salt/pepper.

I smoke at 250 until 110 or so. Then I reverse sear it to temp. Always comes out great.

Same as above. The salting overnight seems to make a difference, so always do that. Sometimes add garlic and pepper.

I have done it low in the smoker with the reverse sear, high on a gas grill and high in the oven. All work equally well for me depending on where I am at and what appliances are available. Honestly pretty hard to mess up other than overcooking. I'm always a little surprised how impressed people seem to be with it, given how easy it is. (I'm a novice cook with no training.)

Key seems to be making good sauces to go with it.

It's a super tender cut. Easy and stays tender and juicy as long as you don't overcook it. I always make a sauce since it doesn't have a ton of flavor alone. Usually wine, butter, mushroom, and herbs.

Yeah I'd never smoke a tenderloin

I've enjoyed smoked ones the couple times I did it. Bigger piece is probably better. Season heavily, I like Lowry's and black pepper. It doesn't need a long, low cook to break down tough tissue so I go kind of hot and fast (300-350F). Pull it when it's 10F short of your desired doneness (med rare for me) and rest it before carving.

Here's what I'm trying this Christmas

Yep, this is the one I watched and considered. May add a few of those garlic parmesan dollops from HEB.

Would sure like to have one of those Montana chef's knives he uses in that video but at $475 I think I'll have to pass.

First time making one and I think it turned out great. Untrimmed black angus. Salted, trimmed, and tied it the day before (would have preferred to salt more in advance but wasn't in town to do so). Mixed avocado oil, black pepper, minced garlic, rosemary, and thyme and rubbed that on it, then put it on pellet smoker at 225 until it reached 125 then put it in convection oven set at 525 for 10 minutes. Was cooking at my parents and would have loved to used the new carbon steel griddle I bought for my mom's Christmas gift for the searing, but that is unfortunately lost in the mail somewhere.

Would also like to hear a follow up from those that said not to smoke.

I smoked then reversed seared two prime beef tenderloins yesterday from Costco. We had 12 people over everyone seemed to love it. Very tender. We also tried baking Yukon Gold potatoes instead of russet. So much better.

The Horseradish Cream was a major hit.

1/2 cup heavy cream, very cold
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1/4 cup prepared horseradish, drained
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (to taste)


Meanwhile, whisk the cream and vinegar in a very cold bowl until it holds soft peaks. Whisk in horseradish, salt and pepper. (Unused cream will stay good, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to a week.)


Also the W Sauce as a binder was ridiculously awesome.

Did three prime chateaubriands. Salted the day before, garlic and pepper then in 200 degree oven until 130. Finished by searing them on the Evo, served with horseradish cream.

gigem70 said:

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Would sure like to have one of those Montana chef's knives he uses in that video but at $475 I think I'll have to pass.

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I agree but It was a milestone birthday for me so I got it the day it was offered before it sold out. I like it and it comes in handy for the big meats.

I did a tenderloin once on a pellet smoker. Covered it with a chimichurri type concoction. Reverse sear. Turned out great

Now of course I have always loved chimichurri type things from South American restaurants but everyone else loved it as well.

I ended up using the Meat Church video for a guide, and also used their Cowboy Butter and Horseradish sauce.
I almost pushed the reverse sear too far as you can tell, thankfully the burn marks look worse than they were as it was just on the bark (broke off while slicing it).

Turned out perfect, great mild smoke taste...medium rare in the middle, the medium on the ends.
That cowboy butter is legit...made a lot of it to use in the future!

Thank you for the suggestions!

I'm smoking a beef tenderloin tonight and doing a reverse sear after. Normally with a roasted beef tenderloin would use some rosemary and thyme herb rub, but I'm wondering if the herbs would impart some bitterness with the sear. Should I just stick with S&P for the seasoning?

I used 2 Gringos Chupacabra Steak Seasoning on mine pretty frequently, and everyone really enjoys them. Can't ever go wrong with just salt pepper and garlic, but any steak seasoning will also work well. Also have used Bolner's Fiesta Uncle Chris' steak seasoning and it works well also.

DTP02 said:

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I'm smoking a beef tenderloin tonight and doing a reverse sear after. Normally with a roasted beef tenderloin would use some rosemary and thyme herb rub, but I'm wondering if the herbs would impart some bitterness with the sear. Should I just stick with S&P for the seasoning?

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I have reverse seared both a rib roast and beef tenderloin with fresh rosemary and thyme on it and can't say I've noticed any bitterness from them.

I've never used direct heat for the sear with either herb (broil or high heat convection for the cooks I mentioned above), so if your plan is to slap it on a griddle it might be different.

My go to if I smoke is smoke at 225 till 120.

Let rest 30 mins then slice 1" to 2" and sear both sides in hot as eff skillet.

DTP02 said:

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I'm smoking a beef tenderloin tonight and doing a reverse sear after. Normally with a roasted beef tenderloin would use some rosemary and thyme herb rub, but I'm wondering if the herbs would impart some bitterness with the sear. Should I just stick with S&P for the seasoning?

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Turned out great. Did an SPG rub for two hours in fridge and smoked for about an hour until internal read 115. Got some good flames going and then seared roughly 1.5-2 minutes x 3 "sides" until I had some good caramelization. Rested for 10 minutes and center was reading 130 and ends were at 134. Perfect for providing some doneness options.

Did a red wine and jus (and some beef stock) reduction with fresh thyme and rosemary.

Served with Andrea Immer's mashed sweet potatoes with fresh thyme and balsamic reduction.

Big hit.

gigem70 said:

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Would sure like to have one of those Montana chef's knives he uses in that video but at $475 I think I'll have to pass.

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Nothing like a great knife. I have a couple daily users much less in cost. I have 4 Japanese knives that exceed that cost. Just keep a quality chef's knife sharpened and you will be good.