Basil & Garlic Pork Tenderloins–Part I, the prep…

It is my firm opinion that every grill cook needs a supportive beverage. Preferably one with some alcohol in it. For this prep session I’ll be turning to an old favorite, Sam Adams Octoberfest.

Step 1: The Beer

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Step 2: Ingredients (Wet and Dry)

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This recipe is based upon a recipe from Adam Perry Lang’s BBQ25 cookbook. I revised it a bit using the fresh basil growing my garden in front of my house. There is nothing like using fresh herbs. Just bringing the basil in doors filled my downstairs with its smell. Here are the list of ingredients for the brine/marinade

Dry Ingredients Wet Ingredients
  • 3 tbsp kosher salt
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar (homemade)
  • 1 tsp blk pepper
  • 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp dried crushed Aleppo Peppers (Williams-Sonoma
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 1 bunch fresh basil
  • 6 cps cold water

Step 3: Making the Brine/Marinade

I guess this mixture is more a marinade than a straight brine. But  I guess it is functioning as a bit of both since it has kosher salt and brown sugar. Do yourself a favor and use fresh herbs and brown sugar. The payoff is worth it. After all, you will be eating this. In the picture below I’ve minced the garlic (peeled) and basil in my food processor. In the other container I’ve mixed the dry spices.

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Step 4: The tenderloins

My wife picked up this pack of pork tenderloins at our local Giant Supermarket. I was originally going to cook Bone-in Pork Loin Roasts, but these were on sale. As you can see, I was accommodating.

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Step 5 – Brining/Marinading

Here you see two tenderloins in a 1 Gallon ziploc freezer bag. I split the resultant mixture in half and poured it over the tenderloins in both bags. I plan on marinading these overnight and cooking them tomorrow. I’ll be back with the second half of this post after I cook these.

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Basil & Garlic Grill Roasted Pork Tenderloins–Part II (Cook)

Here is the follow-up to my previous post, Tenderloins Part I

Step 4: Tenderloins pulled out of the refrigerator after a soaking in brine/marinade overnight. Aroma of the fresh basil and garlic was still rich after a night’s soaking.

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Step 5: Here I’m just putting the tenderloins on. Grill surface is medium hot right now. With lid closed the temp was around 375. As you can see I have my cast-iron half moon griddle taking care of some onion burgers on the side.

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Step 6: Here are the tenderloins about halfway through at about 15 minutes. I’ve flipped the cast iron griddle over so the grill part is up top. My plan during this cook was to use the cast iron griddle as a constant heat source as the single layer of coals on the right started burning down. Underneath the griddle is a weber charcoal basket to provide a longer term source of heat. If I plan this right, the briquettes on the right side would have burned down and the griddle will be the source of indirect heat as the tenderloins finish on the right.

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Step 7: Here are the tenderloins just as I’m pulling them off the grill.  I guess for my attempt at tenderloins they came out pretty good. I was looking for a darker more carmelized outer surface. Maybe a higher temp setting using lump and briquettes might do the trick. Total cook time was 45 minutes.

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Step 8: A tenderloin sliced after resting for about 15 minutes. Oh, the fork in the shot got a good amount of use prior to this picture being taken!

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