Newbie help for Xmas Whole beef tenderloin on BGE

run53 · November 2017

Just got my large BGE last weekend and I've made salmon and pizza so far with great results. We host Christmas diner every year and my standard is (2) whole beef tenderloins for 15-20 people. Of course, I'd like to cook it on my BGE rather than in the oven like I've done in the past.

I don't think I'll have the time to do a practice run and as as you can imagine, it gets pretty hectic on Christmas. So, I want to try to keep the cook on the BGE as simple as possible but of course with decent results. So, here is my plan .......please critique and let me know if you see any major issues with it.

Buy (2) whole cryovac tenderloins from BJ's club (same as every year)
trim and tie myself (they will do it but i am not happy with their results)
Simple rub from the local butcher shop (mostly salt,pepper, garlic powder and a few other secret spices)
Bring to room temp
Sear on my gas grill
cook indirect (350-400 degrees) on the BGE (mesquite wood chunks) and pull at 125 (I'm guessing less than 1 hour).
Use my DOT to monitor the inside during cook but use the Thermapen when close
rest in foil tent for 10-15 minutes (looking for medium rare to medium on ends)

Pretty much the same way I have done it every other year in the past, so the only difference is the indirect cook in the BGE with the wood chunks. I know I could do the sear on the BGE as well, but I'm nervous about raising the temps for a reverse and lowering for a pre-sear. Having only a couple of BGE cooks under my belt, I'd rather play it safe, especially when i have 20 guests and other side dished to deal with.

Thoughts?

Foghorn · November 2017

That sounds like a great plan.

Personally, I'd run the BGE at a lower temp (250-275) as that will give you more consistency of doneness when you slice it (less brown on the edges).

You can do a forward sear (sear first) on the egg if you light your fire and leave the lid open and catch the hot fire before it gets all the ceramic really hot. Then when you put in the platesetter and close the lid and close down the vents the BGE will be in the ballpark of the roasting temperature you are looking for. But the "sear on the gas grill" plan is definitely a safer and more conservative way to go. That's probably best for this year....

jtcBoynton · November 2017

My comments: Your method will work, just some minor comments to consider.

run53 said:

...

I don't think I'll have the time to do a practice run and as as you can imagine, it gets pretty hectic on Christmas. So, I want to try to keep the cook on the BGE as simple as possible but of course with decent results. So, here is my plan .......please critique and let me know if you see any major issues with it.
....
Bring to room temp - (the 3 hours left sitting on the counter to get to room temp are unnecessary)
Sear on my gas grill - (searing first will work, but searing last can get better results, with the slight risk of over doing the inside. Since this is the first time using your egg for this, searing first is safer and I would recommend it considering you are serving to guests)
cook indirect (350-400 degrees) on the BGE (mesquite wood chunks) and pull at 125 (I'm guessing less than 1 hour). - (better off at lower temp to get more uniform doneness on the inside of the meat, try 250-275º)
Use my DOT to monitor the inside during cook but use the Thermapen when close
rest in foil tent for 10-15 minutes (looking for medium rare to medium on ends)

Pretty much the same way I have done it every other year in the past, so the only difference is the indirect cook in the BGE with the wood chunks. I know I could do the sear on the BGE as well, but I'm nervous about raising the temps for a reverse and lowering for a pre-sear. Having only a couple of BGE cooks under my belt, I'd rather play it safe, especially when i have 20 guests and other side dished to deal with. - (wise. try reverse sear and 100% egg on a night without guests coming)

Thoughts?

run53 · November 2017

Any idea approx. how much extra time might be required to cook them at 250-275? Will have (2) 4 pound tenderloins to cook after trimming.

I don't really care that it will take longer, my wife just needs an approximate ETA as a goal for the side dish preparations, so i can just start it sooner.

Foghorn · November 2017

90 minutes +/- 20 minutes.

run53 · November 2017

Foghorn said:

90 minutes +/- 20 minutes.

I can deal with that....thanks!

mEGG_My_Day · November 2017

I did reverse sear whole beef tenderloin for thanksgiving, and it was a huge hit with my guests. This is what I did:

- seasoned with only kosher salt and pepper
- let tenderloin sit on counter about 45 minutes to warm to room temp
- set up lbge indirect at 275 with a few cherry chunks
- put the tenderloin on with prob till internal temp was 128. (About 1.5 to 2 hours) This will end up medium rare. Removed tenderloin and tented with foil.
- remove placesetter, and open top and bottom vents wide, till the fire was screaming hot -about ten minutes.
- seared tenderloin about 1.5 minutes on all four sides. Just sear as long as it takes to get the color/char you like.
- pulled tenderloin and let it rest 10 minutes.
- slice and serve with two sauces on the side: a chimichurri and a horseradish sauce.

From the time the tenderloin went on the bge till ready to slice was about 2.0 to 2.5 hours (this is an estimate. I didn't really time it because we weren't on a time schedule)

This method will give you an evenly cooked priece of meat from edge to edge.

Good luck and have fun!!

JohnInCarolina · November 2017

I find that with beef tenderloin, the wood smoke alone is not quite enough to give it the zip in flavor I prefer. Give this relatively easy APL recipe a look:

https://cookingquest.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/whole-beef-tenderloin-with-honey-and-worcestershire-crust/

The approach is a forward sear. The crust that forms on this with the honey and worcestershire is incredible. Lots of folks here have tried it.

StillH2OEgger · November 2017

mEGG_My_Day said:

I did reverse sear whole beef tenderloin for thanksgiving, and it was a huge hit with my guests. This is what I did:

- seasoned with only kosher salt and pepper
- let tenderloin sit on counter about 45 minutes to warm to room temp
- set up lbge indirect at 275 with a few cherry chunks
- put the tenderloin on with prob till internal temp was 128. (About 1.5 to 2 hours) This will end up medium rare. Removed tenderloin and tented with foil.
- remove placesetter, and open top and bottom vents wide, till the fire was screaming hot -about ten minutes.
- seared tenderloin about 1.5 minutes on all four sides. Just sear as long as it takes to get the color/char you like.
- pulled tenderloin and let it rest 10 minutes.
- slice and serve with two sauces on the side: a chimichurri and a horseradish sauce.

From the time the tenderloin went on the bge till ready to slice was about 2.0 to 2.5 hours (this is an estimate. I didn't really time it because we weren't on a time schedule)

This method will give you an evenly cooked priece of meat from edge to edge.

Good luck and have fun!!

Lots of ways to achieve good results, but I'd be more inclined to pull and tent at 128 after the sear, rather than starting my sear at that temp. The only way to screw this up is to overshoot on temp or introducing too much smoke.

run53 · November 2017

JohnInCarolina said:

I find that with beef tenderloin, the wood smoke alone is not quite enough to give it the zip in flavor I prefer. Give this relatively easy APL recipe a look:

https://cookingquest.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/whole-beef-tenderloin-with-honey-and-worcestershire-crust/

The approach is a forward sear. The crust that forms on this with the honey and worcestershire is incredible. Lots of folks here have tried it.

That sounds awesome......but the way i read it, it requires brushing every few minutes. And frequent turning. I'm not sure I'm up to paying that close attention to it while all my guests are there. Seems like a lot of opening and closing the Egg. I was hoping to sear it and then do an indirect bake at 300 or so, maybe turning once. Am I misinterpreting that recipe?

If doesn't require constant babysitting, i might give it a try as it sounds really good.

Also, the recipe doesn't specify BGE temps. Just high and medium. Would that equate to 600/350 ?

JohnInCarolina · November 2017

run53 said:

JohnInCarolina said:

I find that with beef tenderloin, the wood smoke alone is not quite enough to give it the zip in flavor I prefer. Give this relatively easy APL recipe a look:

https://cookingquest.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/whole-beef-tenderloin-with-honey-and-worcestershire-crust/

The approach is a forward sear. The crust that forms on this with the honey and worcestershire is incredible. Lots of folks here have tried it.

That sounds awesome......but the way i read it, it requires brushing every few minutes. And frequent turning. I'm not sure I'm up to paying that close attention to it while all my guests are there. Seems like a lot of opening and closing the Egg. I was hoping to sear it and then do an indirect bake at 300 or so, maybe turning once. Am I misinterpreting that recipe?

If doesn't require constant babysitting, i might give it a try as it sounds really good.

Also, the recipe doesn't specify BGE temps. Just high and medium. Would that equate to 600/350 ?

With all of these type of recipes, my view is that they’re really just suggestions. It’s a place to start. Q is more art than science.

You can do that recipe brushing on the glaze in the last ten minutes. For the temp during the roasting phase, personally I go rather low, like 250. The lid stays closed for a good hour at least. That allows it to take more time and pick up a bit more smoke.

Use what makes sense to you as you want to cook it. This is an awesome recipe and everyone I know who’s tried it loves it. Good luck!

mEGG_My_Day · November 2017

StillH2OEgger said:

mEGG_My_Day said:

I did reverse sear whole beef tenderloin for thanksgiving, and it was a huge hit with my guests. This is what I did:

- seasoned with only kosher salt and pepper
- let tenderloin sit on counter about 45 minutes to warm to room temp
- set up lbge indirect at 275 with a few cherry chunks
- put the tenderloin on with prob till internal temp was 128. (About 1.5 to 2 hours) This will end up medium rare. Removed tenderloin and tented with foil.
- remove placesetter, and open top and bottom vents wide, till the fire was screaming hot -about ten minutes.
- seared tenderloin about 1.5 minutes on all four sides. Just sear as long as it takes to get the color/char you like.
- pulled tenderloin and let it rest 10 minutes.
- slice and serve with two sauces on the side: a chimichurri and a horseradish sauce.

From the time the tenderloin went on the bge till ready to slice was about 2.0 to 2.5 hours (this is an estimate. I didn't really time it because we weren't on a time schedule)

This method will give you an evenly cooked priece of meat from edge to edge.

Good luck and have fun!!

Lots of ways to achieve good results, but I'd be more inclined to pull and tent at 128 after the sear, rather than starting my sear at that temp. The only way to screw this up is to overshoot on temp or introducing too much smoke.

I agree that the only way to screw this up iis to overcook. This method always comes out med rare pink for me - I don't think the internal temp of the tenderloin rises much in the sear - it just puts a crust on the outside. I do tend to get thick tenderloins, which may inhibit more cooking during the sear.

run53 · November 2017

JohnInCarolina said:

With all of these type of recipes, my view is that they’re really just suggestions. It’s a place to start. Q is more art than science.

You can do that recipe brushing on the glaze in the last ten minutes. For the temp during the roasting phase, personally I go rather low, like 250. The lid stays closed for a good hour at least. That allows it to take more time and pick up a bit more smoke.

Use what makes sense to you as you want to cook it. This is an awesome recipe and everyone I know who’s tried it loves it. Good luck!

Thanks for the tips. I can deal with brushing the glaze for the last 10 minutes, especially if the result is a good as everyone says it is. My mouth is watering just looking at the pictures. I think I'll go out and buy a whole one and cut it in thirds (freeze the rest) just to test run the recipe this weekend.

SoCal_Griller · December 2017

One other thing to consider is your choice of wood for the smoke. I find Mesquite to be to strong for a low and slow. I find it creates a strong bitter flavor. Everybody is different but for that kind of money and your guests you may want to consider something like oak.

run53 · December 2017

SoCal_Griller said:

One other thing to consider is your choice of wood for the smoke. I find Mesquite to be to strong for a low and slow. I find it creates a strong bitter flavor. Everybody is different but for that kind of money and your guests you may want to consider something like oak.

Thanks for that input. I'm very new to this as you can tell. I actually ran it by a friend at work this afternoon and he said the same thing. He said either Oak or no wood at all.

500 · December 2019

Thread rehash; I have a whole tenderloin trimmed. Looking forward to this one.

dmourati · December 2019

Forward sear at 500F 2 mins per side to build a nice crust and then take off and shut down the egg to get it to about 250-300F. Put the tenderloins back on indirect and flip after 10 minutes. Cook to 125F internal temp at the thickest part.

Botch · December 2019

SoCal_Griller said:

One other thing to consider is your choice of wood for the smoke. I find Mesquite to be to strong for a low and slow. I find it creates a strong bitter flavor. Everybody is different but for that kind of money and your guests you may want to consider something like oak.

I like mesquite, but use just a very little bit of it (say, a palmful of chips).
I know a lot of the barbecue places in Texas (the "shacks") use 100% mesquite, but it's burned down to coals before the brisket is thrown on. Hard to get long-lasting coals with chips; just going for a small amount has worked for me (but I've done no side-by-side tests. Yet.)

Newbie help for Xmas Whole beef tenderloin on BGE

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