Bar Towel Tenderloin

Rascal8

What fun!  Rub and tie two pork tenderloins together.  Wet cotton bar towel and dump three pounds of kosher salt on top. Roll pork in towel and tie.  Drop on roaring hot fire for 15 minutes, turn and cook another 15 minutes.  With extreme caution remove from fire and cut rock hard shell and remove tenderloin.  DO NOT LEAVE IN SHELL TO REST.   Enjoy the pictures......

johnmitchell

Well I learn something new every day.. I wonder who was the first to say "Lets cook something in a bar towel".. Interesting thats for sure.. Pork looks great..

Thatgrimguy

That's a first!!!  Very different.  I bet it was fun to do. Did none of the smell of burning dish rag come into the meat?

tarheelmatt

Well I be damned! That's an interesting way to cook something.  

DoubleRay415

What the?  This is freakin cool, how did it taste?

Photo Egg

Thatgrimguy said:

That's a first!!!  Very different.  I bet it was fun to do. Did none of the smell of burning dish rag come into the meat?

I bet it would if you used a poly/nylon cotton blend...lol

Legume

That's cool - I've seen that online - maybe Raichlen, but I've never seen a real example.  Very cool.  How was it?

saluki2007

Phatchris

Legume said:

That's cool - I've seen that online - maybe Raichlen, but I've never seen a real example.  Very cool.  How was it?


Raichlen prob stole the pic from Naked Whiz...

bhedges1987

wow, never seen that before

bgeaddikt

I can't wrap my mind around the burning towel smell, unless its a specific type of towel you use

Sea2Ski

I have seen pieces of meat cooked in that much salt, but not wrapped.  Never tasted it either. 
Bar towels are usually a terry type of material and messy when cut. I would think pieces of the towel are all over the salt when cut, then as you get your meat out (ha ha ha....) of the salt, the towel bits would get all over it. 
And supposedly the salt is not overpowering. I do not understand how it isn't.

To each his own, but I think I will pass on trying this one.  A+ for uniqueness. 

RRP

I've never done the towel thing but I have made a hard shell of kosher salt mixed with a couple egg whites. This is applied completely around a chunk of prime rib. The shell dries and gets rock hard and seals in the juices of the meat. Once cooked take a hammer to the shell. 

YukonRon

Bar towels I have been around would not be allowed around food.
interesting manner of cooking, that is for sure.

Legume

I had to googles, Raichlen did it with a beef tenderloin, or at least the recipe and pics he lifted used a beef tenderloin.  It's from Columbia apparently.

CPARKTX

Very cool. I've read articles about that method but had an epic fail trying it with chicken. Nicely done. 

Rascal8

The towel was 100% cotton.  Actually the smell was awful for about the first 10 minutes but after that there was no smell.  The taste was great.  There was very little towel left at the end of the cook and there was no way it got through all that salt.  Believe me that salt was rock hard.  It was like a cast on your arm to cut through.  Next time trying a beef tenderloin. 

Rascal8

By the way, the towel was brand new!

Chubbs

I have seen that a few times with beef tenderloin. Couldn't bring myself to wrap a $100 piece of meat in a bar towel. Not sure why I didn't think to do pork tendy. Nice work 

Griffin

Very cool. I've read about that method and seen it on other sites, but if I remember correctly, you are only the second person I've seen do it here on this forum. So do you get any smoke/grill flavor on the tendy? I can't imagine you do, but what do I know? Thanks for sharing your cook.

Spaightlabs

Can you also us a dirty t-shirt or worn under garments to impart different aromas/flavors?

Foghorn

I've done the Raichlen recipe with beef a number of times.  I've never posted it hear because I never took pics and I usually do it on my fire pit.

It's called "Lomo al trapo" (beef in a rag?).  It's excellent.  I usually do it with a rectangular portion of a clean but old t-shirt that I need to throw out.  If you do this, don't forget to wet the cloth.  Dry cloth will just catch on fire quickly and the thing can fall apart before the salt gets hard (I can tell you that so far it has only fallen apart 50% of the time I use dry cloth...).  Also, be aware that it will continue to cook a fair amount after you take it off the fire because the salt has become very hot and provides good insulation.  Take it off at least 10 degrees shy of your target.  A thermopen will penetrate the burned/seared cloth.  And much like a hot platesetter, you need to know where you are going to set this when you pull it off. My portable plastic prep table has a hole in it because I didn't figure that one out. 

So, it's a great cook.  Those of you who haven't tried it yet, please learn from my mistakes and don't burn your cloth or table or meat. 

JohnInCarolina

johnmitchell said:

Well I learn something new every day.. I wonder who was the first to say "Lets cook something in a bar towel".. Interesting thats for sure.. Pork looks great..

Legume said:

I had to googles, Raichlen did it with a beef tenderloin, or at least the recipe and pics he lifted used a beef tenderloin.  It's from Columbia apparently.

I feel like there's a reasonable guess here as to how this recipe came about.  

caliking

Pretty neat!

And thank you for using a new towel instead of one of @Foghorn 's smelly t-shirts. You don't know where that dude's been.

bgeaddikt

This idea is starting to grow on me more and more. Will have to try it with guests over 1 day to see their reaction!

Foghorn

bgeaddikt said:

This idea is starting to grow on me more and more. Will have to try it with guests over 1 day to see their reaction!

Exactly!  It's a great conversation lubricator. 

SmokingPiney

Definitely a ballsy cook! 

Foghorn

caliking said:

Pretty neat!

And thank you for using a new towel instead of one of @Foghorn 's smelly t-shirts. You don't know where that dude's been.

@caliking, if I cooked you a tenderloin wrapped in my underwear you know you'd eat it.

caliking

Foghorn said:

caliking said:

Pretty neat!

And thank you for using a new towel instead of one of @Foghorn 's smelly t-shirts. You don't know where that dude's been.

@caliking, if I cooked you a tenderloin wrapped in my underwear you know you'd eat it.

Only if it's 100% cotton and you triple the salt.