How to Reverse Sear Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is one of my all-time favorite cuts of meat. It’s extremely forgiving, is super tender, and tastes great. Pork tenderloin is also a great cut of meat for anyone in the family that tends to only lean towards chicken dishes. It has a mild pork flavor, to the point where it even tastes like chicken. Imagine that. Another food that tastes like chicken.

So, why the reverse sear? What does that do? The reverse sear method allows you to add a light smokey flavor to the meat in the first stage, while still getting a great crust like a traditionally seared cut of meat. How does it work you ask? It’s simple.

Start out with indirect heat. I like it a little lower in temp too so I can get a little extra smoke flavor. Indirect heat means you are putting the meat in an area of the grill grates that doesn’t have heat directly below it. This slows down the cooking process leaving more time for smoke before the meat comes up to temp.

When the meat is nearing the desired internal temperature, simply place it over direct heat. Yep, right on the grill grate directly above the heat source. If your grill doesn’t do this, a cast iron pan on the stove is a great option. Sear each side of the meat until it has a great crust, and comes up to your favorite internal temp. For pork tenderloin I recommend about 145 degrees F.

My personal favorite cooking method for pork tenderloin is with my kettle charcoal grill. It’s my most reliable, consistent, and flavor blasting tool that I own. I occasionally like to smoke the tenderloin in a pellet grill, and while it’s cooking, I will heat up a chimney of charcoal briquettes. With those, I will place them in the kettle grill when they are ready, then let the that sit for about 5-8 minutes with the lid off. This allows the air flow to keep those briquettes burning super hot, usually heating up even more. After that I pull the tenderloin off the pellet grill, and cook it on the grate, straight over the charcoal, flipping every few seconds so it gets a good crust, without burning.

CLICK HERE for a great recipe for Reverse Seared Pork Tenderloin