Smoked Pork Tenderloin in an electric smoker is so easy to make but so flavorful and juicy. The smoke flavor is prominent and elevates this weeknight staple to the next level!
Smaller than a full pork loin, pork tenderloin is often thought of as a great weeknight meal due to its size and how easy it is to make.
Much like pork chops, the tenderloin is a leaner cut of pork than ribs or pork shoulder, so it is susceptible to becoming dry when not cooked properly.
Our Masterbuilt pork tenderloin is anything but dry! We keep a water pan in the cooking chamber to ensure a moist, smoky cooking environment for the meat.
The result is a super tender, easy to slice main dish that can be served as a weeknight meal or scaled up for guests.
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Season the Pork
We used an easy homemade BBQ rub for the pork tenderloin, but you can use a store bought rub as well.
Our favorites on pork are Three Little Pigs Championship BBQ Rub and Famous Dave's Rib Rub.
For our quick homemade BBQ rub, we mixed together
- Brown Sugar
- Smoked Paprika
- Cumin
- Dry Mustard
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
This rub is easily customizable to your preference and dietary restrictions. If you are watching your sugar, you can leave the brown sugar out.
Lay out overlapping pieces of plastic wrap on a flat surface like the kitchen counter.
Coat the outside of the pork with oil.
We used olive oil, but since we are cooking the pork at a lower temperature, any type of oil will work.
Generously season the outside of the tenderloin with the BBQ rub, making sure to season all sides.
Wrap up the pork tenderloin tightly and refrigerate it for 3 to 6 hours.
Best Wood Chips
The smoke in an electric smoker comes from smoldering wood chips. For pork, we really like using fruitwood, such as these cherry wood chips.
We highly recommend the Masterbuilt Slow Smoker Attachment, as it allows you fill to a large vessel with wood chips for a longer smoke, eliminating the need to refill the wood chip tray.
- Continuous smoke when cold smoking or hot smoking up to 275˚F
- Automatically heats wood chips with the push of a button
- Continuous wood feed system provides up to 6 hours of continuous smoke without reloading
We also like the Masterbuilt stand that adds rear wheels to smoker so it can be easily moved around.
Set up the Masterbuilt Smoker
To keep the pork super moist, we add a disposable aluminum foil pan of water to the bottom cooking grate.
We prefer using this pan versus the one that comes in the Masterbuilt to minimize clean up.
Start the Masterbuilt and set the temperature to 275°F.
Add the wood chips. When you see smoke coming out of the top vent, the smoker is ready to add the pork.
Smoke the Pork
Place the tenderloin on the oiled grates of the smoker above the water pan. Press the sides of the meat to compact it slightly, as it will shrink during cooking.
You can rotate the meat several times during the cooking process if needed to ensure it cooks evenly.
After about 1 hour, it's a good time to put in a leave in meat thermometer.
While we like the affordable ThermoPro, you must feed the wires up through the top vent of the electric smoker.
- 300ft remote range
- Oven safe with highly accurate stainless steel meat probe and oven/ grill/ smoker temperature probe, to allow you to monitor both food and ambient temperature simultaneously
- Food temp & HI/LOW ambient temp alarm
- Highly accurate temp range 14˚f to 572˚F; Displays both Fahrenheit and Celsius
To avoid wires altogether, we love using the MEATER wireless meat thermometer.
It has a dual sensor probe that simultaneously measures the internal temperature of the meat and the ambient temperature of the cooking chamber to give an estimated time the meat will finish cooking.
- Dual temperature sensors enable you to monitor both the internal meat temperature (up to 212°F) and the ambient/external temperature (up to 527°F) at the same time.
- Dishwasher safe
The thermometer communicates with a free app on your smart phone to allow you to monitor the temperature from up to 165 feet away!
Target Internal Temperature
The final safe internal temperature for pork is 145°F.
Typically we recommend pulling the meat a few degrees shy of the target so it can rise to the final temperature during resting. Smaller cuts of meat will not rise as much during resting.
If you pull the tenderloin off before it reaches 145°F, it may not get up to the food safe temperature. For that reason, we recommend leaving the tenderloin on until the internal temperature reaches 145°F.
It is important to check the pork in several spots with an instant read meat thermometer like the ThermoPro. This will ensure that the entire tenderloin is cooked to a safe temperature throughout.
At 275°F in the Masterbuilt, the pork tenderloin will take about 2 hours to finish cooking.
This will depend on several factors, including the weight and shape of your tenderloin and how often you opened the cooking chamber while smoking.
Once the meat has reached 145°F, you can remove it from the smoker to a cutting board to rest.
Resting and Slicing
Allow the pork to rest for about 15 minutes.
After the pork tenderloin is sufficiently rested, slice through it using a good meat slicing knife.
Only cut the portion of the meat you will be eating right away. You can slice more as needed.
- IMPECCABLE PERFORMANCE: The long, ultra sharp blade is engineered to deliver highly precise cuts with minimal effort.
- PROFESSIONAL DESIGN, SUPERB QUALITY: Most desirable length by professionals. Sharp blade with premium stainless steel engineered to excel on all cuts of meats, including big roasts. It is also designed to last.
Serve the cut pork immediately for maximum juiciness.
Serving Suggestions
Pork Tenderloin goes great with Smoked Mashed Potatoes or Twice Baked Potatoes. For a more casual, warm weather meal, consider serving it with Smoked Corn on the Cob and Smoked Baked Beans.
Storage
Refrigerate any leftover pork and consume it within 3-4 days.
To reheat the pork, the best method is to place it in a shallow dish with a small amount of broth and cover in aluminum foil. Place in the oven at 300°F until heated through.
📖 Recipe
Smoked Pork Tenderloin in an Electric Smoker
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 1 Pork Tenderloin around 1 ⅓ pound
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Homemade BBQ Rub
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- 2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
Season the Pork
- Mix together the homemade rub ingredients.1 tablespoon Brown Sugar, 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika, 1 teaspoon Cumin, 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard, ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder, ½ teaspoon Onion Powder, 2 teaspoon Kosher Salt, ½ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Lay out overlapping pieces of plastic wrap on a flat surface like the kitchen counter.
- Coat the outside of the pork with oil.1 Pork Tenderloin, 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- Generously season the outside of the tenderloin with the BBQ rub, making sure to season all sides.
- Wrap up the pork tenderloin tightly and refrigerate it for 3 to 6 hours, or overnight.
Set up the Masterbuilt Smoker
- Add a disposable aluminum foil pan of water to the bottom cooking grate.
- Start the Masterbuilt and set the temperature to 275°F.
- Add the wood chips. When you see smoke coming out of the top vent, the smoker is ready to add the pork.
Smoke the Pork
- Place the tenderloin on the oiled grates of the smoker above the water pan. Press the sides of the meat to compact it slightly, as it will shrink during cooking.
- You can rotate the meat several times during the cooking process to ensure it cooks evenly.
- After about 1 hour, insert a leave in meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.
- Continue cooking the pork until it reaches a final internal temperature of 145°F. Make sure to test several spots with an instant read thermometer to ensure the entire tenderloin is cooked through.
- At 275°F in the Masterbuilt, the pork tenderloin will take about 2 hours to finish cooking.
- Once the meat has reached 145°F, remove it from the smoker to a cutting board to rest.
Resting and Slicing
- Allow the pork to rest for about 15 minutes.
- Slice the meat using a good meat slicing knife. Only cut the portion of the meat you will be eating right away.
- Serve the cut pork immediately for maximum juiciness.
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