Pork tenderloin

I received an air fryer for Christmas. I had been eyeing them for a couple of years, but never could make up my mind if they were worth the cabinet and counter space. The decision was made for me when I got one as a present. I have found it very useful, especially when I wanted to roast vegetables and didn’t want to turn on the oven. It does a wonderful job of roasting carrots, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, or a single chicken breast.

The decision to try it with pork tenderloin was one of expediency. My usual method is sous vide, the pork emerges meltingly tender and delicious. But sous vide takes some time with setting it up, heating the water, and cooking the vacuum packed tenderloin. This time I wanted dinner on the table in less than an hour. A pork tenderloin in the air fryer cooks in 20-25 minutes, start to finish. It was delicious, although not as tender as sous vide. It is, however, a viable alternative.

I simply rubbed it with a Mexican style rub (use your favorite or anything you have on hand, even a package of taco seasoning) and roasted it at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. The internal temperature should be 145 degrees F and I found my own tenderloin needed an additional 5 minutes. I turned it over at the midpoint of about 10 minutes.

Pork Tenderloin – after

Let is rest at least 5 minutes after cooking before slicing.

Pork Tenderloin

I will definitely use the air fryer again when crunched for time.

Pork, like chicken breasts, is not something I cook very frequently. In my opinion, commercial pork has had the flavor bred out out of it with the fat. The campaign “the other white meat” did not make it popular in my kitchen.

From Wikipedia I found the following history and thought it was interesting.

“Pork. The Other White Meat.” was an advertising slogan developed by advertising agency Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt in 1987 for the National Pork Board. The campaign was paid for using a checkoff fee (tax) collected from the initial sale of all pigs and pork products, including imports. In traditional culinary terminology, pork is considered a white meat, but the nutritional studies comparing white and red meat treat pork as red, as does the United States Department of Agriculture.

With a program promoting pork using the slogan as a lean meat to health-conscious consumers, pork sales in the United States rose 20%, reaching $30 billion annually by 1991.

Well, it didn’t work for our household. In fact, we mostly swore off pork as tasteless and dry. Until I discovered sous vide pork tenderloin and chops. Something magical happens in that water bath, a whole new world of cooking opened up. The pork was tender and juicy all the way through.

This chart came from the site Serious Eats, you can click here to see the original recipe.

Recommended Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Temperatures
Temp and Time	Doneness	Result
130°F/54°C for 1 to 4 hours	Medium-rare	Buttery-tender; very juicy
140°F/60°C for 1 to 4 hours	Medium	Firm but still tender; moderately juicy
150°F/66°C for 1 to 4 hours	Medium-well	Fully firm; moderately juicy
160°F/71°C for 1 to 4 hours	Well-done	Dry, with a firm, tacky texture

I used 140 degrees F and cooked the tenderloins for 2 hours. To finish I have both browned them in a cast iron skillet on high heat, and used a hot BBQ. Both were delicious.

Pork Tenderloin finished in a cast iron skillet

And done the browning on a very hot BBG grill.

Pork Tenderloin finished on the BBQ

In all cases the pork was tender and juicy.

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

I served the pork with a fruit salsa on the side. You could also brush it with your favorite BBQ sauce while on the BBQ to further caramelize the outside.

INGREDIENTS

1 -2 pork tenderloins
Favorite rub

EQUIPMENT

Vacuum sealer or good quality ziplock freezer bags
Sous Vide machine
Cast iron skillet or BBQ

METHOD

Preheat the water in your pot (I use a large stockpot) to the desired temperature with the sour vide machine
Rub the pork with your desired seasoning. I used my home made fennel spice rub once and a purchased rub the second time.
Mustard Mistress Rub
Seal in a vacuum bag on the moist setting. Or place in a large freezer zip log bag.
Pork Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin with Rub
Once your water has heated to the desired temperature, place the pork in the water. If using a freezer bag, slowly lower the bag into the water, as you go you will displace the air in the top of the bag (be careful not to let any water get into the bag), once the air has been displaced, seal the bag.
When cooked for the desired length of time, remove the bag from the water bath. If not using immediately, cool the sealed bag with the pork tenderloin in a cold water bath for an hour before refrigerating.
If cooking immediately, heat your BBQ or a cast iron skillet on high heat. Add a little oil (grape seed recommended) to the pan and brown the pork before serving. Don’t worry, it will brown up nicely, it doesn’t look very appetizing when you first remove it from the bag.
Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin