Ope Dinner's Ready

Sometimes it feels like pork tenderloin can go from perfectly tender and juicy to dried out in a flash.  Overcook it slightly and you’ll be chewing on it for days.  Cook it perfectly and it’s hard to find a better protein for the price.  With a few simple tricks your pork tenderloin will come out perfect every time!

When dealing with a pork tenderloin, preparation is key.  You must remove the silver skin!  Silver is seen as a luxury and any guest would be happy to receive it.  Silver skin on the other hand will never be desirable. Improperly cleaning a pork tenderloin can render a perfectly cooked tenderloin useless as you and your guest pick silver skin out of your mouth after chewing for what feels like hours.

What is silver skin? Silver skin is a thin membrane of protein elastin that wraps around many cuts or familiar meats.  Unlike fat, collagen, and marrow, silver skin will not render out during cooking and only gets tougher.  

To remove silver skin, slide the point of your knife underneath the shiny silver skin horizontally an inch from the end and cut towards the end.  This will give you a flap to hold on to.  Turn your knife the other direction and hold the flap while you slowly move the knife back and forth removing a strip of silver skin.  Keep the silver skin taut to make removing easier. Repeat this process until your tenderloin looks like the picture below.

Now that your pork tenderloin in properly clean it’s time to get into that recipe!

• 1 Pork Tenderloin, cleaned
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp sage, sliced
• 1 tbsp shallot, minced
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 gallon Ziploc Bag or Vacuum Seal Bag

Prepare and Marinate the Pork Tenderloin

1. Season your nicely cleaned pork tenderloin with salt and pepper.  Typically a 3 finger finger pinch of salt per side does the trick for each.
2. Smash and mince garlic cloves
3. Finely dice the shallot
4. Slice the sage into thin ribbons
5. Place the seasoned tenderloin in the ziplock bag.
6. Add the butter, garlic, shallot, sage, and 1 tbsp of olive oil
7. Rub the marinade around the tenderloin and make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Don’t worry if the butter doesn’t spread, it will melt out in the sous vide bath.
8. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, the next step is very important. Before sealing the ziplock bag remove as much air as possible.  If you don’t get enough air out you’ll have a pork tenderloin floating in your sous vide bath and it will not cook evenly.  My favorite method is to have the tenderloin flat in the bottom of the bag then close the ziploc 3/4 of the way.  Next I roll the tenderloin towards the top of the bag forcing the remaining air out and finally completely seal the bag.
9. Place in the fridge for 1-4 hours.

While that pork is marinating, let’s talk a little bit about the sous vide method.  The basic premise is to use a water bath set to the desired doneness temperature of whatever food is being cooked in it.  This cooking method can be used for a variety of proteins and vegetables.  With the rise in popularity the technology has become quite affordable and this immersion circulator from Anova is what I used for this dish. The secret to making something delicious using the sous vide method is to pack the bag you’re immersing in the bath with flavor! 

Sous Vide the Pork Tenderloin

1. With 10 minutes to go before the pork is done marinating, set up your sous vide bath and turn on the immersion circulator.  Set the temperature to 140F.
2. Once the bath is at temperature, pull the pork tenderloin and place in the 140F bath.
3. Cook for 1 hour.

Sear and Slice Pork Tenderloin

1. Once the hour has elapsed, pull the bag of deliciousness out and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.  If needed, the cooked pork tenderloin can sit in the fridge overnight  This will help the tenderloin chill out a bit before searing and retain its tenderness.
2. Once you’ve waited patiently, the final step is to get that delicious looking sear on the pork. Set a large pan over medium high heat.  Let the pan get hot before adding the oil.
3. Drizzle the pan with olive oil and let the oil get hot before adding the meat.  The goal here is just to sear the meat on the outside.  If you had a lot of liquid in your sous vide bag, let the meat rest on a cooling rack before searing.  Any residual liquid will steam instead of sear.
4. Sear for approximately 1 minute on each side.
5. Pull from the pan and let rest for 5 minutes.
6. Slice to your desired thickness, then serve with your favorite sides.  Recently I did this with a mushroom risotto and it pair perfectly.

While this may sound complicated, it is one of the easiest methods for cooking proteins. Using the sous-vide method takes all of the guesswork out of knowing when your pork tenderloin is cooked perfectly. Once you sear and slice, you and your dining companions will be wowed by the flavor and tenderness. You’ll leave wondering what else can be cooked in a sous vide bath!

Print Recipe

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

Garlic and Herb crusted sous vide pork tenderloin cooked to a perfect medium.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Resting Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pork, Sous Vide

Servings: 2

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Aaron

Cost: $10

Equipment

• 1 Immersion Circulator
• 1 Cast Iron Skillet
• 1 Vacuum Sealer optional

Ingredients

• 1 Pork Tenderloin cleaned
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp Garlic minced
• 1 tbsp Shallot minced
• 1 tbsp Sage fresh, sliced
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 gallon ziploc bag or vacuum seal bag

Instructions

• Remove silver skin from pork tenderloin
• Season cleaned tenderloin well with kosher salt and black pepper
• Mince garlic cloves and shallot
• Finely slice sage
• Combine tenderloin, butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic, shallot, and sage in a ziploc bag.
• Remove all the air from the bag and seal.
• Marinate for 1-4 hours
• When done marinating, set sous vide bath to 140F.
• Once at temp, add bag of tenderloin to the bath and cook for 1 hour
• After 1 hour, remove from bath and rest for 10 minues
• Place a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Get pan hot then add olive oil. Get the oil hot then add the tenderloin.
• Sear the tenderloin on all sides. ~ 1 minute a side.
• Rest for 5 minutes.
• Slice and serve!