Beef Tenderloin Tutorial

Beef Tenderloin Cooking Guide

If you've always been intimidated by preparing beef tenderloin—don't be. This elegant roast is actually surprisingly easy to make, and is the perfect centerpiece to your holiday dinner. With minimal prep and our easy-to-follow guidelines, you'll present a butter-tender, succulent and tasty roast to guests in no time.

Overview

Beef tenderloin comes from within the loin of the cow (this is also where we get filet mignon). The tenderloin is long and round in shape and weighs about four to six pounds in an adult cow. Because this muscle (the psoas major) does not get much exercise, tenderloin meat is extremely tender, buttery, and an expensive cut of beef.

We recommend buying about a half-pound of beef tenderloin per person. Beef shrinks as it cooks, and this accounts for the shrinkage.

When purchasing beef tenderloin from the supermarket or from your local butcher, make sure that the meat is fresh and has a purplish-red hue. When it comes time to cook the tenderloin, for best results make sure the roast is completely thawed.

We've included a chart below that will tell you how long to cook your tenderloin based on how you like your roast. Depending on the thickness of your roast, it will probably take 20-25 minutes, so checking the temperature periodically with a meat thermometer is a good idea. Leave the thermometer in (inserted in the thickest part at an angle) while the tenderloin cooks, so you can easily check the temperature.

This cut of beef has a relatively mild flavor on its own, so the real secret to your beef tenderloin is to be sure to season your roast well. We like to use our Prime Rib Rub and Garlic Butter Seasoning to enhance the flavor of the beef. Seasoning the tenderloin well on all sides will infuse the meat with flavor. After you season, let the tenderloin sit for 10-15 minutes to sweat which allows the seasoning to adhere to the meat. By generously seasoning the meat and then letting it sit, you allow the surface of the meat to dry out. This might sound counter-productive to achieving a juicy beef tenderloin, but eliminating the surface moisture helps the tenderloin to brown quickly, and cooking steadily for 20-25 minutes lets the meat keep its juiciness.

And now for the tenderloin…

Ingredients:

Method

  1. PREPARE: Set up charcoal grill for indirect and direct cooking at 450 degrees F. Rinse meat well. Trim away some of the fat to remove the silvery cartilage underneath. Do not cut away all the fat… leave some fat for meat flavoring. (You can also ask your butcher to do this step for you). Tie up your tenderloin with Butcher cord if needed.
  2. SEASON. Rub entire beef tenderloin with olive oil generously. Dust the entire beef tenderloin with Garlic Butter. Generously apply the Prime Rib Rub to the entire beef tenderloin and pat into the meat.
  3. SWEAT. Let beef tenderloin sit 10-15 minutes to sweat which allows the seasoning to adhere to the meat.
  4. SEAR. Sear the beef tenderloin over the direct cooking side about 1 minute on every side of the beef tenderloin. After searing, move the beef tenderloin over to the indirect side of the grill.
  5. COOK. Cook at 450 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or best to cook by temperature by keeping close watch with meat thermometer. Remember in the meat resting stage the meat will continue to cook and the temperature will rise about 5 degrees during resting period.

For medium-rare cook to meat temperature of 130 degrees and pull off grill for a resting temperature of 135 degrees.

For medium cook to meat temperature of 135 degrees and pull off grill for a resting temperature of 140 degrees.

For medium-well cook to meat temperature of 145 degrees and pull off grill for a resting temperature of 150 degrees.

  1. REST AND SERVE: Resting stage: pull beef tenderloin off grill and place a half stick of butter pats all over the tenderloin, then wrap in foil or butcher paper. Let beef tenderloin rest for 10 minutes. Meat temperature will rise about 5 degrees during this stage. Remove from foil/ butcher paper, slice and serve.

P.S. Follow same steps for cooking in the oven. If cooking in oven sear beef tenderloin on stove in a skillet or best a cast iron skillet with some melted butter in bottom of skillet.

Don’t be intimidated over this. Like we said earlier, the real secret to your beef tenderloin is to be sure to season your roast well. So, all you need is Runnin Wild, and you can relax…. you’ll impress yourself and your guests with a mouthwatering Beef Tenderloin. 

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