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Pork Tenderloin is the perfect meat for cooking sous vide.  Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin is cooked to the perfect temperature to remain juicy throughout.  This Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin recipe uses a coffee rub, but can be adjusted for many different flavor enhancements.

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Pork tenderloin is a lean cut of meat.  This means that 1) if over cooked it becomes dry and 2) it really needs flavor enhancements to shine.

Sous vide avoids the issue of over cooking.  The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food in a water bath to the exact temperature you want that food to reach.  For most pork dishes we like to cook the meat to 145 degrees.

Note that the official web site for our Anova sous vide immersion cooker suggests you can cook pork tenderloin anywhere from 130 degrees for medium rare to 160 degrees for well done.

Many people still have problems with pork that is red or pink inside.  In our guide to sous vide cooking we explain why this is okay if done properly.  However, I have found that cooking pork to 145 degrees is the level where the pink disappears, and the meat is still juicy.  This keeps everyone happy.

Sous Vide Cooking Guide

Sous vide is a cooking technique that has hit the mainstream in recent years.  We love this technique because it allows you to perfectly cook meat.  This is our guide to getting started with sous vide cooking. Overview The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food in a water bath to the exact […]

Traditionally with pork tenderloin (and many pork dishes) the meat is brined in salt water prior to cooking.  In our similar pork chop recipe, we brine the pork chops for about 4 hours.

Many of our pork recipes come from Bruce Aidells’ Complete Book of Pork.  This book has a master recipe for pork chops and loin that calls for brining and adding a rub.  You can adjust the master recipe with different brines and rubs he recommends.

However, this book was written before sous vide became popular.  Stefan’s Gourmet Blog did an experiment with sous vide pork tenderloin where they cooked samples ranging from no salt, salt right before sous vide, up to a 24-hour brine.

The conclusion was to salt the meat right before placing in the sous vide.  He found brining the meat diluted the flavor.

Not having to brine makes Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin a great weeknight meal.  We keep a tenderloin in the freezer.  Sous vide allows us to pull it out of the freezer, add a rub and place it in a sous vide bath for about 3 hours.

On a side note, we no longer vacuum seal our bags.  Over the years we have gone through a few vacuum sealers.  I am really happy with our resealable silicon bags that use the water immersion method.  These bags are easier to use and save a significant amount of money.

The final process is giving the meat a quick sear on the skillet.  This is mainly for aesthetics.  Once again people like to see a nice crust on their meat.  The meat comes out of the sous vide fully-cooked but not very pretty.  A quick sear makes the tenderloin more appealing.

In my opinion, a Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin needs some flavor enhancement via a rub.  There are many rubs but a popular one is an adjustment of the coffee rub used for pork chops.

The rubs add a subtle flavor and also will provide a nice base for a sauce for the meat.  The basic cooking method allows you to experiment with all kinds of different rubs.

Feel free to experiment with your own rubs.  This basic recipe can be adopted to create many flavor profiles using different rubs.

Cole Cooks: Sous Vide Pork Chop with Coffee and Molasses

The sous vide method is great for cooking meat to the exact temperature you desire.  One of the best meats to cook sous vide is pork.  This is our recipe for a sous vide pork chop in a coffee and molasses marinade. Go To Recipe The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food […]

For more Rub recipes go here.

Cole Cooks: Classic Dry Rub Recipes

When cooking or smoking meat, a rub can make all the difference.  A rub is simply a blend of spices added to the meat before cooking.  These are a couple of my favorite dry rub recipes that work well with pork and beef dishes. Go To Recipe Overview There are all kinds of commercial rubs […]

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Coffee Rub

This sous vide pork tenderloin comes out tender and juicy. There is no danger of overcooking the meat. The basic method can be applied to many different rubs and flavor enhancements.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 2 tablespoon honey or molasses
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter

Rub

• 2 teaspoon ground coffee
• 2 teaspoon ginger minced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Instructions

 

• Set sous vide bath to a temperature of 145 degrees. In a small bowl combine rub ingredients. Rub pork tenderloin on all sides with honey/molasses and olive oil. Coat tenderloin with rub.
• Place tenderloin in sous vide bag and cook at 145 degrees for 1 to 4 hours (3 hours if frozen).
• Heat butter in a skillet. Remove pork from sous vide and sear in skillet, about 1 minute per side.

Keyword Pork Recipe, pork tenderloin, Sous Vide, sous vide pork

For more sous vide recipes go here.

Top 10 Sous Vide Recipes

Sous vide is a cooking technique that has hit the mainstream in recent years.  We love this technique because it allows you to perfectly cook meat.  This is our regularly updated list of our top sous vide recipes. Overview of Sous Vide For an overview of sous vide and the equipment you need be sure […]

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