I am going to cure some pork tenderloins and then smoke them. Anyone have a good estimate on the time it will take to properly cure a tenderloin? These are the small 1-1.5 lb. tenderloins, not a loin. I know that with the thickness of a pork loin that it can take up to 5-6 days to properly cure but since these are the smaller thinner tenderloins, I'm thinking the time may be as little as 2 days if that long.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you in advance for your information.
I would think 48 hours would be plenty.. You might be able to tell by feel to see if they've firmed up after that time.
If it is a dry cure, 24 - 48 hours should be long enough.
from what I have read, 1 to 1 1/2 day per inch of thickness with a dry cure, wet cure are on average 3/4 to 1 day per inch of thickness minimum... this is a rule of thumb,,, and not as a length or weight
Did my last tenderloins at a little over 36 hours (was shooting for 24 hours but forgot about them).
::)
Turned out great!
I haven't done one before so I defer to the excellent advice above but I'm excited to see how it turns out.
Thanks all and an apology is in order as I left out the fact that it is indeed a dry cure using the basic Dry Cure Mix from Ruhlman & Polcyn's book "Charcuterie".
Thanks for your input.
I cure for two days when doing a pork tenderloin and about three days when doing a venison loin. :)
One of the many hazards of getting old is forgetfulness. :o I have cured pork tenderloins on several different occasions but it had been long enough that I simply couldn't remember how long I cured them on past occasions.
Thanks for the input everyone.