Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Pineapple and Cheese
Smoking pork tenderloin is quite possibly my most common meat to smoke. I just love pork tenderloin because it is reasonably priced and a very lean cut of meat. It is great cooked and prepared many different ways and the smoker is ideal for pork tenderloin.
Pork tenderloin is great smoked many different ways. Smoking it straight up with a simple dry rub is really good, but I also enjoy stuffing the tenderloin and wrapping it in bacon. Everything is better with bacon, right!?!?
I have a number of different pork tenderloin recipes for the smoker:
- How to Smoke Pork Tenderloin in a Smoker – This recipe is a great ‘how-to’ for smoking pork tenderloin. It uses a simple rub for the tenderloin.
- Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Harissa and Tangerine Glaze – I love deep and spicy flavour of harissa and it works very well with tangerine to create an exotic taste to this tenderloin.
- Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Cheese – Smoked, cheesy and bacon! This tenderloin recipe has it all.
I so love stuffing pork tenderloin and this stuffing is made with a mixture of cream cheese and grated mozzarella. Along with the cheeses, I also threw in some crushed pineapple which give a nice tropical flavour. It reminds me of hawaiian pizza!
This tenderloin has lots of cheese so you need to be watch for the stuffing spilling out. With pork tenderloin that can easily happen because it is not as large of a cut of meat and it is difficult to make a large pocket to hold the stuffing in place. To prevent this, you can tie up the pork tenderloin with kitchen twine.
Or, like in this recipe, you can use bacon to wrap up and hold the tenderloin together. Not only does this keep the melted cheese stuffing in place, it also helps to keep the pork juicy and infuses the meat with the flavour of bacon, which is just awesome!
I smoke the tenderloin at 275F which I find is perfect for cooking the pork and rendering the bacon. I smoke till the internal temperature of the meat is 165F. Fruit wood is great to smoke pork, so apple and cherry are great choices. I have also used hickory, oak and pecan
Once smoked, let the tenderloin rest for 5-10 minutes. Then slice it into 1 inch medallions. Be careful as you slice, not to let the cheese ooze all out.
Bacon Wrapped Smoked Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Pineapple and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 pork tenderloin
- 1/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 10-12 bacon slices
- 1/4 cup cup grape jelly
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Trim the pork tenderloins of any fat and membrane. Holding knife horizontally, slice the pork tenderloin in half being careful not to pierce through the other end.
- In a small bowl, mix together the crushed pineapple with the cream cheese and mozzarella cheese.
- Spread the cheese and pineapple mixture evenly in the openings of the pork tenderloin. Close up the tenderloins ensuring that the cheese stays inside the pocket of the meat.
- Wrap the tenderloins with the bacon and place on smoker rack. It may be wise to have the tenderloins with the cut open side facing up, so that any melted cheese will stay in the pocket and not ooze out.
- Set the smoker to 275F using wood bisquettes of choice (hickory, apple or cherry work great).
- Smoke the pork until they reach an internal temperature of 165F and the bacon is rendered and starting to crisp, approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
- With about 30 minutes left of smoking, whisk together the grape jelly and water in a small bowl so that the jelly is thinner in consistency. Brush the jelly all over the bacon and then continue smoking until fully cooked.
- Remove the pork tenderloins from the smoker and let them rest for about 10 minutes. Slice into 1 inch medallions and serve.
