Grill-Roasted Beef Tenderloin
By Lan LamPublished on March 28, 2016
Time
2 hours, plus 20 minutes resting
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Center-cut beef tenderloin roasts are sometimes sold as Châteaubriand. You will need one metal skewer for this recipe. The bacon will render slowly during cooking, creating a steady stream of smoke that flavors the beef. Serve the roast as is or with our Chermoula Sauce.
Instructions
- Combine salt, pepper, oil, and baking soda in small bowl. Rub mixture evenly over roast and let stand while preparing grill.
- Stack bacon slices. Keeping slices stacked, thread metal skewer through bacon 6 or 7 times to create accordion shape. Push stack together to compact into about 2-inch length.
- FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter two-thirds filled with charcoal briquettes (4 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner as necessary to maintain grill temperature of 300 degrees.)
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place roast on hotter side of grill and cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Slide roast to cooler side of grill, arranging so roast is about 7 inches from heat source. Place skewered bacon on hotter side of grill. (For charcoal, place near center of grill, above edge of coals. For gas, place above heat diffuser of primary burner. Bacon should be 4 to 6 inches from roast and drippings should fall on coals or heat diffuser and produce steady stream of smoke and minimal flare-ups. If flare-ups are large or frequent, slide bacon skewer 1 inch toward roast.)
- Cover and cook until beef registers 125 degrees, 50 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. Transfer roast to carving board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Discard twine and slice roast ½ inch thick. Serve.
Time
2 hours, plus 20 minutes restingYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Grilling is a great way to add flavor that enhances but doesn’t overwhelm beef tenderloin’s delicate beefiness. Producing deep browning was the first step toward delivering flavor. To do this without overcooking the tenderloin’s interior, we rubbed the exterior of the roast with baking soda. This raised the meat’s pH, which sped up browning by allowing the Maillard reaction to occur more quickly. “Grilled” flavor also depends on drippings from the food, which hit the coals (charcoal) or heat diffusers (gas), transform into new compounds, vaporize, and then waft up and stick to the meat. Because lean tenderloin produces very little in the way of drippings, we looked to an outside source: bacon. Threading three strips onto a metal skewer and placing the skewer directly over the heat source while the tenderloin cooked, low-and-slow away from direct heat, allowed the bacon to slowly render and produce the “grilled” flavor the tenderloin needed.
Before You Begin
Center-cut beef tenderloin roasts are sometimes sold as Châteaubriand. You will need one metal skewer for this recipe. The bacon will render slowly during cooking, creating a steady stream of smoke that flavors the beef. Serve the roast as is or with our Chermoula Sauce.
Instructions
- Combine salt, pepper, oil, and baking soda in small bowl. Rub mixture evenly over roast and let stand while preparing grill.
- Stack bacon slices. Keeping slices stacked, thread metal skewer through bacon 6 or 7 times to create accordion shape. Push stack together to compact into about 2-inch length.
- FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter two-thirds filled with charcoal briquettes (4 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner as necessary to maintain grill temperature of 300 degrees.)
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Place roast on hotter side of grill and cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Slide roast to cooler side of grill, arranging so roast is about 7 inches from heat source. Place skewered bacon on hotter side of grill. (For charcoal, place near center of grill, above edge of coals. For gas, place above heat diffuser of primary burner. Bacon should be 4 to 6 inches from roast and drippings should fall on coals or heat diffuser and produce steady stream of smoke and minimal flare-ups. If flare-ups are large or frequent, slide bacon skewer 1 inch toward roast.)
- Cover and cook until beef registers 125 degrees, 50 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. Transfer roast to carving board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Discard twine and slice roast ½ inch thick. Serve.
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