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I hadn’t cooked on my Pit Barrel Cooker in a while and had recently been thinking that I really needed to give it some love. It’s actually one of my favorite cookers for the simplicity of it and consistent results

So if you’re like me and have been using ThermoWorks products for years for cooking both outside and inside…then you’ve probably always kinda wondered why they hadn’t ever come to the table with a wireless cooking thermometer to compete with a lot of other options on the market (one popular option being the iGrill 2). The new ThermoWorks Smoke was recently released and it is a 2-channel wireless cooking thermometer that has hit the ground running and has been well received from cooking enthusiasts (like myself). Like many ThermoWorks products, it is simple to both setup and use; it’s constructed of high quality materials that includes a splash-proof design; and there is also an upcoming optional WiFi add-on (called the Smoke Gateway) that will allow you to view your cook from anywhere on a phone or tablet (release date is Spring 2017). The Smoke is 2-channel and comes with 1 ambient air probe and 1 meat probe that connect to side of the base station.

I’ve been cooking pork tenderloins all kinds of ways for years now, but recently I was reading up on how marinating thick cuts of meat (like pork loin or tenderloin) is somewhat of a waste of time (and ingredients) as the marinade barely penetrates past the surface of the meat and that injecting is a better approach if you really want to add some additional flavor profiles to the meat. I had also never cooked pork tenderloin on a cedar plank before, so since I’ve seen a lot of people do that and speak very highly of the infused cedar flavor, I figured I’d try that out and also inject them with an Asian style injection. You can add a BBQ rub to the tenderloins at this point if you want, but I really wanted all of the nice flavors of the injection liquid to really come through, so all I did was add a little freshly crushed black peppercorns and some sea salt. What this does is kill off any bacteria that may be on the surface of the plank, but it also starts to smolder the wood which is what you want to happen so that amazing cedar smoke flavor will infuse into the wood during the cook.

Crank your grill up to a hot searing temp and quickly sear on both sides over heat until your target temp is reached, watching  (do not walk away from the grill) with a fast-read, high-accuracy food thermometer. For this portion of the cook, you’ll want to make sure you’re using a high accuracy food thermometer and let your steaks come up to an internal temp that is 10° – Pull them off the grill and set them aside at this point, then increase the heat of your grill up to a hot, searing temp (preferably 600° or hotter if possible). For this portion of the cook, it’s ideal to also use a high accuracy food thermometer, but it’s even better if it’s a fast-read thermometer since every second counts when you’re searing at high temps.