Smoked Whiskey Peach Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin Filets

Disclosure Swift Meats and Hey Grill Hey compensated me for this recipe.

What are pork loin filets

When you hear the term filet, you probably think of beef filet steaks or a filet of fish, but a filet is actually a cut of meat, not a specific type of protein. 

It simply means a piece or slice of boneless meat or fish, and when referring to meat, filets are usually cut from thinner muscles, like tenderloins.

That’s exactly what we’re working with today. These are slices of pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Honestly, those are my two favorite cuts from a pig. 

Why is pork tenderloin so tender

The pork tenderloin is located below the backbone between the pork shoulder and ham (or rear legs).

When it comes to muscles, if the muscle is needed to hold the weight of the animal or is really active to help an animal maneuver, then it has more connective tissue, which means it needs to be cooked down to tenderize it.

Cuts like tenderloin are not used heavily by the animal. Therefore, they have less connective tissue, which means they’re more tender. 

How to avoid dry pork

When working with great cuts like the Swift Meats bacon-wrapped pork loin filets, you’re already starting with a beautiful piece of meat. 

The tenderloin, as explained above, is naturally tender. And the bacon wrapped around the filet adds more fat and flavor.

However, to guarantee juicy pork, cook the meat to an internal temperature of 145F degrees. This is the USDA-approved safe temp for pork, and it results in juicy pork every time. 

Play around with different Hey Grill Hey sauces and flavors. Instead of fresh peaches and Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce, you could also use fresh green apples and Apple Jalapeño BBQ Sauce.

How to grill pork loin filets

Because Swift Meats pork loin filets are sliced into 5-ounce portions, they don’t take quite as long to cook as a whole pork tenderloin.

Nope. You can cook these guys in about 15 minutes.

I like to use a two-step process. First, smoke them on the grill over medium indirect heat. The reason I recommend indirect heat is because the filets are wrapped in bacon. If you cooked them straight over the flames, the bacon could flare-up and you’d have an uneven cook.

Instead, set your pellet grill to 400F or set up your charcoal or gas grill with an indirect cooking area with coals or gas on one side. Then, add a wood chunk to the charcoal or use some wood chips on the gas grill.

Whiskey or peach wood pellets, chunks or chips go great with this recipe. If you can’t find those, hickory, apple and pecan also work great.

Grill the filets until they reach an internal temperature of around 90F degrees. That should take around 10 minutes. There is no need to flip them, we’re going to do that in the next step.

Finish up with cast iron

Now, heat a cast iron skillet on the stove or even on the grill. If using the grill, just make sure it doesn’t get too hot, so you don’t burn the garlic.

Melt some butter in the pan and sauté shallots, garlic and red pepper chili flakes. Then, add the pork filets to the pan. We’ll finish cooking them to the perfect internal temperature of 145F, basting regularly with that wonderful butter.

Then, remove the filets from the pan and finish the pan sauce by adding the fresh peaches and Hey Grill Hey Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce.

The Hey Grill Hey Whiskey Peach BBQ Sauce is made with homemade peach jam and whiskey. It’s great with this recipe, but the sauce also goes well on chicken, seafood and turkey

To finish the dish, plate the pork loin filets and spoon on the whiskey peaches. I like to hit it with some fresh parsley as well, for a pop of color.

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