By I did not win the Arizona Smoke Showdown. I placed fourth in brisket and third in ribs. Combined: third place overall in the semi-pro division. And I am not disappointed. I am proud. I am proud because I walked into a field of semi-professional pitmasters with their custom rigs and their sponsorship banners and their matching team shirts, and I stood next to them with my Weber Smokey Mountain and my Station 19 t-shirt and my wife holding a cooler, and I placed third.
The brisket was excellent — the judges scored it 96 out of 100. Not the 98 from Mesa, but 96 against semi-pros is a different number than 98 against amateurs. The feedback: "Outstanding bark and smoke ring. Flavor profile is complex. Slight tenderness issue in the flat." The flat. Always the flat. The flat is my white whale, the part of the brisket that separates good from great, the thin end that dries out if you look at it wrong. I will solve the flat. I will solve it if it kills me.
The ribs placed third — my best rib showing ever. The ancho-cocoa rub connected with every judge. The feedback: "Innovative flavor profile. Excellent texture. Sauce application could be more uniform." Fair. I was applying sauce in a wind that kept shifting, and two of the ribs got more glaze than the others. Wind. The one variable I cannot control at a grill.
Roberto was there at dawn, as promised. He stood behind the barrier with his water bottle and watched me cook for six hours without saying a word. When they called the results — third place overall — he did the one-clap. Then he walked to the barrier and said, "Third place against pros. That is not fourth place against amateurs. That is something else entirely." He is right. It is something else. It is proof.
The winner — a team from Tucson called Desert Smoke — had a rig that cost more than my outdoor kitchen. Their brisket was magnificent. I shook the pitmaster's hand and asked about his flat technique (he uses a water pan, which I have never tried, and I am now going to try). BBQ people share. The culture holds.
Jessica drove home while I sat in the passenger seat staring at the third-place trophy and thinking about what Roberto said. Something else entirely. The restaurant dream is not a dream anymore. It is a plan. I do not have the plan yet. But I can feel it forming, the way you can feel a brisket approaching done — not by the thermometer but by the way the air smells, the way the bark gives under your finger, the way everything tightens before it releases.
When Jessica and I finally got home that night, the trophy sitting on the kitchen counter and my boots still smelling like mesquite, the last thing I wanted to do was fire up the WSM again — but I also wasn’t ready to let the day go. Oven barbecued pork tenderloins are what I turned to: the same bark, the same low-and-slow intention, just a different heat source, and something Roberto would probably call “cheating” with that grin of his. After six hours of competition fire, this is the recipe that let me stay in the BBQ headspace without asking anything more of my body, and it’s been a go-to ever since that night I came home with something to prove and a third-place trophy to show for it.
Oven Barbecued Pork Tenderloins
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 pork tenderloins (about 3/4 lb each), trimmed
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top. Lightly coat the rack with nonstick spray.
- Make the barbecue sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne. Stir well and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside, reserving about half for serving.
- Season the tenderloins. Pat pork tenderloins dry with paper towels. Rub all over with olive oil, then season evenly with salt and black pepper.
- Sear for color. Heat an oven-safe skillet over high heat. Sear tenderloins for 1–2 minutes per side until lightly browned on all surfaces. Transfer to the prepared wire rack on the baking sheet.
- Apply sauce and roast. Brush tenderloins generously with the barbecue sauce. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Brush with another layer of sauce and roast an additional 10–13 minutes, until an internal thermometer reads 145°F in the thickest part.
- Rest before slicing. Remove from oven and tent loosely with foil. Let rest 5 minutes — this is non-negotiable; the juices need time to redistribute. Slice into 1/2-inch medallions and serve with reserved sauce on the side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 36g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 540mg