{"id":3755,"date":"2015-06-20T13:31:26","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T19:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cooking.pfeist.net\/?p=3755"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:50:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T20:50:54","slug":"250-cookbooks-weber-charcoal-barbecue-kettles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cooking.pfeist.net\/?p=3755","title":{"rendered":"250 Cookbooks: Weber Charcoal Barbecue Kettles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cookbook #116:<\/strong>\u00a0Weber Charcoal Barbecue Kettles, Weber-Stephens Procuts Co., Arlington Heights, Illinois, circa<\/em> late 1970s.<\/p>\n

\"Weber<\/a>“Pork tenderloin surprise packages on p. 15, but missing that page!” That is what I wrote in my database when I entered this small instruction and recipe booklet. And that recipe is all I think about now when I pick up this booklet to find a recipe for this blog! None of the other (remaining) recipes are anything I want to make.<\/p>\n

What are pork tenderloin surprise packages? Well, as I recall, you take some bacon and wrap it around a thick slice of pork tenderloin topped with \u2013 something else \u2013 and toothpick it all together. You put it on the grill and cook it \u2013 at some temperature \u2013 until done. Cheese enters the picture at some point. We loved these back in the day but I haven’t made them in years<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A google search yields two links that offer recipes similar to the one I remember.\u00a0Cooks.com<\/a> has a version that very closely resembles the original. Saz’s site’s version<\/a> suggests mozzarella cheese and specifies “indirect heat” and a cooking time of 55 minutes (not 45 minutes like the original) and a doneness temperature of 170\u02da.\u00a0The recipe that exactly matches the Weber Charcoal Barbeque Kettles version on the missing page of my booklet is the recipe I followed below. (The link to the site where I found this recipe no longer works in 2025 \u2013 the now defunct links were\u00a0photo of the original recipe<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Let’s Talk BBQ<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

I am tickled to find the original recipe, but I still have some work to do: I need to work out how to cook these on a gas<\/em> grill, both time and temperature.<\/p>\n

I know that the bacon grease will drip off these little packages \u2013 so I begin by making sure the drip pan at the bottom of my gas grill is clean and wiping off some of the chunks of build-up on the inside of the BBQ. My grill top has a temperature gauge; while cooking these packages I will nudge the burners to get it to read 350-375\u02da. I’ll put the “surprise packages” over indirect heat. Starting at 40 minutes, I will check the temperature of the pork with an instant-read thermometer. When the temperature is about 160\u02da, I’ll add the cheese to the top and check every couple minutes until the cheese is melted. Ready, set, go!<\/p>\n

Here is my version of the recipe.<\/p>\n

Pork Tenderloin Surprise Packages<\/strong><\/a>
\nthis is written for one; multiply as necessary<\/em><\/p>\n

These work best with the pork in a thick chunk. Pork tenderloins have both a skinny and a fat end. I found that I could cut a 2-inch thick slice from a skinnier end and flatten it to 1 1\/2-inch if necessary.<\/p>\n