I wonder what happened with my beef tenderloin?

Everything I read suggested that it would take about 20 min. for a 2 lb. tenderloin to get to 125 degrees for medium rare in an oven preheated to 425. Granted I was cooking 2, 2 lb tenderloins, but it took about 45 minutes and they were both still pretty rare after letting them rest for about 20 minutes. Weird.

The only answer I can think of is my oven temp is off, but I haven't had that problem with other dishes. Thoughts?

rlucido
  • Posted by: rlucido
  • April 25, 2011
  • 2769 views
  • 5 Comments

5 Comments

pierino
pierino April 26, 2011
The moral of the story is that no two ovens are calibrated exactly equally no matter what the dial is set to. A truly instant read thermometer (like a Thermapen) can be hugely helpful.
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. April 25, 2011
Sounds like you did everything right. Must be your oven. Might want to pick up an oven thermometer to test it.
 
rlucido
rlucido April 25, 2011
Well, I brought them to room temp for about an hour before I put them in the oven and I did use an instant read meat thermometer. I took them out when the thermometer read between 125-140. Pretty darn rare, all the way around.

The 2 pieces sat side by side on on the roasting racks over a shallow roasting pan. They also sat on the upper middle shelf in the oven. Don't know if this made a difference.
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. April 25, 2011
Tony S -- was thinking the same thing. Thank you for your well-put response. And rlucido, hope this is helpful and sorry yours didn't turn out as you'd hoped! Thanks for the follow-up though -- it's great to know.
 
Tony S.
Tony S. April 25, 2011
Did you pull the tenderloin right out of the fridge or did you let it rest on the counter to come close to room temp? If you plonked it in the oven right out of the fridge, that is the culprit.

If you let it come to room temp, it was probably your themostat in the oven. I would suggest two things- 1) an oven thermometer and 2) a probe thermometer that can be inserted into large cuts of meat. If you are choosing one over the other, I would go with the probe because it takes all of the guesswork out of when to pull it out of the oven.
 
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