Good Read - The Absolute Best Way to Make Juicy Pork Chops
We love pork chops in our house. My Wife's favorite. We will be giving these a try. I think wet brining then roasting in the pellet grill and searing in cast ironwill be our best bet.
Outside tools:
22" Weber kettle (2x)
Santa Maria grill attachment
2-burner Camp Chef Explorer propane stove
Temperature tools:
ThermaWorks Smoke
ThermaWorks ThermaPen Mk4
Inside tools:
36" Viking gas range
Anova sous vide
Lodge cast iron skillets, griddle, dutch ovens - several
Stupid expensive but very beautiful cast iron gifts for my wife - 4x
Other tools & accessories:
Buck Chef knife and serrated knife
Victorianox Fibrox Pro Chef knife - 3x
Cave Tools Metal Meat Claws
​​​​​​Meathead's book: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling
That is quite the write up! I'm a little surprised that wet brine gets so much love. I've kinda given up on it, but maybe for this application I'll reconsider. Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to your pics... 😁👍ðŸ»
Coming into this conversation late, but I just did a dry brine two days ago on some boneless chops and they turned out better than the wet brine I did last time. I think I'll stick with the dry brine, easier, cleaner, and good results.
The best pork chops I ever did, were Duroc rib chops about 1.25†thick. I did not brine(no time), dusted with Bovine Bold(Plowboys BBQ) and let them sweat. Reverse seared on my Summit with SnS. Took them off around 140°F i.t. Super juicy & the crust was amazing.
For years my wife refused to even try pork chops as in her past experience they were always dry and not enjoyable, and certainly medium rare pink pork was out of the question despite being juicy. Until I invested in a sous vide machine.
2" pork chops, sous vide for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs at 140 degF, salted, fresh thyme, rosemary, pepper and salt, finished over very hot coals for a well browned exterior. Now she is convinced of medium rare pink pork.
Wet brine is good for chops. I think the best way is to get the best chops you can find, though. The supermarket chops lack much flavor and are bred too lean. Which reminds me, I should go to the farmer's market today and see if I can get more.
On the medium rare thing. No. Not pork. Beef is interesting at that doneness, pork is not, at least to me. It's not a food safety issue, it's that, like chicken, it's too consistent in texture and kind of... gelatinous?
Last edited by rickgregory; February 19, 2022, 12:22 PM.
I always wet brine chicken and pork loin/chops. It really changes the meat structure in a way I find has better structure as well as the benefits from the juiciness.
I plan on picking up some 2†chops today and will brine 24 hours in a 5% salt, 3% sugar or honey brine.
Best I ever had were at Emeril’s in New Orleans. They cooked them SV then seared in a 1200* double broiler. Some kind of sauce was served with them an they were divine.
I met Emeril there with my dad back around 2002-03ish if memory serves me. Don't remember much other than email being goat roaping drunk and him calling Dad "Mr. Preacherman" and apologizing everything he swore, which was on the Pulp Fiction (one of my favorite movies) level. Troutman
I used to wet brine but got lazy. I think I agree it does produce a juicer chop but as the article points it it sucks when it comes to searing. I’ll stay with dry brine on thicker chops and an awesome sear any day. 140*F is my ideal finish temp ( pull at 136-7* F ).
Pork chops are a staple food in our house and enjoyed at least 3 day's of a week. Always prepared over live fire.
The way that gives the best results for me in both tender juiciness and taste, is when I marinade them for a couple day's. Vac sealed to use when needed.
Once the charcoal is going I put them in the kettle, lid on for around 10min. The lid thermometer usually shows around 150C and gradually moves up from there (have had higher temps than this and didn't notice any difference to the end result).
After removing the lid I wait for the coals to get glowing hot. Sear the chops turning frequently as in every 10 - 15 seconds. Doesn't get any significant browning but does caramelise the marinade a little. They are always good even when I've overcooked them slightly.
I suspect the marinading is very similar to a wet brine.
Will definitely be trying the wet brine in the article.
I haven't dry brined pork chops, just season before putting them on and the results are good but not nearly as tender as the marinaded ones.
Have done the front sear first and its much of a much. I prefer reverse searing.
Pretty good write up, but I'm going to be a bit judgmental on one of her methods. I suspect she needs more work on her grilling techniques. This one had a short wet brine, and it is a fattier Berkshire rather than commodity cut, seared then moved to indirect to hit 135................was plenty juicy and tender with a wonderful sear.
Bob, looks fantastic. Might I ask what the wet brine was, and for how long? I’m about to try some chops for the first time and would very much like to give your technique the first shot. Thanks!
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