I bought a couple of pork loins from Sam’s the other day to cut thick cut pork chops from. I wet brined 8 of the chops Tuesday and threw them on the grill that night. They were moist and tasted great but they were tough. I’ve never had that before. I’ve got 10 more from that loin that I will need to cook. I’m not an SV expert. If I SV them for a couple of hours at say 130 F will they tender up some before a sear on the grill.
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First off Yes!
So my suggestion would be SV at 139 for 2 hours, from there, if searing, pull them and let them cool down and rest for at least 10 minutes before you give them a heavy sear. You want the meat to cool down so the sear does not carry over the cook. I like to kind of stall or stop the cook before sear.
But that’s just my limited experience through pork chops. I rarely enjoyed them until this current method, -
I do similar to what Richard Chrz does, but I go 135* and then sear. But I’ll dry the pork, season and then sear either on the gasser or on the CI/CS pan. You could take them a little longer as well if you wanted to. When I SV pork, it’s usually vac sealed frozen, so 2.5-3 hours at 135 provides a great chop!
but try a few different temps to find your preferred doneness.Comment
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I definitely sous vide thick cut pork chops.Comment
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Lynn … here’s a really good Serious Eats article about exactly what you’re asking: https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vid...rant%2Dquality.Comment
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DaveD - True (and apologies to Lynn for sending the link to Kenji's tenderloin article vs. the link just above it for pork chops).
Fortunately, for the SV portion of both cuts, the SV data for time/temp/doneness/texture are virtually identical. That said, here's a link to the pork chop article: https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vid...sous-vide-bags
Probably the most significant SV-specific difference is the chance of bag punctures from bone-in chops.
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For that cut 135 4 hours, if you have the time. Ice bath no more than 30 minutes. Then let sit in kitchen for at least 30 minutes more like an hour. Then the sear however you do it. I've done this multiple times and haven't been disappointed.Comment
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yup. We sous vide pork chops, then reverse sear, I pull them at 132/133 then hard sear in the skillet of on the griddle. the most important part is to start the sear on the fat cap. Gotta render that FIRST. a hard sera will bring the meat to about 135-136. a nice mid rare, tender and delish, full of flavor. We had an across the street neighbor who LOVED these. I treasure that one of the last meals he was able to really enjoy as of these chops.Comment
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I SV pork loin routinely to slice up for lunchmeat. Loin (NOT tenderloin!) is very lean and can dry out so easily, so I am generous with the time I spend in the SV - four hours at least, and often 12+. To be clear, I am cooking hunks of loin weighing 2-3lb/~1kg whole, not sliced as chops. Let us know how it goes!Comment
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Oak Smoke it may just have been a tougher loin. Hoping that you have some new tricks to try! I know I've learned some things from this thread.Last edited by Sweaty Paul; December 28, 2025, 12:18 PM.
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