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Tender Pork Chops?

Midnight Smoker
Midnight Smoker Posts: 220
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I've had good luck with about everything I've done on the egg, except chops. I usually use 1 to 1-1/4" thick center cut boneless. They always taste fantastic and are real juicy and my wife always raves about them, but I'm looking for that perfect result.

Any tips/tricks out there for getting them tender?

Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    cook to 145 max.

    are you cooking them like mom always did, til they were firm and white? most pork these days is still way overcooked.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • YB
    YB Posts: 3,861
    I thought you were supposed to be working?LOL
    Larry
  • 145 is the number I've been using also. I was thinking maybe it is the preparation. I usually just oil and salt/pepper, maybe the occasional rub for variety. For steaks I don't have a problem with letting them sit for a bit to come up to temp after being in the fridge, but I usually take chops directly to the egg. Got a phobia about pork sitting around on the counter.
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    Why would you let anything sit on the counter and "come up to temp"? What is the benefit?

    I usually go straight from fridge to cooker, pausing for the 3-5 minutes it takes to trim, oil, and/or rub the particular item I am cooking.
  • When doing thick steaks, I've had much better luck letting them sit for 20-30 minutes prior to egging. Read about it somewhere, tried it, and it seemed to provide better results for me so I've stuck with it.

    So if you take chops from fridge to grill and they get good and tender, it must be something else. At least I've eliminated that.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    pork is safer than beef. heck, pork is safer than spinach and tomatoes. hasn't been a case of trich in the US from commercial pork since CW grew back-hair!

    and for some reason, it has a lower incidence of e. coli issues too. better handling during slaughter? dunno
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    You should test them sometime and see just how much the internal temp rises when letting your steaks sit out for 20-30 minutes.

    I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I really don't think the internal temp or the meat rises much to where there is any benefit to this step.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    the idea is the same as hotubbing. let the meat heat up so that in cooking to a specific internal temp, there will be less time direct, and less "well done" perimeter.

    sad truth is it can't be done, actually. a steak left on the counter for an hour is still going to be, at best, 45 internal. compared to 100 hot tubbed (or done Trex/Xert).

    all of them have the same goal (among others): allowe the internal temp to be raised gently, and separate from searing).

    but again, you can't make a steak "room temperature" by leaving it at room temperature. not for an hour anyway. unless it's a half inch steak or something.

    take a look at the kitchen in a Morton's steak house. i don't know how they can pull it off with all the bacteria-Nazis out there (let alone health inspectors), but i have seen maybe fifty steaks sitting covered loosely in butcher paper sitting on the open counter, to be cooked throughout the evening. i bet THOSE are close to room temp! yikes.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • I will. Thanks.

    It could be that trying that trick coincided with my improved egg skill/technique and I attributed it to the counter sit. That's one thing I love about the egg, trying new things to try to get the perfect cook and each cook is slightly different. Fun trying to figure out what the variables were that made it different.

    That's what this whole post was about. Trying to improve what are really "good" chops into the "ultimate" chops.
  • Buckethead
    Buckethead Posts: 285
    It will be hard to get REAL tender because of the leaness of the meat. Stike is correct in that trich has been long gone since the 50's. A slow cook wrapped in foil after a quick sear will give you a slight more tender end result. Cook to a medium, slightly pink, Great chops.
    doug
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    Slightly pink pork??

    Won't anyone think of the children :whistle:


    I'm kidding of course....
  • Buckethead
    Buckethead Posts: 285
    Make'em sleep better! A N. GA trick....

    But I do have one of my friends in the biz that eats bacon right out of the package.
    Doug
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,666
    i like pork chops fried on the stovetop over grilling on the egg. if its going on the egg i look for the center cut lamb chops. heres some other options for pork chops, rolled and stuffed,and braised til its almost falling apart. i think that was a coq au vin recipe that i used the pork in

    2005230522.jpg

    2005002951.jpg
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    you ain't sh!ttin, boss.

    my client is the kind of client with the authority to literally bomb people, and here i am d!cking around on a 'Q website!
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • TRex
    TRex Posts: 2,714
    I'll probably get reported to the Bacteria Police for this, but I pull my pork chops at about 136 and let them rest under lightly-tented foil for about 3-5 minutes. Of course they won't be as tender as a steak, because they are very lean, but I don't think they can be beat.

    4-11-08_chops_2_web.jpg

    pchops05-2.jpg

    jason
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    was i too hrsh with the "bacteria Nazis" reference?

    hahaha
    140 is fine. and (everyone!) say it along with the bouncing ball (to the tune of Def Leppard's "Armageddon it"): "the bacteria is on the outside"

    i really gotta work....
    Seacrest OUT!
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    my wife flat refuses to eat pork less than 165 internal....I have tried, lord knows I have tried but it just ain't happenin' :S
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,666
    you could always lie, there are certian people i have to kick out of the kitchen as they would be horrified with all the fat and sugar that go into some of the recipes. cant show them that
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • JackGT
    JackGT Posts: 64
    There's another reason: if you salt them and let them sit then proteins are pulled to the surface and help with the browning/caramelizing of the crust (or so says AB, anyway). I let pork and beef sit seasoned for an hour or so, but not chicken.

    When I went to Sam and Dave's Pork U., they also advised that you should never put cold meat on the grill. But to each his own.
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    So are you saying that by setting meat on the counter for 20-30 minutes you are somehow changing the physical structure or composition of the meat? Are there proteins that exist in the interior of a steak or chop that choose to relocate to the outer surface because the meat sits on a plate at 72* instead of 39*?

    I would really like to know the reasoning behind not putting cold meat on a hot grill. That intrigues me why people would teach that. What is to gain or lose in either scenario?
  • Those look great!!

    So what's your chop technique? I TRex my steaks with great results and can only dream of the day when my name becomes a verb for something. Hopefully something positive :-).
  • Hi Brad, I buy the thick chops then brine overnight. Dissolve 1/4 C. kosher salt, 1/4 C. Turbinado sugar, 2T. Dizzy Dust in 2C. apple juice and 2 C. water. Bring chops to room temp. 1 hr. before cooking.I cook at 225 with some cherry chips for 1/2 an hour then remove and tent with foil while bringing temp up to sear direct. Sear for about 5 min. per side then let rest for 3-5 min. Great with homemade apple sauce and smashed sweets! Janet
  • eenie meenie
    eenie meenie Posts: 4,394
    Wood Butcher,
    I would suggest brining the pork chops to optimize tenderness.

    The Cooks Illustrated method suggests dissolving 3/4 cup Kosher Salt and 6TBSP of sugar in 3 quarts of cold water in a 2 gallon plastic zip lock bag. Then place 4,
    one and one half inch thick chops in the bag and squish out the air and seal. Place this in a bowl (in case the bag leaks. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove chops from the brine and dry thoroughly with paper towels, then apply generous amount of pepper and your rub if using one. (No need to salt, due to the saltly brine absorbed by the chop.) Sear, then cook indirect until 135 degrees. Then remove and let rest about 5 minutes covered with foil, it will come up to 145 degrees. Then serve it (but check and make sure it comes up to 145 degrees
    with the rest)and just don''t tell the wife.

    eenie meeeie
  • NibbleMeThis
    NibbleMeThis Posts: 2,295
    Or just calibrate your thermometer off by 10-20 degrees :evil:
    Knoxville, TN
    Nibble Me This