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Forward sear bone-in pork chops

Powak
Powak Posts: 1,412
in EggHead Forum
picked up some bone-in chops today from the butcher shop. These guys looked like the pork version of porterhouse steak and I just couldn't resist. The guy behind the counter said these are great seared first then slow cooked at 300° indirect until they're done. He prefers no pink and we do too at my house. Would this be easily done on the egg? I'm thinking of how hot of a sear temp and methods for cooling the egg down to the roast temp. I've done a few reverse sears with pork and always yield dry, tough meat.
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Comments

  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,835
    A second Egg cures that problem.  Awaiting finished pics.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio
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  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,173
    YEMTrey said:
    A second Egg cures that problem.  Awaiting finished pics.
    My man Trey speaks the truth. Time to pony up for that second egg. I find the MM to be a searing machine.
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    northGAcock said:
    YEMTrey said:
    A second Egg cures that problem.  Awaiting finished pics.
    My man Trey speaks the truth. Time to pony up for that second egg. I find the MM to be a searing machine.
    Hahahah I know! That's definitely in the works in the near future for me. In the mean time I've gotta do the cool-down wait
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  • Hans61
    Hans61 Posts: 3,901
    Reverse sear it 
    “There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.”
    Coach Finstock Teen Wolf
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    Hans61 said:
    Reverse sear it 
    If I can get it to come out cooked and juicy that way I'll go with it. Maybe it being bone-in, that'll help. 
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    My other thought is possibly searing it inside on my cast-iron pan and then slow roasting at 275 indirect on the egg
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  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,656
    Powak said:
    ... I've done a few reverse sears with pork and always yield dry, tough meat.
    The ONLY advantage to a "forward sear" is that you're doing the "final" cook slowly at a low temp, so it's easier to be sure you're not going to overshoot and overcook the meat.  The HUGE disadvantage is that it takes FOREVER for a Big Green Egg to cool down, whereas it's pretty darn fast to crank it up.  That's the reason practically everyone who's cooking thick steaks uses reverse sear.

    I used to do forward sear (they called it "T-Rex," years ago, from the "handle" of the guy who made that technique popular), and it works like a charm.  If you feel safer doing that, no problem.  Go for it!  Just be aware that it will take a long time for the Egg to truly get down to low-and-slow temps after a hot sear.

    Possible reasons for a reverse sear to turn out dry and tough, that are FIXABLE include:
    • Taking the internal temp too high before the sear.  Trial and error can fix this.  If it was dry and tough, shoot for a lower temp next time.  The Thermapen is your friend!
    • Taking too long to sear.  At 650°-700°, it should only take a minute a side to sear.  That's NOT going to raise the internal temp appreciably at all.
    If you feel better about doing this one "forward sear," go for it, have a ball, enjoy the heck out of that pork!  But if you do it a few more times and get sick to death of waiting for the Egg to cool down, think about trying reverse sear again, being careful about internal temps and how long you're putting in on to sear.
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    Theophan said:
    Powak said:
    ... I've done a few reverse sears with pork and always yield dry, tough meat.
    The ONLY advantage to a "forward sear" is that you're doing the "final" cook slowly at a low temp, so it's easier to be sure you're not going to overshoot and overcook the meat.  The HUGE disadvantage is that it takes FOREVER for a Big Green Egg to cool down, whereas it's pretty darn fast to crank it up.  That's the reason practically everyone who's cooking thick steaks uses reverse sear.

    I used to do forward sear (they called it "T-Rex," years ago, from the "handle" of the guy who made that technique popular), and it works like a charm.  If you feel safer doing that, no problem.  Go for it!  Just be aware that it will take a long time for the Egg to truly get down to low-and-slow temps after a hot sear.

    Possible reasons for a reverse sear to turn out dry and tough, that are FIXABLE include:
    • Taking the internal temp too high before the sear.  Trial and error can fix this.  If it was dry and tough, shoot for a lower temp next time.  The Thermapen is your friend!
    • Taking too long to sear.  At 650°-700°, it should only take a minute a side to sear.  That's NOT going to raise the internal temp appreciably at all.
    If you feel better about doing this one "forward sear," go for it, have a ball, enjoy the heck out of that pork!  But if you do it a few more times and get sick to death of waiting for the Egg to cool down, think about trying reverse sear again, being careful about internal temps and how long you're putting in on to sear.
    Doin the good ole reverse sear. I'm going to pill the pork at 140, crank to 700 and sear
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  • HurricaneEddie1
    HurricaneEddie1 Posts: 92
    Can't you sear first then drop in the plate setter? Doesn't the temp drop when putting on cold plate? 

    I would sear at 600 then drop in plate setter and chop with meat probe.
    Cooking on a LBGE and MM down in Miami, FL.
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,412
    HurricaneEddie1 said:
    Can't you sear first then drop in the plate setter? Doesn't the temp drop when putting on cold plate? 

    I would sear at 600 then drop in plate setter and chop with meat probe.
    That's what I want to try. I'm going to do that next time. I would think dropping the plate setter in would drastically lower the temps .
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  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,656
    HurricaneEddie1 said:
    Can't you sear first then drop in the plate setter? Doesn't the temp drop when putting on cold plate?...
    It drops, but not to low-and-slow temps!  That a whole lotta ceramic that's at 600°, and it's still going to be RADIATING all of that heat energy right at that steak for a long time.  It's been a long time since I did a forward sear, but I think even putting in the plate setter it was still over 350° 20 minutes later.  I think I usually just went ahead anyway even though it wasn't as cool as I really wanted it.  I've done it many times both ways and I MUCH prefer reverse sear!
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  • Logger
    Logger Posts: 309
    Try putting it in a good brine the night before and then reverse searing.
    OKC area  XL - Medium Eggs
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  • GrillSgt
    GrillSgt Posts: 2,507
    You will get more of the egg flavor if you do a low and slow first and then crush it with a sear. Reverse sear 
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