Haven't had pork chop cooked on a stove or in an oven in the 10 years I've had my smoker.

 

I'm pretty sure I might be in the same boat once I smoke a couple.

What benefit do you enjoy from the brine and or sugar process?

 

I ask because I haven't tried it before...thanks in advance.

 

They stay moist and dont dry out, also keeps them tender. I do the salt/sugar brine when I grill them.

Man I love a good pork chop. I'll be paying attention to the recipes in this thread.

 

My all time favorite meal is shish kabobs with pork. We usually just marinade in zesty Italian dressing. It's always great!

I find cooking pork chops similar to cooking steaks. Buy good meat and you should have an outstanding meal. Hate to over season foods. That being said I do like to hit them with a little Cajun spice or BBQ. Mrs. TAC picked up 2 huge pork tenderloins from Kroger the other day. Made one by wrapping in bacon and baking it. The other she sliced up and we grilled at home one night with the Cajun spice on it. She cut up the rest and put them into a baggie with BBQ sauce. I was at the lake and only had a mini grill so I was rather worried about cooking the chops at various thicknesses on such a cruddy grill. They actually came out fantastic. Melted in your mouth. I think it all went back to getting those good tenderloins.

I do thick cut bone in on the grill, the wife brine's them the night before. I use lump charcoal and a chunk or two of Apple wood for a little extra flavor. The wife likes to do the thin cuts and she seasons those with a spanish seasoning the night before, with sazon I believe. Then she fries them up (no breading) in a cast iron pan. Those come out excellent as well.

 

I haven't tried smoking them yet, but it's on my list of things to do. I imagine to smoke them you would want a higher heat than you would normally use for smoking, around 350, 400 even.

I go about making pork chops a few different ways, but I'll give you my wife's favorite. Start off with some nice and thick boneless pork chops...at least 1" thick, as much as about 1-1/2" thick.

 

Brining Solution

6 cups cold water

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

 

Rub

(This is the basic premise, at least. Add all the ingredients, to taste, and you can church it up with other spices as you please.)

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Paprika

Light Brown Sugar

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

 

Dredging

3 eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon water added

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

 

Brine the chops for at least 4 hours in the fridge. After brining, I'll pat the chops dry with a paper towel, and coat them liberally with rub. Then I'll let them rest for a couple minutes so the moisture in the chops can begin to grab ahold of the salt and spices in the rub. After a couple of minutes, I'll dip them one at a time into the eggs, and then into the bread crumbs. Then I'll bake them in a 375° oven until they reach an internal temperature of 150°, and then I'll let them rest for about 5 minutes under a foil tent until they're ready to serve.

 

One trick I've picked up on for baking breaded pork chops - and chicken for that matter - is to put a cookie cooling rack on top of a baking sheet, and then to put the meat on top of the cooling rack while it's in the oven. The cooling rack keeps the underside of the breading from getting a bit soggy. Good trick from Alton Brown.

My wife breads them in spiced up flour then deep fried till crispy. Puts them in a pan and simmered in jalepeno, pineapple, mango salsa. Topped with some out of the pan on the plate. Delicious....