Pork chops are convenient weeknight staples. They cook up quickly, theyre relatively cheap, and most people seem to like them well enough. But they often fall short of tasting truly awesome. A plain pork chop plopped on a plate isnt anyones idea of an exciting dinner. If theyre not handled right, pork chops have a tendency to be bland, boring and even a little bit dry. At their worst, theyre as uninspiring as the dreaded boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Were here to rescue you from your pork chop malaise. This misunderstood cut of meat is a chameleon. With just a little bit of extra effort and some simple techniques, you can change your pork chops from blah to flavor-blasted and make them fit into many different types of meals and flavor profiles from all over the world. Theres no reason to ever eat dull pork again. All of these tips are great on their own, and many can be combined to create the ultimate in porky deliciousness.
8 ozKeep the Fat. The fat on pork is great for flavor, so definitely don’t trim it off. … Buy Bone-In. Similarly to not removing the fat, cooking your pork still on the bone will also help keep it from drying out. … Embrace Marinades. … Consider Brining. … Use a Meat Thermometer. … Let it Rest.
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Keep the Fat. The fat on pork is great for flavor, so definitely don’t trim it off. …
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Buy Bone-In. Similarly to not removing the fat, cooking your pork still on the bone will also help keep it from drying out. …
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Embrace Marinades. …
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Consider Brining. …
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Use a Meat Thermometer. …
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Let it Rest.
Consider a dry brine
While brining in liquid (or wet brining) is a great technique, its not for everyone. You may not be a fan of the extra water contained in wet-brined meat. Brining also requires a decent amount of fridge space — enough to hold not just the pork chops themselves, but also sufficient liquid to completely submerge your meat.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to wet brining pork chops that has many of the same benefits (and some argue is even superior): dry brining. To dry brine, you simply add a generous amount of salt (and possibly other seasonings) to the outside of your meat, then keep the meat in the fridge for a day or more before you cook it. Through the magic of osmosis, over time, the salt gets absorbed into the meat, seasoning it all the way through. Heres how it works: The salt initially pulls moisture to the surface of the meat. This dissolves the salt on the surface, and the resulting salty solution then gets pulled back into the muscle fibers.
Dry brined meat doesnt contain extra water, but it retains moisture well during cooking. It tastes well-seasoned and the salt tenderizes the meat as well. Furthermore, since its dryer than wet-brined meat, dry brined protein browns more quickly.
Butter baste them
Just about anything tastes better when you add butter to it, and pork chops are no exception. You may be familiar with the butter basting technique from cooking steak, but theres no reason you cant do it with pork chops too.
Start by searing your chops until brown in a hot, oiled pan. Then lower the heat and add several tablespoons of butter. The butter acts as both a flavoring and a cooking medium. You can throw herbs, garlic, and other aromatics into the hot butter to infuse the fat with flavor. At this point, you start basting and turning the pork chops around in the pan, coating them with the infused butter and heating them gently until theyre cooked through. The key is to make sure your pan isnt too hot when you add the butter — brown butter tastes delicious, nutty, and savory, but burnt butter tastes acrid and bitter and will ruin the meat youve worked so hard to prepare. If youre able to nail butter basting, your pork chops will have a restaurant-quality polish thats absolutely delectable.
Whether youre keeping things basic or adding some complexity to your dish (consider our pan-seared pork chops with parsnip-apple purée recipe), a buster baste is a surefire way to bring more flavor to the equation.
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS KILLER PORK RECIPE? SO INCREDIBLE, IT WAS GONE IN AN INSTANT! EVERYONE LOVED IT!
FAQ
What brings out the flavor in pork?
What enhances pork flavour?
What makes pork taste better?
How do you make pork chops more flavorful?
One of the easiest, simplest ways to make your pork chops more flavorful is to brine them. Brining pork chops has the added benefit of increasing the meat’s moisture content as well as amping up the flavor. But what is brining? At its most basic, it’s soaking something in a saltwater solution.
Can one eat pork?
A cooked, medium pork cutlet or steak provides 239 calories, 34 grams protein, 10 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 697 milligrams sodium, and 0 grams carbohydrate, if you eat only the lean part of the steak. Pork contains many of the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) found in beef and it is high in protein, but can be lower in fat than beef—depending on cut and preparation. Meat from any kind of mammal, including pork, can cause an allergic reaction (and some people who are allergic to mammalian meat also react to poultry).
How do you make pork soft and tender?
Some cuts of pork are naturally more tender than others. Typically, cuts that have more fat are going to be more tender than leaner cuts. To make pork soft and tender, we suggest a few things: Salt: Salt is a really great and cheap way to not only add flavor but help break down the pork to make it easier to chew and digest.
How do you tenderize pork?
Use a commercial meat tenderizer. Another option for tenderizing your pork is to use an artificial meat tenderizer. These meat-tenderizing substances usually come in the form of a powder but are also sometimes available as liquids. Often, the active ingredient in these tenderizers is papain, the natural meat-softening chemical found in papayas.