# 2nd attempt at frying pork chops. Pls, tell me what I did wrong the first time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062 "2012-06-13T20:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/41 "2012-06-14T18:53:49Z")
Ok, now I’m confused. Of course a bone-in pork chop could be breaded and fried. That’s how my mom makes them, and she buys the type that are usually about 1/2 inch thick. Then there are the pounding variations, which I talked about, and, yes, those involve boneless porkchops. It doesn’t have to be the tenderloin. Could be regular ol’ loin. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/42 "2012-06-14T19:19:54Z")
What, are you questioning that I’m not the end all expert on all things pork? Ok, I guess I’ll say that **I** have never had a breaded bone in pork chop, and pretty much the only kind of breaded and pounded pork I’ve had was in a tenderloin sandwich. I have had breaded boneless pork chops, but those were usually baked. That’s the way **my** mom rolled so it must be right. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/43 "2012-06-14T19:29:24Z")
Yes, mom made it right. Your mom maybe, any of you, but my mom never made anything right. But thinnest thing I’ve ever called a pork chop would be 1/2 inch, and that’s pretty meager. And I use bone in or boneless, either way. You bread them brown them on both sides, then let them simmer in gravy to tenderize. These are real pork chops, meat that would be too fatty and tough to just grill or roast individually. They are not just slices of pork loin. I’ve made plenty of dishes from pork loin and tenderloin, cooked in different styles. They’re just not pork _chops_. Stuffed pork chops are a fabulous dish, but it’s not going to work with something 1/2" thick or thinner. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/44 "2012-06-14T19:45:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes, mom made it right. Your mom maybe, any of you, but my mom never made anything right. But thinnest thing I’ve ever called a pork chop would be 1/2 inch, and that’s pretty meager. And I use bone in or boneless, either way. You bread them brown them on both sides, then let them simmer in gravy to tenderize. These are real pork chops, meat that would be too fatty and tough to just grill or roast individually. They are not just slices of pork loin. I’ve made plenty of dishes from pork loin and tenderloin, cooked in different styles. They’re just not pork _chops_. Stuffed pork chops are a fabulous dish, but it’s not going to work with something 1/2" thick or thinner. Now you’re making things up. Loin chops are pork chops. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/45 "2012-06-14T19:47:12Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > OK, what the hell is side fried chicken? Is this one of those southern things that require a drawl? Alongside. In other words, they are cooked roughly the same way in the same fryers. Many restaurants offer both. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/46 "2012-06-14T19:54:10Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Now you’re making things up. Loin chops are pork chops. Yes, that’s why they’re call loin chops. Because it wouldn’t be at all confusing to call every piece of pork a chop. I’ve a good mind to head down to the butcher shop and pick up some delicious inch thick bone in pork chops, pan fry them, simmer them in apple gravy, and eat them until I am stuffed to the gills. That’ll show you. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/47 "2012-06-14T20:06:22Z")
Heresy! Pork and loin chops should be served with mushroom and onion gravy! And have applesauce on the side. I’ve found that loin chops are usually cheaper than pork chops, and every bit as tasty. They don’t have the classic pork chop appearance, but I’m willing to forgo appearance in order to save a bit of money, unless I’m having company over. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/48 "2012-06-14T20:09:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes, that’s why they’re call loin chops. Because it wouldn’t be at all confusing to call every piece of pork a chop. I’ve a good mind to head down to the butcher shop and pick up some delicious inch thick bone in pork chops, pan fry them, simmer them in apple gravy, and eat them until I am stuffed to the gills. That’ll show you. The word chop is basically used the same way as the word steak. Enjoy yours. By the way, for those who want to know what pulykamel and I are talking about, just google “fried pork chops”. The vast majority of images are of thin chops, on the bone. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/49 "2012-06-14T20:11:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ve made plenty of dishes from pork loin and tenderloin, cooked in different styles. They’re just not pork _chops_. Are you talking about blade chops, then? I’m trying to figure it out. All pork chops come from part of the loin. Blade chops are the tougher chops that come from the section of the loin closest the shoulder, and are good for braising applications, while center cut pork chops come from, well, the center of the loin where the meat is leaner and more tender. They’re all pork chops, though. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/50 "2012-06-14T20:13:02Z")
If we’re confessing-- I thought I hated pork chops until I married and hubby wanted some and I made my own using a recipe from a book. This is because my grandmother was afraid of trichinosis. She’d heard that, in Puerto Rico, a man died when his stomach burst with worms after eating an undercooked chop. So she fried bone in pork chops until the were crunchy and the only edible part was that little circle of meat in the middle. And even that was as hard as a hockey puck. Mi abuela cooked everything else to perfection so I thought that was how pork chops were supposed to taste. Especially since she would not let us eat the thin, pounded and breaded pork chops other people made-- because it would kill us. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/51 "2012-06-14T20:13:27Z")
Ok… Pork is the meat from a pig… Loin is the top, middle part of pork… chops are all part of the loin and specifically… Oh hell, I’m in way over my head already. Take a look at this… [http://www.redmeatreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/PorkCutsLarge.gif](http://www.redmeatreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/PorkCutsLarge.gif) To me a “pork chop” is a “loin chop” on that chart. And I’m going to show all y’all and go to my butcher and just order “pork chops” and he will ask me how thick, and I’ll decide on what kind of a mood I’m in and will get a nice package of “loin chops” and I will throw them on the grill (too fatty and tough my foot), and I will eat and enjoy until I can do no more. Now you’ve been shown!!! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/52 "2012-06-14T20:23:14Z")
Dammit, now I want some BBQ pork ribs. Looking at that chart, I generally get what they call the sirloin cuts. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/53 "2012-06-14T20:48:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Are you talking about blade chops, then? I’m trying to figure it out. All pork chops come from part of the loin. Blade chops are the tougher chops that come from the section of the loin closest the shoulder, and are good for braising applications, while center cut pork chops come from, well, the center of the loin where the meat is leaner and more tender. They’re all pork chops, though. I’d call blade chops the one all the way up on the shoulder. These would be the shoulder or blade end of the loin though. cuts. The fat and connective tissue should be clearly visible. Much more flavor than anything near the center loin. I know lean pork is all the rage these days, but this is where the real meat is. The real blade meat I get boned, sliced thin, marinated and grilled Portuguese style. That’s very popular around here. Loins I do as roasts, or I do cut them for loin chops for volume cooking because of the consistency. **Lynn** , country gravy is certainly acceptable. It’s pretty much what my apple gravy is, substituting apples for the mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/54 "2012-06-14T20:53:51Z")
On that chart I don’t see what I think of as an iconic pork chop-- side bone, fatty connective stuff, circle of meat. Blade comes close, but not exactly it. [ETA: This is what I’m talking about.](http://mealsonbudget.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/pork-chops.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/55 "2012-06-14T20:59:29Z")
I just started eating pork chops, then promptly stopped after seeing [this story about brain parasites](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=6309464&page=1#.T9pQP7US1KY). But anyway, what I used to do was season them with pepper and kosher salt, then cover in flour and cook in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/56 "2012-06-14T21:15:17Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > On that chart I don’t see what I think of as an iconic pork chop-- side bone, fatty connective stuff, circle of meat. Blade comes close, but not exactly it. > > [ETA: This is what I’m talking about.](http://mealsonbudget.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/pork-chops.jpg) That’s definitely not a blade chop. Looks like a rib chop to me. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/57 "2012-06-14T21:18:56Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > I just started eating pork chops, then promptly stopped after seeing [this story about brain parasites](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=6309464&page=1#.T9pQP7US1KY). > > But anyway, what I used to do was season them with pepper and kosher salt, then cover in flour and cook in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil. Of course, because this happens every day to all of the millions and millions of people who eat pork on a regular basis. I heard a story once about a guy who died because an eagle dropped a turtle it had caught and it hit him in the head. I don’t go outside the house anymore without a helmet on. Well, I don’t actually have a helmet but I’ve fashioned one out of tin foil that seems to do the job (don’t believe me… I’ve made it 50 years without being killed by a dropped turtle). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/58 "2012-06-14T21:22:13Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > I just started eating pork chops, then promptly stopped after seeing [this story about brain parasites](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=6309464&page=1#.T9pQP7US1KY). > > But anyway, what I used to do was season them with pepper and kosher salt, then cover in flour and cook in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil. Fry it until it’s crunchy and hard like mi abuela did. No stomach or brain worms! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/59 "2012-06-14T21:22:40Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > On that chart I don’t see what I think of as an iconic pork chop-- side bone, fatty connective stuff, circle of meat. Blade comes close, but not exactly it. > > [ETA: This is what I’m talking about.](http://mealsonbudget.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/pork-chops.jpg) That’s what I consider to be an iconic pork chop too, though I will certainly eat other cuts of pork. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062/60 "2012-06-14T21:24:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s definitely not a blade chop. Looks like a rib chop to me. Yes. And from a half starved pig. (Maybe not that bad if it came from the center). Blades would be the equivalent of a Porterhouse. My chops would be the TBones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2nd-attempt-at-frying-pork-chops-pls-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong-the-first-time/625062.md?page=4)