So I bought a half a pig about a year ago. Been using up all the really good bits (bacon, shoulder, etc) and am left with a whole pile of pork chops - maybe 10-12 of them.
They’re about 1" thick, and, though they have good flavor, they’re tough. Braising them works well, but there’s only so many braised pork chops we can eat. Also, it’s getting to be summer, and braising is more of a winter thing, even here in the frozen north.
I’d like to find something I can do with the lot of them, then freeze. If I add more fat, can I use them in sausage (I have a meat grinder)? Can I smoke them? They’re not gonna last in the freezer much longer, I want to use them up!
I’m gonna piggyback on this because my store was selling whole pork loins for .99/lb. yesterday… so naturally I got 4, about 30 lbs. worth. I’ll need ideas as well!
I’ll probably wish I’d bought more.
Anyway, an idea… If you have a good sharp knife, slice then even thinner and hammer with a tenderizer? You’ll can use them for breaded tenderloins, or make rolls with green chilies and cheese. Or they might be good for breakfast fried with an egg on top.
Mix up a marinade with equal parts soy sauce and frozen concentrate lemonade with as much add garlic and ginger as you can stand. Cut the chops into kabob sized pieces (1" cubes) and marinate overnight. Next day, break out the bamboo skewers and make so kabobs. alternate pieces of pork with whole small mushrooms, onion and green peppers slices or whatever else you like.Grill until nicely charred and enjoy.
Keep 'em coming! I might just end up doing what silenus says and try out some various pork recipes. Part of me wants to cook 'em up into carnitas like I do pork shoulder but I’m afraid they’ll not shred like I want them to, being leaner than shoulder.
There are few things I find more delicious than jerked pork. Buy yourself some Walkerswood jerk paste, cut those loins into steaks, marinate them in the paste for 6-24 hours or so, and cook 'em up on the grill until they’re just cooked through. (You can also do it with the whole loin, of course, but I like steaks because more jerk flavor with more surface area!)
Or if jerk is not your think, cook the loins whole with a generous rub of equal parts salt, cracked/coarsely ground black pepper, and cracked/coarsely ground fennel. Cook to an internal temp of about 145, rest a half hour, serve and enjoy! (You can also stud it with crushed garlic, if you’d like. In addition to the dry rub, just poke a bunch of holes in your meat, and stuff some chopped up garlic with dry rub in there.)
I learned an interesting way of cooking pork chops many years ago, and it does bother me that I can’t remember the name of the method. It was something like “franchasee”, where you dip them in (seasoned) flour, then egg, then (seasoned) bread crumbs, but then back into the egg and then straight into the (preheated and oiled) pan. I’d usually add honey to the egg as well, but I don’t remember if that was part of the actual recipe or just something that I add.
Anyway, it does create a unique texture and flavor for the crust, and is definitely something different than standard cooking techniques.
ETA: The other main thing I do with pork loin is stir fry. You really can’t go wrong with stir fry.
Sorry, I’m no help here. I don’t like cooking pork chops, I never like the way they come out, I’d rather do a roast and then freeze leftovers. With the chops, someone upthread mentioned a stir fry, I’d probably try that. My suggestion, what about a pork soup? Pork, apples, sweet potato maybe, idk, I’m making it up as I go. How about a stew before it gets too warm?
They won’t be medium rare if cooked at that temperature. They’ll be dried out and tough. Try 130, or 135 at the maximum.
Modern pork chops tend to be very lean and easy to dry out. It’s safe to eat them rare - there hasn’t been any trichinella in the U.S. pork supply for decades (this assumes these chops came from commercially-raised pigs, i.e. they’re not from wild boar or from some amateur who doesn’t follow USDA regulations).
It works well to treat pork chops like steak. They’re good cooked on a grill or pan-broiled in cast iron. Again, be careful not to overcook them - they should be pink on the inside. If you don’t know how to “read” meat on a grill, you can use an instant-read thermometer to gauge doneness. When grilling, cook to a slightly lower temperature than you would use for sous vide (the temperature of the interior continues to increase after the food is taken off the grill). 120 to 125 degrees should work fine. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes before eating.
That was my initial thinking as well. I like to sous vide beef (filet mignon, hamburger) rare. I was going to do pork chops the same. Then I read somewhere (can’t find it now) that pork chops are juicier when cooked medium rare. Whoever made the recommendation was someone I trusted, I guess. I followed that advice and they were amazing. I would never cook pork chops any other way.
I did a pork shoulder roast sous vide at 165 for 48 hours. I was skeptical about that also, but it was the best pulled pork I’ve ever tasted.
Another really good pork dish (though I have no clue as to what specific part of the pig is used) is something my brother had in Germany and eventually sourced in the US.
Mett is minced, raw pork served with diced onion. Once you get over the “Raw Pork!?!?” thing it is really tasty.
My Dad suggested I grind them. Pretty sure I can find some pork fat and/or bacon (cured or uncured, depending on how I feel…). I could definitely use a bunch of ground pork. I’m thinking that’s what I’ll end up doing - Can anyone think why that wouldn’t work?
Not as far as I could tell. I’d grind it with a healthy amount of pork belly, but fat back if you could get it. Just make sure everything is cold when you grind it. I presume you know this, but just in case, I always parfreeze before grinding and freeze all my grinder parts, too. You want the fat to cut cleanly. If it begins to smoosh and ooze out of the front of your grinder, it’s gotten too warm.
Brine them! Soak in a brine (there are recipes; here’s one) for a short while, 30 minutes to an hour. They will be tender. Some of these recipes say soak for 2 hours or up to 8 hours; totally unnecessary. I have done it for 30 minutes and had even thin-cut chops be tender.
