Well, we finished the chops today! I had them in the brine for about 40 hours. Then we pulled them and smoked them for about 3 hours last night but quit due to the late hour. I smoked them some more this morning, maybe 1 1/2 hours to an internal temperature of 123F or so. Then pulled them, vac bagged them and sous vide at 141F for 3 hours until it was time to eat. The sous vide was handy because we did not eat right away. The guest arrived but chatted for over an hour. No problem holding the chops at all.
The chops were thick, some probably 2 inches and the thinnest 1 1/2 inches. I did not inject them, but I will the next time I make them. They were pink until just the very center quarter of an inch from the brine.
Overall, I was very happy with them. Much better than when I cooked until the 150F specified in the original recipe. These were moist with great flavor.
And they went well with mashed 'taters...
This was my first time to try actual woodchips. I had shredded wood previously that I found in small packets at a shop in Manila. Mostly I wrapped the chips in foil, poked a few holes and used those to smoke. I would pull the foil pouch and dump the blackened chips to get the last shot of smoke out of them.
But at the tail end, I simply put the chips directly on the hot charcoal. You can see the foil from my last pouch in the photo. Smoke was similar but did not seem to last as long as when the chips were pouched.
I will be doing 6 kilos of bacon later this week. I will play with the chips more then.
