Kassler Rippchen - German Smoked Pork Chops (tutorial)

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sudsandswine said:

Watermarked screenshots of a document - you writing your own book? :becky:

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I've been making tutorials for about ten years because I am a guest teacher at several High School Culinary Arts programs in our area. I teach the students about salts, curing meats, and smoking meat. With several groups in each class, the students make their own Hams, Bacon, Corned Beef, Canadian Bacon, and various other dishes (like Kassler Rippchen). The tutorials in the classroom do not have watermarks, I modify them with a watermark when I post them on-line



I have always shared my data on The BBQ-Brethren, only to find it copied word for word on other BBQ Web Forums. So last year I started turning the documents to graphic files with a watermark.


Although the data can still be stolen, it requires it a little more work to do so. Since posting in this manner, none of my newer tutorials are showing up elsewhere.


I don't mind sharing my passion, I just find it offensive when someone else copies it and claims it as their own work on other websites.


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gcs said:

Very nice, and Thanks, have you ever done this with a dry cure?

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Many have remarked it might be easier with a dry cure, but you are putting water into a Zip-Lock bag, how much easier can it get?


Yes, I've done it with a dry cure using 1 Tablespoon of Morton Tender Quick per pound, but the end product is much more dry. The wet brine allows the loin to take on additional moisture for a better end product. Lastly, the key is also not to over-cook the meat or it will also become dry. The water also helps the aromatics get deeper into the meat.


To Illustrate I'll use the photos from my Canadian Bacon tutorial.


In the first picture;

wet brine cure on the left in a Zip-Lock bag . . . . . . . . dry brine cure on the right in a vac-seal bag.
Both halves had the same aromatic ingredients added to the cure.





In the second picture;

wet brine cure on the left . . . . . . . . dry brine cure on the right



In the last picture;

wet brine cure on the left . . . . . . . . dry brine cure on the right
After cold smoking and slicing....



You can see the wet brine loin looks moist, the main difference was that the wet brine had much more flavors imparted by the brine when consumed.


There is no right way (wet or dry), it's just a matter of what you like, or don't like, for flavors.


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Started with a whole pork loin on sale at $.99 per pound.




Cut the loin in half used half for Kassler Rippchen, the other half for canadian bacon.
Kassler Rippchen curing on left Canadian bacom curing on the right.




After 5 days in the curing brine, let sit in the refrigerator for an hour until a pelicule formed (tacky to the touch), then into the cold smoker for 4 hours.




Wrapped tightly in saran wrap and refrigerated for 5 days to allow the smoke to migrate throughout the meat.
I like to leave the cracked peppercorns and cracked juniper berries on the loin. This adds more flavor during the rest in the refrigerator.




After tightly wrapped for 5 days in the refrigerator, I sliced the cured smoked loin into 5/8" chops for hot and fast grilling.





To be grilled tomorrow for game day dinner.




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bschoen said:

Very nice recipe, I will have to try it.

Not trying to be pedantic, but since this is teaching material, you have a sentence "... allow to air dry until a pedicle is formed ...". I believe the word should be "pellicle".

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Thanks, any input is appreciated as most of these are written in the early morning hours when I have problems with my sleep disorder. Since I first wrote the tutorial I have made several changes due to grammar and redundancy. I just now made your spelling correction, thanks again.



I also found that I had to turn "auto-correct" off, as I was getting different words than what I was typing. now it just puts the errors in red for my review.

rob g said:

A few questions as I'm relatively new to this:
-What is the purpose of distilled water vs regular, hard tap water?

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Distilled water is close to a neutral PH level, so you are correct, is is not like hard tap or well water. Also, it is not heavily chlorinated, it doesn't contain fluorides, or other additives that could affect flavors in the long curing bath.

rob g said:

-I use an Amazen tray of pellets to cold smoke my bacon but is usually for 8-10 hours. Would 4 hours with a pellet tray be sufficient?

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That would be subjective to your personal tastes, but more importantly, Kassler Rippchen isn't meant to be heavily smoked. That is why beech wood or alder wood is generally used for a mild complimentary smoke flavoring. It's a lightly smoked raw pork product that is very lean. whereas bacon is usually heavily smoked for a bolder flavor.

rob g said:

- I tend to put my bacon in the fridge overnight before it seems to have a pellicle. I dry the meat with paper towels after soaking it but it still seems to be damp even after 4 hours. Am I missing something?

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Again we are working with a pork loin, a very lean cut of pork, so there is more surface evaporation than there would be from a pork belly where the meat to fat ratio is 3 to 1.
I also have a commercial refrigerator, colder, quicker recovery times, and more airflow.

rob g said:

I've been using TQ for my back bacon but with a dry rub. The latest iteration with a cold smoke is more moist than my first attempt with a hot smoke but I'd like to try your recipe next.

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I just want to clarify, this is not bacon, but pork chops. The single post with buckboard bacon was to show a difference between a wet cure and a dry cure. Those loins were cold smoked for two hours then .I start the smoker at 180° and then gradually increase the smoke temperature to 200°. I removed the buckboard bacon from the smoker with an internal temperature of 135°.


There is no right way or wrong way of smoking buckboard / Canadian bacon, as long as it's cured you can have a long cold smoke or a short cold smoke and a short warm smoke. It's all about what you personally prefer in texture and flavor; thus leading us back to a wet cure vs a dry cure, it all about preference in texture and flavor.