Tatoosh
Full Fledged Farker
My first try at doing pork chops on my Weber Kettle Grill with Smokenator.
In the Philippines, pork chops come with a lot of extra fat, just how they sell it here. I trim it off and render it for lard. You can see two of the slices of fat, one on the plate with the chops and and the other on the cutting board. The chops went into a wet brine of 5 cups of water to 1/2 cup of Morton Tender Quick. I also added rosemary and peppercorns. They spend 24 hours refrigerated in brine before being rinsed off and introduced to my good buddy, Weber.
My table setup for smoking. A couple of probe thermometers, tongs, and a packet of hickory shreds for smoking. I break the packet into three parts, the original package and the other two in foil. I smoke each one and get maybe 25 minutes of smoke. Then I dump the remains directly on the hot coals for another 5 to 10 minutes of smoke. The only thing that was camera shy is my yellow Thermapen which I used to make sure all the chops were done.
Here the chops are on the Weber. The probe to monitor the temperature at the food grate and the Smokenator with a foil pouch on top of the charcoal.
Below are the pork chops about 10 to 15 minutes from finishing. I run the first 2 hours at a lower temperature, maybe 175F so they will take smoke without cooking. I kick the heat up to the 240F - 250F to finish them. The theory is that they won't dry out. I brine them with tenderquick, rosemary, and peppercorns for 24 hours before smoking.
The foil packets are spent now and gone. A couple of hot dogs managed to find there way over the hottest area of the Smokenator for a snack at in-law's request. I will post a photo of the finished chops if they survive my family who are circling them like pork loving vultures.
I did a quick taste test on one. They are not as moist as I wanted, a bit hammy but not too dry either, so still pretty flavorful. The flavor of the two hours of smoking is quite evident and I loved it. I still want to sort this out for a moister chop but we have to get the meat to at least 150F for safety sake here.
Any pointers on turning out moister pork chops will be appreciated. Flavor wise, they are fine. I'm not unhappy to serve them to guests, but I'd like to improve them if I can.
In the Philippines, pork chops come with a lot of extra fat, just how they sell it here. I trim it off and render it for lard. You can see two of the slices of fat, one on the plate with the chops and and the other on the cutting board. The chops went into a wet brine of 5 cups of water to 1/2 cup of Morton Tender Quick. I also added rosemary and peppercorns. They spend 24 hours refrigerated in brine before being rinsed off and introduced to my good buddy, Weber.
My table setup for smoking. A couple of probe thermometers, tongs, and a packet of hickory shreds for smoking. I break the packet into three parts, the original package and the other two in foil. I smoke each one and get maybe 25 minutes of smoke. Then I dump the remains directly on the hot coals for another 5 to 10 minutes of smoke. The only thing that was camera shy is my yellow Thermapen which I used to make sure all the chops were done.
Here the chops are on the Weber. The probe to monitor the temperature at the food grate and the Smokenator with a foil pouch on top of the charcoal.
Below are the pork chops about 10 to 15 minutes from finishing. I run the first 2 hours at a lower temperature, maybe 175F so they will take smoke without cooking. I kick the heat up to the 240F - 250F to finish them. The theory is that they won't dry out. I brine them with tenderquick, rosemary, and peppercorns for 24 hours before smoking.
The foil packets are spent now and gone. A couple of hot dogs managed to find there way over the hottest area of the Smokenator for a snack at in-law's request. I will post a photo of the finished chops if they survive my family who are circling them like pork loving vultures.
I did a quick taste test on one. They are not as moist as I wanted, a bit hammy but not too dry either, so still pretty flavorful. The flavor of the two hours of smoking is quite evident and I loved it. I still want to sort this out for a moister chop but we have to get the meat to at least 150F for safety sake here.
Any pointers on turning out moister pork chops will be appreciated. Flavor wise, they are fine. I'm not unhappy to serve them to guests, but I'd like to improve them if I can.
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