[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I don't think it's the meat's fault. At least not anymore.

We raised some hogs when I was a kid, and I can't remember the correlation to me hating pork chops and our hogs. Not ruling that out. More realistically is how it compares to the beef out here. I'm in feedlot country, and the guys know what they're doing. But most of it isn't the meat's fault I don't think.

Mostly, I just hated them when mom would cook them, and I never really gave it a try myself. If she'd grill them they'd be 80 grit sandpaper - almost assuredly overcooked. Several years ago she bought this pork loin for some giant family get together - and cooked the thing to 165. We argued a bit and I showed her the USDA data on safe temps for pork cuts. I'm guessing she thermally assaulted the pork chops when I was a kid. She made some braised thing smothered in gravy when I was a kid a fair bit, and I got a big ol vein of fat (that I couldn't see) when I was a kid and gagged.

I'm guessing if she executed it better, I'd have a different opinion. Appropriate seasoning and grilling to temp and properly trimming the smothered thing probably fixes that.

I just became a guy that picked a different option after I left home.

From a technical perspective, I just don't want to give it much of a go. I'm not one for making gravy. I don't dislike it, I'll probably just light a fire and go that route. And chops have a flavor problem. Give me a fat steak and that shit is going to taste amazing. A fat chop, even aggressively seasoned, doesn't carry much pork flavor like steaks carry beef flavor. So you're relying entirely on seasoning and they don't penetrate a thick chop well in my experience. Most chop recipes have some sort of sauce they lean into. I'm just not a sauce guy. I've done some - some that were really good, but not good enough to be worht the effort - at least with beef.

So again, I become the guy that chooses another option. But I'm open to being an idiot. That's why I should have you guys rock one out and motivate me to improve the craft .

tl;dr: I just always feel like there is a better option.

Yah, I think your mom overcooking the things had something to do with it. My mom couldn't cook a pork chop well at first either. Until I was in HS my dad aways cooked all the meats except certain fish/seafood. She just always cooked the pork way too much; scared of leaving any pink at all, which meant dry as cardboard.

Sous vide/reverse sear helps with that, btw. But it sounds what you need to try is a solid marinade, like the one posted by Otter. Either that, or a 24-hour brine.


If I lived in KS I'd have you over for pork chops that'd knock you back in your seat.