The Secrets to Grilling Pork Chops

!±8± The Secrets to Grilling Pork Chops

Ah, the other white meat, but today we are going to share some of the secret keys to grilling pork chops. You can get them with the bone-in, boneless. You can get them as rib chops or loins, but just about the most important thing to remember is to get them thick.

Now we have all probably had moms who got those real thin ones (less than ¾ of an inch thick) when we were younger and we can all also remember just how tough they were too. Thin chops have to be cooked so much faster because they are so much thinner that they tend to dry out faster.

But the thicker ones, oh, yes, we want them to cook all the way through so it will require a little bit of more time. But first, let's talk about keeping what moisture there is in the pork chop itself while it cooks. We do not want them to dry out and this could be a problem to begin with since pork chops normally have less fat than other cuts of meat. So we need to work with this.

We want to keep the moisture in, thereby, keeping in the tenderness and the flavor. We can do this by many methods. My favorite is by brining. We won't go into that here since I have covered it in other posts.

Marinades work well but they do not penetrate as good as a brine does. A real good basic, easy one is just to pick up a bottle of good Italian dressing at the store. It already has all of the oil, vinegar, herbs and spices that you need - and there you go. It does not get any easier than that when you are grilling pork chops.

Look, if you are in a hurry, then this would be the way to go. Throw them in a plastic bag and in the fridge for up to an hour. By marinating them, it will tenderize the meat and protect them from the high heat. Just remember that if you want to get those good grill marks, dry them off after you take them out of the plastic bag.

Directions:

Thin chops - Grill them quickly over a high heat. You want a real good high heat, place them on there and then place the lid down on the grill. Wait about a minute and then rotate them to that you can get those good grill marks. Wait about another minute and then lift the lid up and flip them over and repeat the process. The whole thing should not take more than five minutes.

For the thicker chops when you are grilling pork chops, you are going to need a lower heat. You want to cook them, but you do not want to dry them out. If you are using the indirect heat method, then you would place the thicker chops over the very hottest part of the grill to sear the meat and get those good grill marks, but after that then move them over to a cooler part of the grill to finish them off.

Now if you adding a barbecue sauce, always make sure that you do it at the end so that the sugar in it does not burn and then you would wind up serving 'blackened pork chops', which would not be bad if you had all of your cajun friends over and was having a xydeco party. So just remember to finish up the thick chops over a cooler part of the grill.

And then finally when you are grilling pork chops to remember that the 'resting' period is the most important part of the process. After they are finished, place them on a plate, pie tin, whatever and cover them with aluminum foil and just let them rest for awhile.