Berkshire Pork Chop


 
Jerry N.

Jerry N.

TVWBB Emerald Member
I got 4 of these. See the last picture on the page.

I cooked it at a very high heat and cooked it to about the 150's. It had good flavor, but it seemed tough. Any suggestions on how to cook the other three would be greatly appreciated.
 
Can't go wrong with Chris Lilly's brined pork chop with apple-cranberry-maple glaze. Cooking til 150* is about right, but no idea how to make 'em really tender. I'm just happy if they have great flavor and stay juicy, which they always do if I brine.
 
I've cooked some chops sous vide before searing lately, and they turn out super- juicy.
You can use a cooler and add hot water as the temps go down. A hour and a half does the trick.
 
I never cook pork chops to that high a temp. Usually 140º tops. Slightly pink inside. Also usually do some kind of brine for a couple of hours. Would like to try a couple of those.
 
Not to keep stirring the trademarked meat scandal pot (ok a little), but the prime Berkshire pork is Kurobuta and like Kobe beef, it's bred in Japan and trademarked. They're selling Karabuta Berkshire pork. Not sure if it's considered the same, a typo or way to mislead consumers into buying low end Berkshire pork under the guise of being real Korubuta or high end Berkshire pork.

I would have expected real Korubuta to be a little more forgiving than to end up with tough meat. How much are their Karabuto chops? Lobels sells their Birkshire chops for around $20/lb.
 
I take my pork chops off at 130°. In my opinion you shouldn't go over 140. You are going to get some carry over and at 150° + carryover they are going to be over done and dry.

Kurobota pork is the Japenese name for the Berkshire breed. It is still just the berkshire breed. They just slap the name on it and up the price here in the US.

The berkshire pork I regularly purchase is far superior to the commercial/super market variety pork I normally can get. The breed is much slower to mature and not used as much in commercial pork because of that. The meat is a much deeper red and the marbling in the lean cuts is great. There are several different heritage breeds of pork that if you look into, you can probably find being bred locally. Just do you research and know what is worth paying a little extra.

BUT I buy local berkshire pork. The pork chops are $6.50 / lb and well worth that. At $20 per lb Steve mentions Lobels selling, I would be buying commercial pork or a steak.
 
Thanks for the finished IT* suggestion, Josh.

I'll have to try pulling at 140* next time. I forgot that the USDA "safe temp" recommendations had been lowered, and my cook books still mention pulling at 145 or 150*.
 
Pork Chops are one of my favorite meats to grill. (just polished-off one left over from last night for Lunch):

Not sure how thick yours were, but I like thick chops for grilling - around an inch to 1 and a quarter.

Sometimes I marinade, sometimes I just salt & pepper them and toss 'em on (Last night, did a ginger & sesame "teriyaki-ish" marinade.)

Generally, I grill them indirect for roughly 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat. Give them a little smoke wood of your choice here. At the end of this, most of the fat around the edges has rendered away to a thin strip.

Then, for the last 3 to 5 minutes, I crank-up the heat, brush them with a little sauce (bbq or equal parts honey & Inglehoffer hot mustard are some of my favorites):
-Direct to semi-direct heat for this phase
-Sauce lightly
-Let it carmelize a bit
-flip & sauce other side
-Carmelize a bit
-Take 'em off and let them rest for about 2-3 minutes
-ENJOY

Hope this helps you improve your results
 
I don't know what temp I cook mine to, 3 to 4 minutes on each side for one inch, but really just wanted to say it makes me sad to see those bones trimmed of meat. I usually ask for a 4 bone pork rib roast no french and cut my own. Of course I prefer a rib shop as opposed to a loin chop.

I need to find a local provider of berkshire and try those out.
 
Here is a couple Berkshire chops I have cooked lately, unfortunately they have S&P on them already.

DSC03203.jpg


IMAG0529.jpg


You can see the meat is a much darker red than the commercial pork and the marbling is like a steak.
 
Pull lean pork like this off the heat at 135 with carryover to 140, lower if you don't mind a little pink coloration. It's perfectly safe.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The berkshire pork I regularly purchase is far superior to the commercial/super market variety pork I normally can get. The breed is much slower to mature and not used as much in commercial pork because of that. The meat is a much deeper red and the marbling in the lean cuts is great. There are several different heritage breeds of pork that if you look into, you can probably find being bred locally. Just do you research and know what is worth paying a little extra. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Berkshire has been adulterated so buyer beware. Not unlike "kobe," the tag of Berkshire gained popularity and along came a premium price. Big Ag jumps in with hybrids that will get to market faster and are leaner because we all know, that's how Americans think they like their meat (or told how we should like our meat). They can still tag it Berkshire and charge a premium.

Never buy branded meat without seeing it. Don't buy branded meat unless it looks premium. And try to get to know a trustworthy farmer.

The op's linked pic, looks pretty rough. They trimmed off the best part and left a relatively unmarbled eye.

here's a pic of some of the best chops I ever got my hands on. They came from a local farm that pasture raises Tamworth and Gloucester Old Spots (I'm not sure which breed these came off of). But they put most Berkshires I've seen to shame:

IMG_6459.JPG
 
Some great pictures for sure. I will make sure to take a pic the next time I cook one but as said, they don't look like the pictures shown. The pic in the link is real close to what they look like.

I'm going to try to bring the next one down to 140 and see if that helps. If not, I will probably try a brine. Thanks for all the input.
 
If I'm not mistaken the chops j biesinger posted are untrimmed rib chops. Yours were trimmed up loin chops. Rib chops have more of the red pork meat and fat, and of course I love the meat on the bone. Loin chops, at least for me, are much harder to cook and not make them tough. They seem to have a very small window of "just right" doneness, but even when cooked just right I still prefer the rib chop.

Brian
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">they don't look like the pictures shown. The pic in the link is real close to what they look like. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

it's too bad they were trimmed down to the eye. I suspect it'll be easier to overcook the lean eye with out the nice fat layers on the outside. Go easy, and rest them into 135* and they might be a bit more enjoyable
 
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