j biesinger
TVWBB Platinum Member
sometime this past summer, we visited the new hofbrauhaus in pittsburgh. There we had their "smoked pork chop" which we really liked. It was pink and kind of hammy which made me think that it was brined with curing salts. I've been meaning to try to recreate it for some time, and I finally got around to it on tuesday.
I had 4, bone-in, pork chops that were approximately 3/4" thick. In the AM I dropped them into a brine that I had left over from a recent batch of bacon that was salt, sugar, and cure #1. The chops were removed from the brine after 8 hours, and tossed on the father-in-law's weber gas grill. The chops sat in the back corner, while I ran the front burner with a foil packet of apple wood chunks. At the 30 min mark I rotated and flipped the chops, and removed them after another 30. Since there was a lag between pulling them and eating, I tossed them in a buttered pan to give them some color and rewarm them.
we served them with sauerkraut, buttered noodles, and roasted beets.
observations:
1) chops came out just about right in terms of salt, smoke, and doneness. They may have been a tad sweet, and I can't wait to spice up the brine possibly with: bay, juniper, pepper, allspice, clove...
2) the gasser worked great as a smoker. The apple wood burned very cleanly and the chops picked up a nice amount of flavor.
I had 4, bone-in, pork chops that were approximately 3/4" thick. In the AM I dropped them into a brine that I had left over from a recent batch of bacon that was salt, sugar, and cure #1. The chops were removed from the brine after 8 hours, and tossed on the father-in-law's weber gas grill. The chops sat in the back corner, while I ran the front burner with a foil packet of apple wood chunks. At the 30 min mark I rotated and flipped the chops, and removed them after another 30. Since there was a lag between pulling them and eating, I tossed them in a buttered pan to give them some color and rewarm them.
we served them with sauerkraut, buttered noodles, and roasted beets.
observations:
1) chops came out just about right in terms of salt, smoke, and doneness. They may have been a tad sweet, and I can't wait to spice up the brine possibly with: bay, juniper, pepper, allspice, clove...
2) the gasser worked great as a smoker. The apple wood burned very cleanly and the chops picked up a nice amount of flavor.