Pork loin chops

[JohnfromUK]

I bought 2 x boneless pork loin chops.  I cooked the first pretty much as the label advised; sear (in a little oil) in a hot pan for 2 minutes each side plus an extra minute on the fat, then around 12 minutes in the oven.  It looked lovely, but was in fact dry and tough!  Served with sage and onion pudding, roasties and veggies.  Top picture with the carrots showing.

Following this disappointment, I cooked the second chop "sous vide" in a water bath for 1 hour at 62 Centigrade then seared the outside briefly in a hot pan.  Result, better, less dry - but still on the tough side.  Similar accompaniments, but no carrots, cauliflower instead.  Picture 2.

How do I get the pork juicy and tender .......... or is this just an unsuitable cut?

[ditchman]

i find the only way to get pork tender is to do it in a casserole dish in the oven...pork chops on the bone under a hot grill can be a better choice...i think pork can vary alot just by its age and how it was treated......

[dipper]

Aldie do pork chops in packs of 6  used to buy them sometimes ok other times tough .They also do them in packs of 2 for some reason the packs of 2 have always been ok cooked under the grill.tough porks usually down to age .I know a bit about pork .My dad bred and fattened pigs and i was a butcher for a few years. Pigs for pork are very young. Bacon pigs are older.Old sows used for chops and pork product’s.

[JohnfromUK]

1 minute ago, dipper said:

Aldie do pork chops in packs of 6  used to buy them sometimes ok other times tough .They also do them in packs of 2 for some reason the packs of 2 have always been ok cooked under the grill.tough porks usually down to age .I know a bit about pork .My dad bred and fattened pigs and i was a butcher for a few years. Pigs for pork are very young. Bacon pigs are older.Old sows used for chops and pork product’s.

Thanks; these were from Ocado (M&S branded).  I have had them (same brand etc.) before and cooked them by the sear in pan then oven method - and they were OK - on the dry side, but quite tender and very pleasant.  I find that individual bits of pork (e.g. chops) are inclined to be dry - but I do like pork.   Unfortunately, I'm usually cooking for one, so a joint of pork is too much.  Sous vide/water bath usually keeps things moist (it is sealed after all and does a lovely rare steak, or juicy chicken breast) but even that was only partially successful on these.

[Jonty]

John you want to brine the chops, it makes for a lovely moist pan fried pork chop.  You just need a week brine for 2-6 hours.  I 'eyeball' my brine mix but I'd say its approximately 2tbsn salt and 1tbsp sugar to around 1 litre of water/liquid.  you can also add any herbs/peppercorns/bayleafs to the brine to suit.  I use normal sea salt and prefer the sugar to be either brown sugar or black treacle.  If I'm feeling fancy, the water might get replaced with cider.  Basically you dissolve the salt and sugar in the liquid and let it  cool and then put your chops in the liquid  for a few hours.  Using a weak quick brine, you don't have a bacony taste, just moist  meat.  

The idea is that the salt likes to be in equilibrium with everything in it's contact, so it makes its' way into the lower salt content meat, obviously taking the liquid and flavours of the brine with it.  It works really well - I hope if you give it a try you enjoy the results.

[JohnfromUK]

1 minute ago, Jonty said:

John you want to brine the chops, it makes for a lovely moist pan fried pork chop.  You just need a week brine for 2-6 hours.  I 'eyeball' my brine mix but I'd say its approximately 2tbsn salt and 1tbsp sugar to around 1 litre of water/liquid.  you can also add any herbs/peppercorns/bayleafs to the brine to suit.  I use normal sea salt and prefer the sugar to be either brown sugar or black treacle.  If I'm feeling fancy, the water might get replaced with cider.  Basically you dissolve the salt and sugar in the liquid and let it  cool and then put your chops in the liquid  for a few hours.  Using a weak quick brine, you don't have a bacony taste, just moist  meat.  

The idea is that the salt likes to be in equilibrium with everything in it's contact, so it makes its' way into the lower salt content meat, obviously taking the liquid and flavours of the brine with it.  It works really well - I hope if you give it a try you enjoy the results.

Thanks, I did see that - but have never brined before.  Seems like I should give it a try next time.  I do marinate (usually chicken breasts for tandoori, but I have also done pigeon breasts marinated with juniper berries which was lovely) and I guess brining is a bit similar.

 

[Jonty]

2 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Thanks, I did see that - but have never brined before.  Seems like I should give it a try next time.  I do marinate (usually chicken breasts for tandoori, but I have also done pigeon breasts marinated with juniper berries which was lovely) and I guess brining is a bit similar.

 

Exactly - think of the salt tuning it into an internal marinade by pulling it into the meat rather than staying on the outside as a coating.

[amateur]

I've just put a couple of pork loin steaks into the slow cooker.

I first crisped up the fat and lightly seared the meat in a hot frying pan, put the meat in the slow cooker pot, then softened a diced onion and a couple of diced carrots in the frying pan, finally adding chopped mushrooms and garlic, deglazed the pan with a pint of dry cider. All the veg and cider went in the slow cooker with a few peppercorns and a sprinkle of herbs.

I will let you know if that passes the soft, flavoursome meat test tomorrow when I will reduce the strained cooking liquid add some cream.

[JohnfromUK]

19 minutes ago, amateur said:

I will let you know if that passes the soft, flavoursome meat test tomorrow

That will be interesting thanks.  I find these pork loin boneless chops/steaks one of the most difficult things to get right!

[Dougy]

38 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

That will be interesting thanks.  I find these pork loin boneless chops/steaks one of the most difficult things to get right!

The problem with this cut is the lack of fat actually in the muscle/meat, same cut as sirloin steak, lamb loin chops, none of which i would buy through choice. Over cook any  of these and you end up with a piece of dry tasting meat. 

If you want a tender chop/steak or slice of pork look at shoulder chops/spare rib chop (name varies by region) sear in a hot pan (blue smoke) then in a slow cooker or casserole dish cover with enough water or stock and slow cook. 

[JohnfromUK]

3 minutes ago, Dougy said:

The problem with this cut is the lack of fat actually in the muscle/meat, same cut as sirloin steak, lamb loin chops, none of which i would buy through choice. Over cook any  of these and you end up with a piece of dry tasting meat. 

If you want a tender chop/steak or slice of pork look at shoulder chops/spare rib chop (name varies by region) sear in a hot pan (blue smoke) then in a slow cooker or casserole dish cover with enough water or stock and slow cook. 

Thank you.  I will look for those next time I fancy pork.

 

[Stonepark]

Alternatively, for a moist gammon steak, nothing easier than slicing up a ham joint (intended for roasting) into 1\2inch thick slices and frying for a few minutes each side.

[JohnfromUK]

6 minutes ago, Stonepark said:

Alternatively, for a moist gammon steak, nothing easier than slicing up a ham joint (intended for roasting) into 1\2inch thick slices and frying for a few minutes each side.

Thank you.  For me, gammon is not a great favourite.

[ditchman]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

That will be interesting thanks.  I find these pork loin boneless chops/steaks one of the most difficult things to get right!

most pork in supermarkets looks wonderful...but in reality is tasteless......and the only way to eat stuff like that needs to be casseroled....my mrs often used to sear loin pork ..few onions and a tin of mushroom soup in the casserole pot....and serve it up with seasonal vedge

it has been a very long while since i had a really decent pork chop...........

[Dougy]

20 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Thank you.  I will look for those next time I fancy pork.

 

https://hokaaicenturion.co.za/product/pork-shoulder-chops/

 

Just had a quick google, i have attached a link of the description. you will see the obvious difference between the 2. 

 

As ive just seen in ditchy's post the flavour of decent farm reared pork is just, well like pork from the olden days just beautiful 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Dougy

[ditchman]

2 minutes ago, Dougy said:

https://hokaaicenturion.co.za/product/pork-shoulder-chops/

 

Just had a quick google, i have attached a link of the description. you will see the obvious difference between the 2.

christ that looks nice...........people are so frightened of fat ...............

[Dougy]

4 minutes ago, ditchman said:

christ that looks nice...........people are so frightened of fat ...............

Just looked at the location, its a tad on the "if only you were closer" 

[ditchman]

1 hour ago, Dougy said:

Just looked at the location, its a tad on the "if only you were closer" 

im a bit strapped for Rand at the moment................if you did a deliveroo of Acardo some bloody irate Zulu/spearchucker would turn up on yer doorstep......demanding reperation for roukes drift

Edited March 13, 2023 by ditchman

[amateur]

18 hours ago, amateur said:

I've just put a couple of pork loin steaks into the slow cooker.

I first crisped up the fat and lightly seared the meat in a hot frying pan, put the meat in the slow cooker pot, then softened a diced onion and a couple of diced carrots in the frying pan, finally adding chopped mushrooms and garlic, deglazed the pan with a pint of dry cider. All the veg and cider went in the slow cooker with a few peppercorns and a sprinkle of herbs.

I will let you know if that passes the soft, flavoursome meat test tomorrow when I will reduce the strained cooking liquid add some cream.

 

[JohnfromUK]

That certainly looks very good.

[amateur]

1 minute ago, JohnfromUK said:

That certainly looks very good.

It passed the tenderness and flavour test

[ditchman]

i can taste it from here...........

[Penelope]

On 13/03/2023 at 09:23, Jonty said:

John you want to brine the chops, it makes for a lovely moist pan fried pork chop.  You just need a week brine for 2-6 hours.  I 'eyeball' my brine mix but I'd say its approximately 2tbsn salt and 1tbsp sugar to around 1 litre of water/liquid.  you can also add any herbs/peppercorns/bayleafs to the brine to suit.  I use normal sea salt and prefer the sugar to be either brown sugar or black treacle.  If I'm feeling fancy, the water might get replaced with cider.  Basically you dissolve the salt and sugar in the liquid and let it  cool and then put your chops in the liquid  for a few hours.  Using a weak quick brine, you don't have a bacony taste, just moist  meat.  

The idea is that the salt likes to be in equilibrium with everything in it's contact, so it makes its' way into the lower salt content meat, obviously taking the liquid and flavours of the brine with it.  It works really well - I hope if you give it a try you enjoy the results.

Good ol' osmosis.

[Penelope]

On 13/03/2023 at 19:49, ditchman said:

most pork in supermarkets looks wonderful...but in reality is tasteless......and the only way to eat stuff like that needs to be casseroled....my mrs often used to sear loin pork ..few onions and a tin of mushroom soup in the casserole pot....and serve it up with seasonal vedge

it has been a very long while since i had a really decent pork chop...........

The best pork chop I have ever had was at the Kirklands in Kinross.

[ditchman]

1 hour ago, Penelope said:

The best pork chop I have ever had was at the Kirklands in Kinross.

ahhhhhh but did it have a kidney in it ?