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One of our iPhone app readers was nice enough to leave a review on the iTunes store. Their only comment was that he or she wished there was something about brining. We actually have done a few brining recipes, including an awesome brined pork roast as well as a brined turkey, but I’ll forgive them for not trying those yet. Instead of moping, I offer up yet another recipe, this time for brined pork chops!
Brining is a process that actually hydrates the cells of the meat, creating a really juicy and tender cut of meat for the grill. But wait, doesn’t that take a long time? I don’t have 12 hours here, I need to get dinner going! Well, that’s what makes this brined pork chops recipe so great! Lean cuts like pork chops actually take very little time for the brine to make a difference. Brine the pork chops for an hour, rub them down with a little fresh rosemary and throw them on the grill. That’s all there is to it!
Ingredients
4 cups of water
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1.5 tablespoons sugar
Pork chops
black pepper
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Directions
- Pour the water, salt, sugar and one sprig of rosemary into a small pot and heat over high heat on the stove. Save the other sprig of rosemary until later.
- Bring the solution to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner as soon as bubbles appear, we just need the water nice and hot, not boiling.
- Allow the brining solution to cool to room temperature in the pot. This is important, we don’t want to pour hot liquid over the pork chops or it will cook the meat!
- Place the pork chops in a glass dish and then pour the cooled brine over the meat.
- Place the dish in the refrigerator and allow to brine for an hour to an hour and a half.
- Remove the pork chops from the brine, rinse with cold water and then pat dry with paper towels.
- Mince the remaining sprig of rosemary and rub the pork chops with rosemary and fresh ground black pepper.
- Heat the grill to high heat, clean and lubricate the grates.
- Place the brined pork chops over the hottest part of the grill and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Flip the pork chops over to the other side and grill for an additional 5 minutes or until cooked through.
- Allow the pork chops to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
That’s it, another brining recipe and this time without the extreme time commitment! Let us know how it turns out.
