Do heritage bone-in pork chops need a brine?

ChefOno added 3 months ago

Do they need to be brined? No. But they will certainly benefit from the process.

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LindsayC77 added 3 months ago

Thanks! I'll put it on now so they can brine overnight.

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Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.

added 3 months ago

No brine is necessary -- try doing one next time, when you have more time to experiment.

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For a chop this size a quick 30 min to 2 hour brine will do wonders. I do it every week, a porkchop just speaks to me. Dissolve 1/4 cup each of sugar and kosher salt in 1cup of water. After dissolved add 3 more cups ice water, and chill the solution. I rarely do more than an hour, its a very big impact, surprisingly so.

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dymnyno added 3 months ago

I am not a fan of brining everything. It adds salt and sugar and pork is a very sweet tasting meat to begin with.

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ChefOno added 3 months ago

The sugar isn't necessary for brining, you can leave it out if you prefer. As for adding salt, that's normally a good thing. Yes, there are exceptions to that rule medically speaking, but not the way Mayor Bloomberg believes. Culinarily speaking, brining produces a more tender, more flavorful and juicier chop while reducing the damage if you happen to overcook it. (And, technically, the outermost surfaces of a pork chop are always overcooked aren't they?)

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