Mastering the Grill_ The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking - Andrew Schloss [104]
• For smoky-tasting chops, soak 1 cup of hickory or oak wood chips in water for 20 to 30 minutes. Add the soaked chips to the high-heat area of the grill until they begin to smolder. Grill the chops as directed, covering the grill to trap the smoke.
INGREDIENTS (MAKES 4 SERVINGS)
2 cups Marinated Fire-Roasted Peppers (page 276)
4 bone-in pork rib chops, each 1 to 1½ inches thick (about 3 pounds total)
½ cup Sage and Savory Rub (page 375)
Oil for coating grill grate
¾ cup Sweet, Hot, and Sour BBQ Sauce (page 391), heated
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare the fire-roasted peppers up to 1 week ahead, cutting the peppers into narrow strips.
2. Trim any excess fat from the chops. Scatter the rub over the chops, patting it in with your fingers. Let the chops rest at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerate in a zipper-lock bag for up to 6 hours.
3. Heat the grill as directed. If you refrigerated the rubbed chops, let them come to room temperature before grilling, about 30 minutes.
4. Brush the grill grate and coat it with oil. Put the chops on the grill, cover, and cook over high heat until nicely grill-marked, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Reduce the heat under the chops to medium-low (on a gas grill) or move the chops to the low-heat area (on a charcoal or wood grill), cover, and grill for another 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium (about 145°F). Brush with about ½ cup of the barbecue sauce during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Transfer to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. Just before serving, mix the peppers with the remaining ¼ cup barbecue sauce. Serve with the chops.
TIPS
• To save time, use jarred roasted peppers in place of the Marinated Fire-Roasted Peppers.
• If you make the barbecue sauce ahead of time, reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop. Cold sauce would delay the cooking of the chops. Plus, the fire-roasted peppers should be mixed with warm rather than cold barbecue sauce.
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Molasses-Brined Pork Chops with Roasted Corn Salsa
Modern breeding methods and consumer demand have resulted in lean pork with less intramuscular fat—the other white meat. That’s great for reducing our overall calorie intake, but it presents a few challenges for grilling pork without drying it out. Here’s where brining really shines. When you soak pork (or other lean meats) in salty water, the meat actually becomes juicier—a fact you can prove by weighing the meat before and after brining. The meat essentially absorbs the brining liquid, which increases its water weight. (This is one reason that commercial meats are often brined: You pay more for the meat because it weighs more, and producers can promote brining because it adds flavor and moisture. Of course, you can save money by brining fresh meat yourself at home.) Here’s how it works: The salt in the brine causes protein strands in the meat to unravel, or “denature.” As they unwind, the protein strands get caught up in one another, forming a sort of web, and the brining liquid gets caught in that web. Even when the protein strands firm up during cooking, liquid stays trapped in the newly formed web, resulting in moister grilled meat. And the technique couldn’t be easier. As in marinating, you simply mix up a flavorful liquid (with the addition of extra salt and sometimes sugar) and then let the meat soak in the refrigerator for a few hours. See page 85 for more on the technique of brining.
TIMING
Prep: 10 minutes (plus 5 minutes for brine)
Brine: 4 to 6 hours
Rest before grilling: 1 hour
Grill: 14 to 20 minutes
GETTING CREATIVE
• If you prefer boneless meat, replace the rib chops with boneless rib chops or center-cut loin chops and reduce the cooking time slightly. See sidebar on page 133 for a description of the various types of pork chops sold in most markets.
• For smoky-tasting chops, soak