The Best Smoked Pork Chops I've Ever Made | Kenji's Cooking Show
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0:00 – Combustion Inc. Predictive Thermometer
0:15 – Intro
0:49 – What is Reverse Sear?
1:08 – Seasoning & Skewering the Pork
2:44 – Setting Up the Grill for Smoking
3:45 – Smoking the Pork with Thermometer
4:18 – Safe Temp for Pork Explained
5:02 – Rebuilding Fire for Searing
5:32 – Removing Skewers & Searing
6:38 – Handling Flare-ups & Flipping Tips
7:30 – Pork Chop Cut & Fat Breakdown
8:24 – Slicing & Taste Test
9:24 – Full Recipe Recap
10:05 – Where to Find More Content
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CREDITS
Shot by: Michael Weiner
Edited by: Alex Oh
Produced By: Kenji Lopez-Alt, Lena Davidson
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Kenji dyes his hair 😮
Love your videos. I’ve been doing a pork chop prep like this for some time but I start with bbq seasoned chops on a pellet smoker at 190 for about 45 minutes. Then wrap the chops in plastic and put in the fridge until ready to finish. I also like letting them cool off again so let them sit in the fridge for at least an hour. While that’s happening I turn on my Gozne dome and let it get to 700-800 with a cast iron flat plate pan inside. Pat the chops dry and then blast them in the pizza oven. I usually turn down the oven to low and flip every 30-60 seconds. I also brush with a mustard based bbq sauce after the first flip. OMG! I’ve described this like mustard bbq bacon chops. So good! Did the basically same method with prime NY’s and ribeyes minus the bbq sauce and also amazing. Just need at least 1.5” thick steaks. Had friends over and they were speechless eating and liked it so much my friend bought a pizza oven a week later and is now doing the same. If you have a pizza oven and cast iron there are so many things you can with it. Don’t even get me started on salmon… Enjoy!
Hi Kenji, could you do a video on tips for cooking on a kettle barbecue like this? Thank you
Kenji big big fan here. I’ve wanted to ask you about arsenic in rice.. should we be concerned? What rice would be best to stay away from arsenic? Thanks man!
this is a bit of a hot take, but the spot on a weber kettle near the edge of the grate opposite the coals in a 2-zone/indirect setup like we have here – it's actually hotter than the area closer to the coals on that side. the beauty of the kettle is the heat rolls up, across the dome, then back down the other side, back into the coals, self-convection-like. in fact you can see that the darkest part of the chops are at the top of the bone, and along the back edge, where the hottest air is landing after coming down from the dome. so the best approach is to put the part you want to protect actually facing the coals. counterintuitive for sure
I don't like pork chops generally, but I feel like I learned some things and am inspired to try a few things with other recipes. They look so good.
pork chops are like brussels sprouts in that most people grew up eating them waaay overcooked and so it has a bad rap but it is incredible when done right. relatively cheap too when you consider price/flavor ratio
lost me at the medium rare pork
Bragging about how much you like the fat, you weren’t eating it.
Curious, what do you think of pellet smokers?
This will be great for batch production on the next cookout. Cheers on the shout out to aunties who taught us how to grill!
"Don't question the person who's near the flaming pit" reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic" speech, otherwise known as "The Man in the Arena." The person by the flaming pit? They're in the arena.
not touching SALT? You really think bacteria can live in salt, Kenji??
Touching your salt after your pork? but Kenji, what could possibly survive in your salt
Love the evolution of the format, especially the wrap-up at the end.
Turn the chops over so the fat cap renders down into the meat. God why do I have to always tell you how to cook. SMDFH😢. 😒😒
🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
A few months ago, I bought a stove top smoker as I live in a condo. It's amazing how well steaks, pork chops, chicken, etc. comes out in a very short time and clean up is a breeze.
what a legend. I've been learning from this guy for almost 20 years from the cooks illustrated days. hands down my favorite chef on the planet and a fantastic educator
Smoke something with mesquite wood and you’ll never say that there isn’t a difference in smoking wood ever again
Nice, I have to try this!
I love that fat cap! 😍
I've only had a few other chops that had a nice heavy cap on them like that – they came from a special breed from an island along the coast of South Carolina. So amazing!
Amazing, might be the best way to smoke a ribeye (or any meat), then finish with the sns method. I got some grilling to do, thx!
There are some differences in woods but in my opinion not much. I cant tell the difference between a cherry and an apple, but you best believe you can taste the difference between an apple and mesquite
I love chicharones! But wet ones 🤮
Chops looked great, but I was wondering if it would have made any difference if you had started bone side down. That would presumably protect the meat better. In addition, the part next to the bone takes the longest to cook. You finish the crust and assure you render the fat cap at the end.
So reverse sear and stand em up? This is barely a recipe
roughly what temp were they smoking at?
What’s the reason for the initial slow cooking with the chops sitting on the fat cap versus the bones? Is it just more stable, or another reason?
How long did the chops smoke ?
When I was a kid, pork chop night was my least favorite. They were always gray, dry, and incredibly tough. Sorry, Mom. RIP! This makes me think I need to revisit.
With the way that food safety is going in the US I might be cooking my pork higher these days
Buying meat, let alone meat from the local butcher seems like a bizarre luxury these days.
Not a fan of the random people talking from behind the camera
Like very much good 👍 👌
This is a sponsored video, but not labeled as such. Kind of scummy. You need to be very explicit in the video that this is sponsored.
2:00 classic sea plane buzz of Seattle there 😛
I just made smoked pork chops last night! I did wet brine my chops (same bone intact rib chops as you have here) for 6 hours. Extra juicy and seasoned through and through even with me cooking them to 150°. I didn't stand them up, though. I'm gonna try that next time.
This may be a dumb question, but when doing a reverse sear, in a situation where the meat rests for a while after slow cooking it before searing (kinda like you do in the video, but theoretically even longer), does it take longer to reach the target temp while searing it since it’s cooled and you only cooked it to a temp lower than the final temp? Or are you just focusing on getting it seared quickly and assuming the temp will be right?
I did a similar thing recently and was worried that after I got the sear, the temp was too low, so just wondering if that matters.
Like the technique
Never mind the chops, that's a seriously gorgeous community on the water you're living in! Reminds me of Venice, CA.
In my bbq experience, the best wood for smoking pork chops is Jack Daniels wood chips…