Slow Oven Pork Chops – or, Playing with Food !

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SlowPork.jpg
Was pretty much cooking for myself last night, Tiny E’s consumption of food really doesn’t amount to what most of us call a meal. I had time, I had pork chops and if I ruined them it wouldn’t ruin anyone’s evening. I wondered what it’d be like to put the center cut chops in to the oven at 250 degrees until they reach 190 degrees (pully aparty).
I used a glass casserole dish with a chrome rack installed, this would keep the meat up and out with the heat able to get all around. Marinated with kosher salt, preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2 hours later, at 190 degrees internal temperature I had a real piece of shit for dinner. The loin portion of the chop didn’t have enough fat to keep it moist. While I had no temperature spikes, the fat was gone! And, considering the method used, there was no browning, no flavors. It was dry, flat tasting pork that just didn’t deliver.
“But Biggles! I see browning !!!” says you. Heh, just because I ruined dinner doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun. I grabbed the propane torch and browned it myself!
It looks a heck of a lot better than it was. Don’t do it.
Biggles

14 thoughts on “Slow Oven Pork Chops – or, Playing with Food !”

  1. Zacklee the way my pork chops turn out every time I try to oven cook them. Real failure! Give us a repeat lesson on how to cook pork chops in the oven that result in properly cooked and moist meat, Pleeezzzz!

  3. Lean cuts like center cut pork chops need to be thicker – try purchasing a 4 – 6 bone loin center cut roast with bones and portion into 2 bone chops – and brined. And the key is either a slow cook like ‘sous vide’ where the meat is vacu-sealed so moisture loss is minimized and then seared in the pan or with a torch. OR to sear them in a pan or on the grill and finish in the oven to the temp. Lightly covered. And 190F degrees for loin pork chops is WAAAAAY too high. You coulda finished them at 165F and been very happy. I’ll do a post on this chop tomorrow so you can check it out.

  4. Hey BB,
    I usually pan sear them in a cast iron skillet and finish in a 450 degree oven on the center rack, usually.
    Cookie,
    Yeah, if the shot hadn’t come out, this post would have been put on the back burner, so to speak.
    Hey CB,
    Totally hip, I usually (it’s easy and I’m lazy), pan sear then in to a hot oven until they’re about 145. I was just playing around because I had the time. I love breaking the rules and wanted to see what I could come up with, ya know?
    xo, Biggles

  6. great photo! what I like about low (er) temperature cooking is that I can work on other dishes more easily …… it’s gonna take longer to cook the chop ( or any other meat/fish ) so I don’t have to keep watching the oven to avoid overcooking dinner. The sweet spot (145* ) when the oven is cranked to 450* will only exist for a short period. The same sweet spot arrived at from low temps will hold longer so that all the other dinner components can come together. The meat will be more tender as well. High temps tend to make protein seize up – although resting helps to ameliorate this. don’t give up on low temperature cooking.

  7. Hey Gordon,
    Oh, I’m not giving up on it, just moving it back out to the smoker where it belongs. I could have pulled it out by setting a tray of smoking hickory in the oven like a did a while back. That worked!
    Biggles

  9. Only you, the Master of ‘Meatology’ can make a dried up piece of pork look like a wonderful work of Art! I bow to you lower than Toyota ever will!

  11. Ha! You had me psyched to try this method until the 3rd paragraph. Then I cracked up. Ironically, I’d already planned on chops for dinner tonight, I’m gonna brown ’em in a frying pan, season, then bake with beer, BBQ sauce and sliced onions. We’ll see how they come out…….

  13. I’ve slow baked them at 300º, and it was good, but 250º all the way with something with that little fat is a tough go.
    A fine experiment, anyhoo, and a great picture. I wish Julie ate pork chops, they’d be on the menu here once a week.

  14. Actually I always bake my pork chops at 250 and they come out perfect. Here’s how:

    – if you have time brine the chops in a mixture of water, salt and some sugar for an hour or two.

    – preheat oven to 250

    – put chops onto a baking tray, do not cover, do not season, do not oil

    – leave them in there for 15 mins for a 1/2 inch cut or 20 mins for a 1″ cut. Flip them over half way through

    – they will come out looking pale

    – 2 mins before you take them out, get a griddle pan really, smoking hot

    – put a teaspoon or two of canola oil in the pan

    – pull the chops out and seat them for 1.5 mins on each side

    – put on a plate, tent with foil and rest for 5 to 8 mins depending on thickness of chop

    – remove foil and season to taste on both sides. Serve and drizzle the juice over the chops on the plate.

    Perfection.