Seeing the juicy pork chops in my friend Jennifer Yu's blog post (Use Real Butter) inspired this recipe, which features one of my favorite getting-meat-ready-for-the-grill techniques of all time. If you can call sprinkling salt on pork chops a technique. As long as you don't horribly overcook your meat, this 'dry-brine' technique will produce the juiciest and most flavorful pork chops you've ever had.

How to "Dry-Brine" Pork Chops

bone-in pork chops

salt

black pepper

cayenne pepper

Vegetable oil

Mix kosher salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a small bowl to make the dry brine. Generously apply mixture to both sides of pork chops. Transfer chops to a rack on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered 18 to 24 hours.


Preheat grill to medium or medium-high heat. Brush pork chops on each side with a few drops of vegetable oil.


Grill chops until internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F (60 degrees C), turning to evenly brown on each side. Transfer to platter and allow to rest 5 minutes.


YOU MUST USE KOSHER SALT!  I suspect people who made this and complained about the salt level used regular table salt.  Use Kosher salt for meat and recipes that call specifically for it. Because the larger flakes hold onto moisture, Kosher salt essentially holds the moisture inside of the meat. It keeps pork chops tender, steaks juicy, and chicken breast moist.  Also a tablespoon of Kosher salt is approximately HALF the weight of a tablespoon of table salt.

Firstly, I love Chef John and have made many of his splendid recipes.  I highly recommend brining, especially poultry so thought I'd try this since I also love pork.  I love the concept and tried this.  The recommendation of dry brining for 18 to 24 hours is off, I think.  And the recipe doesn't state whether to brush off the excess salt, or to rinse them before grilling. Chef should clarify this.   My chops came out far too salty using the recipe as is. Still, I like the technique so will try again, brining for at least half the time and removing any excess salt before grilling

I had 3 thick boneless chops... used 1/2 of the seasoning... and 'brined' them for only 4 hours in the fridge and they were extremely too salty after cooking. I can only assume using ALL of the seasoning and 18 hours of brining would've yielded and unbearable saltiness.

I used this recipe on six country style boneless pork ribs. I'd never grilled these before and wanted to ensure tenderness and flavor. I followed the recipe exactly using kosher salt. I applied the mixture left them uncovered on a rack over a pan lined with paper towels. They were in the fridge for about 20 hours. The recipe did not state whether or not I was supposed to rinse the meat and pat dry before applying the oil so I didn't. Wiping it off would've been difficult as they became just a little sticky. Cooked to proper temperature and left to rest these ribs were very tender and juicy. That said yes they were too salty and I really like salt. I did appreciate the easy recipe and the texture of the end result so I will happily try this again. Next time I will rinse and pat dry and/or not leave them quite so long. Btw slicing into these ribs even two days later the juice just squeezes out!

Watch the video. Clearly he has not used the entire amount of dry brine and he did not rinse and pat dry after the brining period. Unfortunately this was not clear in the written instruction. Typically I stay away from the videos but after the negative comments...

I didn't have any pork chops at the time but I really wanted to try this anyway so I spatchcocked a farm fresh chicken I already had in my fridge. It was the best flavoring with the crispiest skin outside of any traditional brining I have tried. I did add my cajun spice recipe in addition to the ingredients listed here. The meat and the juices (and there was a LOT) looked and tasted like they had been marinating for hours. Now I cannot wait to get some forested farm pork.

This turned out amazing! Not a fan of cayenne personally so I swapped it out for thyme garlic and onion powder. No grill available so I spent a few minutes pan-searing for a nice color and popped them in the oven at 325 for 25 min. Will probably cut down on the salt a little for next time for the sake of my housemates--I thought it was great lol. Served sauceless with au gratin potatoes and green beans the potato sauce definitely helped with the saltiness according to my partner.

I halved the recipe for two pork chops; used all the seasonings, brined for five hours then scraped both sides of chops with the tip of a rubber spoon and discarded excess seasonings, then oiled. Husband thought they were a bit salty. Due to the unseasonably cold day I baked the chops uncovered in a heavy dish at 325 for thirty minutes and checked the temperature to make sure they had an internal temp over 135. They were done. I had mixed and applied the seasonings separately for each chop and mine had more cayenne pepper and I thought it was too (spicy) hot; the other was fine. I’ll omit it next time. Next time I’d like to brine and grill as directed, but this time they were moister than if they hadn’t been brined.

This was very good. I used coarse sea salt ground to good sized chunks. After brining but before I brushed on the oil I ran the dry brush over both sides of the chops to knock off any excess seasoning. We will use this method again!

how to "dry-brine" pork chops

Servings: 4

Author : Chef John

Ingredients

Instructions

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