Cooking Tip: Quick Brine for Pork Chops

Brines work by breaking down some of the muscle tissue and helping the meat to draw in moisture. On large cuts like Faith's corned beef, this process can take several hours or days. But on small cuts, even a short brine while you prepare the rest of the meal will improve the flavor and tenderness of the meat! Take a look...

In the past few decades, pork has become a progressively more lean and even tender loin cuts can end up tasting dry and flavorless. This makes pork a particularly good candidate for brining!

We use a basic brine solution of 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) salt to 1 quart (4 cups) of water. Lay the pork chops (or other thin cut) in a single layer in a shallow dish and then pour the brine over top. Let this sit for anywhere from 1/2 hour to 2 hours before cooking.

If we're feeling fancy, we like to throw other aromatics into the brine solution to infuse more flavor. We like any combination of lemon grass, star anise, black pepper corn, orange peels, and juniper berries with pork chops. If you have time, heating the brine solution and then letting it cool before pouring it over the meat helps to get more flavor from the spices.

Give it a try!

(Image: Flickr member Foodista licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (5)

I usually tenderize pork chop by hitting it with the back of the knife. Brining never crossed my mind. Will definitely have to try it out.

posted by delecson on March 16th 2009 at 4:06pm
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Going to try this tonight. The pork chops are brining in the salt brine plus five spice and an extra kick of black pepper. Hopefully they turn out well. :)

posted by Harley Cooper on March 16th 2009 at 5:39pm
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I am a fan of the brine, we call my mom's pork chops "jerky" behind her back--not nice, but sadly, true. Gray and tough just like her parents made them too.

I make juicy, tender, chops with a little bit of pink and have learned to love "the other white meat." Brining is a step that takes about a minute, I like to make the brine, then prep all the rest of my dinner ingredients, remove the meat, dry if off, season and cook. I think it makes a big difference in the juiciness of the cooked pork, and if you think you don't like pork, try brining it, and see if your opinion doesn't change.

posted by bobcatsteph3 on March 16th 2009 at 6:46pm
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We brined a pork loin with cranberry apple tea for Thanksgiving - unbelievably moist and delicious! Nothing like the dried out pork chops everybody has eaten at some point.

posted by DoubleH on March 16th 2009 at 8:28pm
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i do this every time i make chops.
1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon salt
2 pinches sugar
10 pepper corns
2 cloves crush garlic and ice
mix everything but the ice thoroughly then add ice and pour over chops.

posted by brianmac on March 19th 2009 at 1:56pm
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