How To Smoke Pork Chops
Smoked Pork Chops Recipe
I found some 1” thick pork loin chops at my butcher’s this week, so I decided to smoke these pork chops. This smoked pork chop recipe is simple and easy.
First I take my pork chops and put them in a brine – this helps to add flavor into the smoked pork chops and also keeps these chops juicy.
Here is my Pork Chop Brine:
– 64 oz Apple Juice
– 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
– ½ cup Kosher Salt
– ½ cup The BBQ Rub
Heat 32 oz of Apple Juice in stock pot. Add sugar, salt, and dry rub and continue to heat until dissolved. Remove from heat and add remaining 32oz Apple Juice. Allow the brine to cool before using.
Normally a brine takes a long time to distribute throughout large cuts, but these thick cut pork chops soak it up in a couple of hours.
Place each pork chop in the bag and pour the brine over the top. Place the pork chops and the pork chop brine in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
About 30 minutes before the thick-cut pork chops come out of the brine go ahead and start the smoker. The cooking temperature for pork chops needs to be right at 250 degrees with light smoke. I stick with cherry wood for loin chops but any mild fruit wood is great. If you’re using a charcoal or propane grill, set it up for indirect cooking. We want to slow the cooking down so the bone-in pork chops gradually come up to temp.
After two hours remove the pork chops from the brine and drain any excess liquid. Let the bone in pork chops sit out for 10-15 minutes on the counter before seasoning.
I start seasoning the pork chops with a base coat of The BBQ Rub. On top of that I sprinkle on a little Montreal Steak Seasoning.
Place the bone-in pork chops on the smoker and keep an eye on the internal temperature. Even though we’re cooking at 250 these pork chops don’t take long. The target temperature for loin chops is 145 degrees, but you want to get them off at 140 to allow for 5 degrees of carry over.
You can expect a 1 ½ hour cook time on these thick pork chops. As soon as I see 140, it’s time to get the pork chops off the pit.
Rest the pork chops for 5-10 minutes before serving to allow for the carry over. The final product is a delicious, thick pork chop packed with taste and moisture.
Source: HowToBBQRight Malcom Reed
