cooking pork chops

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Well, to make an even finer point of it . . . . .

. . . . I strongly recommend brining pork before cooking. Pretty much *any* pork except maybe shoulders. I make the same recommendation for chicken, by the way.

I brine my pork at room temperature with a very salty brine and water soluble aromatics. Of late, I've been really lazy and just using off the shelf rubs. Make a salty brine and mix in some rub. Put it in a container and put in the chops. Let them brine about an hour and take them out. Pat them nice and dry. Rub them in olive oil, sprinkle some of the same rub on (if you wish), and grill (or pan fry) to no more than medium. I always turn them to brown both sides. Let them rest a few minutes and enjoy. They're juicy and tasty throughout. Were you to not brine them, they would, as you point out, be dryer. That said, I have on occasion done the same thing without brining and they were okay, but not as juicy. The high heat, fast cooking time and low to moderate internal temperature are key.

A word about brining. Most brining is done by soaking in salted water. The key, however, is the salt. You can accomplish almost the same flavor effect without the water. Just rub the meat with a salty dry rub and the flavor will penetrate just as it did with the watery brine. What you lose is the water absorption by the meat. So the method depends on the meat at hand and the desired end result.