Why It Works
- An immersion circulator cooks a double-cut pork chop to a perfectly even temperature, from edge to edge.
- A high-heat finish in a skillet gives the chop a crisp, browned crust and keeps the interior juicy.
With the uptick ofinexpensivehome sous vide cookingoptionsh*tting the market, it seems like a fine time to revisit ourguide to sous vide cookingwith a few more recipes. First up,double-cut pork chops.
Pork is a prime candidate for sous vide cooking, and thick-cut pork doubly so. Why? Well, back in the day, pork used to be much fattier, meaning that it could be cooked to relatively high temperatures while still maintaining a modicum of juiciness. Modern pork, on the other hand, has been bred to be relatively low in fat, with big chunks of un-marbled meat. It's all part of the "other white meat" campaign—pork masquerading as chicken. Lean, modern pork tends to dry out very quickly unless you cook it carefully and keep it to a safe medium-rare.
With a thick double-cut chop (that's a rib chop with two whole ribs in it), this can be tricky. The thicker a piece of meat is, the more difficult it is to keep the edges from overcooking as the center comes up to temperature. Difficult using standard cooking techniques, that is. With sous vide, it's a snap.
Because sous vide cooking isdesignedto allow you to cook meat to a specific temperature very, very evenly and precisely, you can get that pork chop a perfect medium-rare all the way from edge to edge with no worries of overcooking.
To start, season it well with salt and pepper, then seal it in a heavy duty plastic bag. You can use a vacuum-sealer for the best results, or you can use the displacement method with a standard zipper-lock bag by sealing all but the last inch of the seal, then slowly lowering the bag into the bath to remove excess air, sealing it right before the water starts to leak into the bag.
For a pork chop, you'll want to cook it at between 135°F (57°C) and 140°F (60°C) for a minimum of 45 minutes to cook it through to the center, and up to four hours (much longer than that and it'll start to get a little soft due to enzymatic breakdown of tissues).
When you pull it out of the bag, it'll have a grayish-pink, mushy exterior. This is what happens when you cook without achieving temperatures high enough for the Maillard reaction to take place.
In order to fix this, we're going to need to add some color and texture to the chop.
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Many folks will recommend you sear with either oil orclarified butter, both of which can be heated hotter than standard butter before beginning to smoke, due to the presence of milk proteins and sugars in regular butter.
After lots of testing, I've found the exact opposite to be the case: butter is a great medium for browning sous vide style chops and steaks, precisely because those milk proteins and sugars will stick to the surface of the meat, hastening the browning process and creating some nice, charred flavors that you don't get with straight up oil or clarified butter.
I sear my chops in browned butter, adjusting the flame so that the butter is as hot as it can possibly get without outright burning or smoking excessively (there's no way getting around at leastsomesmoke, unfortunately. Just shut off your detectors).
After you get the sides, make sure to get the edges, especially the fat cap on the top, which needs to render and crisp a bit in order to be palatable.
After searing, a very brief rest is all it needs. Because sous vide cookery doesn't create a large temperature gradient within the meat, there is very little carryover cooking and not much need to allow temperatures to stabilize and juices to redistribute and thicken. A minute or two to let the exterior cool slightly is all it needs.
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You can serve the chop as-is, or, if you want to be all fancy-like, carve it up before bringing it to the table. When carving a chop, I like to serve it in three distinct parts: the loin, the fat cap/deckle, and the ribs. To do this, start by first cutting all the meat off the bone, following the contour of the ribs with a sharp knife. Next, cut through the stripe of fat that separates the large eye of meat from the fatty deckle attached to the top.
Finally, slice both parts thinly, split the ribs, and plate it up.
You will never have a moister, juicier pork chop.
Aren't you glad we're living in an age where medium-rare pork no longer instills fear into our hearts? This is pork, the way it's meant to be eaten.
September 2013
Recipe Details
Sous Vide Double-Cut Pork Chops Recipe
Active10 mins
Total60 mins
Serves2 servings
Ingredients
- 1 double-cut bone-in pork rib chop, about 1 1/4 pounds total
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
Adjust sous vide immersion circulator to 135°F (57°C) for medium-rare or 140°F (60°C) for medium. Alternatively, fill a large beer cooler with hot water and use a kettle of boiling water to adjust heat to 3°F above suggested target temperatures (138°F/59°C for medium-rare and 143°F/62°C for medium). Season pork chop generously with salt and pepper. Seal in food saver-style vacuum packer. Alternatively, place in a heavy-duty zipper lock bag and seal, leaving a 1-inch section unsealed. Slowly lower into sous vide cooker, pressing out air as you go. Seal bag completely just before the seal goes under water to completely remove air from bag.
Cook pork chop in sous vide cooker for at least 45 minutes and up to 4 hours. Alternatively, place in cooler and seal for 45 minutes. Remove from cooker or cooler and carefully pat dry on paper towels.
Heat oil and butter in a small skillet over high heat until foaming has subsided and butter begins to brown and smoke slightly. Add pork and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on both sides, about 4 minutes total, lowering heat if butter turns black or smokes excessively. Using tongs, lift chop and hold sideways against skillet, pressing firmly until all the edges are browned and fat is crisped, about 2 minutes longer.
Transfer pork to cutting board and let rest for 2 minutes. Serve as-is, or carve before serving.
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Special Equipment
Sous vide immersion circulator
Notes
To seal a zipper-lock bag, use the displacement method: Place pork chop in bag, then seal it almost entirely closed. Next, slowly lower the bagged chop into a pot or bowl of water, letting the water pressure press out air through the top of the bag. Once most of the air is out of the bag, carefully seal the bag just above the waterline. If bag is properly sealed, it should sink.
- Pork Mains
- Sous Vide Pork
- Pork Chop
