Pork Chop Brine
Pork Chop Brine. Say goodbye to dry, tough pork chops! Brining guarantees juicy, melt-in-your-mouth goodness to level up your meat-lover experience! Besides that, it carries all that great flavor right to the bone.
I remember when I was little, I would watch my aunt prepare delicious foods for special gatherings. Her skewered meat was always unbelievably juicy and flavorful! It was always a mystery to me how she kept her meat moist and tasty.
Because I look up to her cooking prowess, I learned a technique on how to achieve the same experience—brining meat makes it moist and tender.
Let’s be honest: pork chops can dry out. 😐 But don’t worry because my brine recipe is here to turn that cut of meat into a masterpiece! And no matter how you cook it, you’ll never encounter that sad pork chop again, EVER!😎
Content…Why Brining Works |
Why Brine for Pork Chops Works
Salt flavors and tenderized meat, thanks to a process that scientists can explain better than I can. Brine also helps the meat to retain moisture.
The length of soaking in a brine depends on the cut and size. The thicker the cut, the longer it takes. I typically brine the pork chops for 1-3 hours. However, a tenderloin can handle 12 hours of brine time.
Brine Ingredients
- Chicken Stock adds flavor to the brine.
- Salt pulls moisture from the meat, then puts it back in. I used kosher salt, but table salt works if that’s what you have.
- Brown Sugar is regular sugar with a little molasses. It adds flavor and reduces the saltiness. You can omit this ingredient, but increasing it could cause the meat to burn more easily.
- Spices – Black peppercorns add a zing, while garlic, bay leaves, and thyme deliver aromatic herbiness. Feel free to switch out these basic seasonings with your favorite mix.
- Orange creates a balancing citrus acidity that enhances the pork’s flavor. Sour oranges, lemons, and apple cider are also quite good.
- Ice Cold Water keeps you from having to put that huge pot in the fridge for the brining time. The pork usually brines from 30 minutes to 4 hours. Please store it in the refrigerator if brining it longer than an hour.
How to Brine Pork Chops
- Heat chicken stock.
- Mix the salt, sugar, cracked peppercorn, and garlic in a pot. Then, pour in the hot chicken stock and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Then add bay leaves, thyme, and orange slices.
- Stir and add 2 cups of ice water. (Photos 1-3)
- Submerge – Add the pork chop and fully submerge in the brine. (Photo 4)
- Brine – Cover the pot or container with a lid. Place the pork to brine in the fridge for 1-3 hours but not over 24 hours because the meat will become too soft and salty.
- Dry – Remove the pork chops from the brine, then rinse (optional) and pat dry before cooking.
Recipe Notes
- Brined meats tend to cook faster, so a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat is a reasonable precaution.
- Brining for 3-4 hours is the sweet spot. You can over-brine meat, so keep that in mind.
- An easy way to adjust the amount of brine is remembering that it’s 34 grams of salt per liter of water and stock.
- For your food safety, please discard the brine solution after use.
- You can also dry brine pork chops by generously salting your pork chop and letting it sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. Rinse, pat dry, season, and cook.
How to Cook Brined Pork
You can use your brined pork for grilling, frying, smoking, and roasting. Ideal recipes to try this with are stuffed pork chops, oven-baked pork chops, air fryer pork chops, grilled pork, and pork loin.
More Flavorful Spice Recipes to Try
- Homemade Curry Powder
- Creole Seasoning
- Caribbean Jerk Barbecue Ribs
- Italian Seasoning
- Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
By Imma
This blog post was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated with additional tips and beautiful photos
Pork Chop Brine
Ingredients
- 2 cups (475ml) chicken stock
- ¼ cup (72g) kosher salt
- ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons (5g) black peppercorns, cracked
- 4-6 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 orange, sliced
- 2 cups (475ml) ice water
- 4 pork chops (rib chops are the most tender)
Instructions
- Heat the chicken broth in a large pot. Add the salt, sugar, cracked peppercorn, and garlic and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve.
- Add the bay leaves, thyme, and orange slices. Stir in 2 cups of ice water.
- Place the pork chops in the pot, making sure they're submerged in the brine solution.
- Cover the pot or container with a lid. Place the pork to brine in the fridge for 1-3 hours, but not over 24 hours, as the meat will become too mushy and salty.
- Remove the pork chops from the brine, then rinse and pat dry before cooking.
Tips & Notes:
- Brined meats tend to cook faster, so a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat is a reasonable precaution.
- Brining for 3-4 hours is the sweet spot. You can over brine meat, so keep that in mind.
- An easy way to adjust the amount of brine is remembering that it’s 34 grams of salt to a liter of water and stock.
- For your food safety, please discard the brine solution after use.
- You can also dry brine pork chops by generously salting your pork chop and letting it sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. Rinse, pat dry, season, and cook.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
A great recipe Imma. Made it today and enjoyed it very much. My British fussy wife even like it and that’s saying something. Greetings from the tropical part of Australia.
Awesome! I am glad this won the Missus over :)! Thanks for stopping by!
Do I need to add salt before cooking (after rinsing and patting the pork chops dry), or will enough salt have been absorbed from the brine?
Hi Karly! No need to add salt before cooking. You could us.e other salt – free seasoning depending on what ever recipe you are making. Do let me know how it works out for you.
Did you say hot chicken stock!
Yes. It dissolves the sugar and salt, then you add ice water to cool it down. Hope that helps.
This brine is simply the best pork brine that I’ve ever used.. it better than good.. it’s amazing
Wow, what a compliment! I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that , Tom. Crafting the perfect brine is a labor of love, and it’s incredibly rewarding to know that it’s making a difference in your cooking.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and for your glowing review.
Your support truly means the world to me
Much love,
Imma
how do you cook the pork chops after brining?
I have a bunch of pork chop recipes. Here are my top 8 recipes. Please let me know which one you decided to try.
https://www.africanbites.com/8-amazing-pork-chop-recipes/
How do you cook them?
Here’s three different ways 🙂
https://www.africanbites.com/fried-pork-chops/
https://www.africanbites.com/air-fryer-pork-chops/
https://www.africanbites.com/smoked-pork-chops/
Your recipes are quite good.
This brine was perfect.
You are so sweet, thank you!
I made the brine recipe for my thin cut chops, brined for 2 hours and then cooked using your Fried Pork chop recipe. I am a novice pork chop cooker because I didn’t like my mom’s pork chops growing up. But, these are delicious! Everyone in the family absolutely loved them! My husband said these are better than anything he’s had at a restaurant.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for the feedback Victoria :)! And if there’s a recipe you’d love to see, please let me know. Thanks:)
Can you share how you cook them
after brining? I have terrible
luck with pork chops . Thanks
Sure thing. https://www.africanbites.com/8-amazing-pork-chop-recipes/
Here are my best pork chop recipes. Please let me know which one you try first.
This was amazing! Thanks for sharing! We have had terrible luck with dry pork chops. Not with this. So juicy and so tender! Was wondering if this could be used for any cut of pork? I am making a roast for Thanksgiving and would love to try this on it.
Yes, you certainly can. I’m so glad it worked for you.
Oh my goodness thank you so much for this recipe! We have had terrible luck with tough pork chops lately. This was amazing! Question…I want to make a roast pork for Thanksgiving. Could I use this brine for that?
Yes, you certainly can. I’m so glad it worked for you.
I’m so excited to try this. I will only be cooking two thick pork chops. Do I still need to follow the measurements or do I cut it by half?
I’m a bit confused ty
You need enough brine to cover the pork chops. You may be able to make less, but I don’t think half would be enough. If you have room in the fridge to store unused brine, it will last two weeks. And it goes great on chicken, too.
Just curious about the brine time versus thickness ratio. How long should I brine with thicker chops?
Great question. I usually double the brining time for thick pork chops. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
This brine recipe made my pork chops tender and juicy. It seems that every recipe on Pinterest and elsewhere is “the best”, “amazing” etc. etc. but the result is less than stellar. This brine recipe is quite good and I will be using it anytime I’m making pork chops.
Thank you for sharing your love and support, yeah this recipe is developed to have perfect brine. Try other brine too for turkey and salmon, I am sure you will receive a lot more appriciation about your cooking skills at home:)
No where do you mention the salt to water ratio although you say its very important.
Hi Harry, If you can see the quantity of salt and water in the ingredients section you will see their ratio. It says 1/4 cup of Kosher salt and 2 cups of iced water. Let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love the recipe.
Happy new year!