I haven't been able to do any smoking in quite a while. The wires to the heating element in my MES had burned off. I finally found the right wiring and the time to get it fixed.
I bought some "assorted" pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick) on sale because they were about to outdate. I thought I'd try to replicate the flavor of the smoked pork chops you can buy at the store or at some restaurants. So they went into a simple brine (just salt and brown sugar) to try and replicate that "hammy"/cured flavor.
I was going to brine them for two days, but life intervened and it ended up being three. They went to the MES at 240° with some hickory smoke. The only additional seasoning (other than the brine) was a little black pepper. Since they were so thin it only took about 50 minutes before they were done. I put a few ham balls in with them just so the smoker didn't look so empty.
The MES worked better than it had for months before it finally quit. The pork chops tasted kind of like the pre-made smoked pork chops and yet they were different, but I can't really explain how. The extra day in the brine had them tasting a little saltier than I would have liked but they were still good. My tasters gave them a "9".
The smoked ham balls were pretty good too.
Here are the before and after pictures.
I bought some "assorted" pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick) on sale because they were about to outdate. I thought I'd try to replicate the flavor of the smoked pork chops you can buy at the store or at some restaurants. So they went into a simple brine (just salt and brown sugar) to try and replicate that "hammy"/cured flavor.
I was going to brine them for two days, but life intervened and it ended up being three. They went to the MES at 240° with some hickory smoke. The only additional seasoning (other than the brine) was a little black pepper. Since they were so thin it only took about 50 minutes before they were done. I put a few ham balls in with them just so the smoker didn't look so empty.
The MES worked better than it had for months before it finally quit. The pork chops tasted kind of like the pre-made smoked pork chops and yet they were different, but I can't really explain how. The extra day in the brine had them tasting a little saltier than I would have liked but they were still good. My tasters gave them a "9".
Here are the before and after pictures.
