How Do You Make That: Tender Pork Chops

 

I love pork chops, but I really dislike pork chops the consistency of shoe leather. Fortunately, I did not have to eat leathery pork chops while Janet was alive, and I learned her technique for cooking them before she died. Pork chops have become one of my go-to meals when I have company over, and they all marvel over their tenderness. Yet making them is ridiculously easy. Here is how.

You will need:

  • An oven
  • A cooking sheet or casserole large enough for one layer of pork chops. Make sure there is at least a 1″ rim.
  • Pork chops. (With large chops, one to a customer is fine, but throw in a few extra.)
  • Non-stick oil spray
  • Olive oil
  • Seasonings (I use pepper. garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash’s Garlic and Herb or Onion and Herb. Pick whatever tastes good to you.)
  • One whole onion
  • Grated Parmesan cheese.

Do the following:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. (Yes, 425)
  2. Peel a whole onion and slice into thin slices. Set aside.
  3. Spray the baking sheet with nonstick spray.
  4. Rinse off the pork chops and pat them dry with paper towels.
  5. Coat each pork chop with olive oil. Cover both sides and the edges with olive oil, and place each chop on the baking sheet.
  6. Season the chops by sprinkling your favorite herbs and spices. I cover each chop with coarse pepper, garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash’s Onion and Herb or Garlic and Herb (or both). If you prefer something else go for it.
  7. After seasoning one side, flip the chops and cover the other sided with seasoning.
  8. Take the sliced onions and put a layer on the top of the chops.
  9. Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top of the pork chops over the sliced onions.
  10. When the oven reaches 425, put the tray with the pork chops into the oven. Cook 40 minutes.
  11. Pull the chops out of the oven and serve.

The secret is the olive oil. It seals in the natural moisture of the meat, so the chops do not dry out. The result is tender, moist pork chops despite the high heat.

You will need to experiment with the time because it does vary from oven to oven. Forty minutes works in my oven, but it can vary from 35 to 40 minutes.

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  1. JustmeinAZ Member
    JustmeinAZ
    @JustmeinAZ

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Great tips you included. One other tip: if you need to freeze pork chops, make sure they are in a container that is intact. For years, I wondered why my pork chops were dry. Then I learned that freezing a meat package with an edge where the plastic is broken is a blueprint for disaster. Now before freezing I wrap the chops with extra layers of plastic and always make sure they are used within a week or two of purchase. (Freezers don’t simply freeze but also dehydrate the food that is not adequately protected from the cold dry air.)

    One word: Foodsaver

    • #31
  2. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    The Great Adventure! (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Great tips you included. One other tip: if you need to freeze pork chops, make sure they are in a container that is intact. For years, I wondered why my pork chops were dry. Then I learned that freezing a meat package with an edge where the plastic is broken is a blueprint for disaster. Now before freezing I wrap the chops with extra layers of plastic and always make sure they are used within a week or two of purchase. (Freezers don’t simply freeze but also dehydrate the food that is not adequately protected from the cold dry air.)

    I don’t like to freeze any chops or steaks. Confessions though – the 20 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts from Costco is hard to pass up…

    Oh how I wish we had Costco or Sam’s in Germany. The nearest equivalents aren’t all that equivalent. 

    • #32
  3. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Use a Pressure Cooker

    • #33
  4. Nohaaj Coolidge
    Nohaaj
    @Nohaaj

    EB (View Comment):

    That recipe sounds great!

    My mother brought me up to worry about trichinosis from pork. So my poor husband suffered tough, dry pork chops from overcooking until I made this discovery. If you don’t have 40 minutes and want pork chops, use this digital instant-read thermometer. Pork needs to be 145 in center. Your chops will come out moist and not overcooked. Amazon link

     

    that is a lot cheaper than the Thermapen I have and use religiously both in brewing and meat temp sensing.  It is a wonderful tool. https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4?msclkid=3c17d43722d41d0a9905886c2530f6b5&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bing%20Shopping%20-%20Brand&utm_term=1104000219200&utm_content=Ad%20Group%20%231

     

    • #34
  5. Nanda "Chaps" Panjandrum Member
    Nanda "Chaps" Panjandrum
    @

    Guruforhire (View Comment):

    Use a Pressure Cooker

    Hi, Guruji!

    • #35
  6. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo

    The Great Adventure! (View Comment):

    Alternative – I prepare and season them similarly (I’m notorious for never using the same spice mixture twice). Fill half the Weber to just below grate level with briquettes and let them get nice and hot – all grey, no black. Sear the chops over the briquettes for 2-3 minutes each, move them to the empty side and put on the lid. If you have a thermo it should be pegging up to around 600 within the first minute. Leave them in there for 10-14 minutes depending on thickness.

    And get that silly gas grill outta my face!

    I would add that, when grilling the poke chops, brining them for a couple hours before you put them on the grill makes them exceptionally moist and tender.

    • #36
  7. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Hartmann von Aue (View Comment):

    The Great Adventure! (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Great tips you included. One other tip: if you need to freeze pork chops, make sure they are in a container that is intact. For years, I wondered why my pork chops were dry. Then I learned that freezing a meat package with an edge where the plastic is broken is a blueprint for disaster. Now before freezing I wrap the chops with extra layers of plastic and always make sure they are used within a week or two of purchase. (Freezers don’t simply freeze but also dehydrate the food that is not adequately protected from the cold dry air.)

    I don’t like to freeze any chops or steaks. Confessions though – the 20 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts from Costco is hard to pass up…

    Oh how I wish we had Costco or Sam’s in Germany. The nearest equivalents aren’t all that equivalent.

    OTOH, Pork is Germany’s national bird. 

    • #37
  8. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    TBA (View Comment):

    Hartmann von Aue (View Comment):

    The Great Adventure! (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Great tips you included. One other tip: if you need to freeze pork chops, make sure they are in a container that is intact. For years, I wondered why my pork chops were dry. Then I learned that freezing a meat package with an edge where the plastic is broken is a blueprint for disaster. Now before freezing I wrap the chops with extra layers of plastic and always make sure they are used within a week or two of purchase. (Freezers don’t simply freeze but also dehydrate the food that is not adequately protected from the cold dry air.)

    I don’t like to freeze any chops or steaks. Confessions though – the 20 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts from Costco is hard to pass up…

    Oh how I wish we had Costco or Sam’s in Germany. The nearest equivalents aren’t all that equivalent.

    OTOH, Pork is Germany’s national bird.

    Nah. That’s the Elster, the magpie. You are quite right  that it is a pork culture. A Messianic Jewish friend of mine here once told me how grateful he was for the triumph of beef and chicken-based U.S. culinary culture in Germany. We apparently made it much easier to navigate the restaurant scene  as a koscher-keeper in Germany than it had been. 

    • #38
  9. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    Made the chops tonight for daughter and boyfriend. Daughter, who dislikes pork chops, was skeptical. I stuck to the recipe and they came out slightly overcooked, due to our ancient oven which doesn’t regulate as well as it should. Daughter reaction: “When are we having this again?” Big hit.

    Pro tip: serve with cider, especially some of the stuff they press around here from old English apple varieties. 

    I would be glad to express appreciation by sending you a couple bottles. Message me with your shipping address, please.

    • #39
  10. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Douglas Pratt (View Comment):
    I stuck to the recipe and they came out slightly overcooked, due to our ancient oven which doesn’t regulate as well as it should.

    You are the second person to report overcooking. I suspect the problem may lie in my oven. Perhaps 35 minutes should be the starting point.

     

    • #40
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