Guests for supper....smoked stuffed pork chop duo! Cream cheese spiced apple bacon and bacon wraped cream cheese wild rice cheddar queso.
Was in a hurry so I apologize for not taking pictures from begining to end.
I have always wanted to smoke some huge 2" pork chops. I took 6-2" chops and sliced them about 4 inches towards the center opposite the bone end to make a nice pocket for the stuffing.
I cranked up the MES smoker to 275 degrees. Added apple wood to get some smoke rolling.
Fillng..1 granny Smith apple peeled and scored and diced. Added diced apple to a pan with butter, cinnamon and rosemary. I fried apple, smoked bacon, brown sugar and room temp Cream cheese...mixed and let cool.
2nd stuffing: cooked wild rice, cream cheese, queso cheddar cheese, fried bacon chopped,and cream cheese. Stirred together and let it cool.
3 chops stuffed with apple and 3 chops stuffed with wild rice cheddar queso. I wrapped each chop with 2 pieces of bacon and put them in a preheated smoker with apple wood. Once all chops were in I turned temp down to 230 degrees for 1.5 hours. Then they were transferred to a hot grill for 3 min. Per side or internal temp of 145-150. They were tender, juicy and delicious.
Wrapping them in bacon kept them moist and delicious. A brine is nice but in this case I had no time and went with no brine and still achieved a tender juicy chop.
They were a hit and will make these again.