Big Stuffed Smoked Chops in the Gourmet: Q-view

[forluvofsmoke]

Hi everyone! I had the opportunity to step things down a notch or two for a simple and easy meal today.

I don't recall stuffing pork chops before, and my wife had purchased some 2" thick center cut boneless chops awhile back which landed in the freezer. Yesterday when I was digging for smokin' goodies and ran accross them again, I had to grab 'em out to start a thaw. I'm not a big fan of stuffed meats due to the more stringent food safety guidelines, but the stuffed loins I've smoked are much more difficult to get through the danger zone than a chop with low & slow cooking, so I'm firing up the smoker for these today. I've smoked a ton of thin-cut chops, but I've never stuffed them. I guess it just goes to show how much there is on my to do list, and I smoke 2-3 times per week.

The 7 chops I'm holding hostage are 6.48lbs (pre-freeze/thaw), which averages 0.92lbs/ea. I'll use only what I have on hand without making a trip to the store. I don't like grocery store trips anyway, and just to grab a few things for a single meal just doesn't make sense to me...if I use what I have, I always end up with something we've not had before, which keeps my meals more interesting and unique.

Dry rub will be a variation of my cherry rub for pork (found in the Wiki) and the medditeranean blend I used on indirect loins on my weber kettle several months back.

Stuffing will consist of 2 parts chopped brocholli flowerettes, 1/2 part fine chopped banana peppers (for zest) and 3 parts small cubes of mozzarella cheese. The stuffing is seasoned with the same blend as the dry rub.

---

Dry rub & veggie/cheese seasoning ready to go:

Stuffing tossed together with season:

OOPS!!! Hit the submit button instead of preview...more to come!

Eric

 

[SmokinAl]

Eric, Here we go again for another wild ride! You gotta slow down, your killin me!

 

[mballi3011]

Well Eric it's been along time

 

[forluvofsmoke]

OK, let's try this again!

Stuffed and rubbed...I used a shorter utility knife to make an incision all the way in to about 1/2" from the opposite end, then, worked the blade accross to widen the pocket:

These things have a huge cross-section now...gonna be at least a 4-hr smoke, seeing as a thinner cut chop or steak pushes over 2 hours for me:

I had one blow-out due to not cutting a wide enough pocket towards both sides, but other than that the stuffing went well. I placed that chop up on edge with the tear up so it looses less melted cheese...should do OK

---

Into the Gourmet with mesquite @ 200-220* for the first 30 minutes for hopefully a better initial smoke penetration and reation, then, I'll yank the intake open for about 275* chamber temps, to make up for the lower start-up. I'll probe a couple of them @ about 2.5 hours and see how they're coming along. The blow-out chop is on the bottom grate here @ 9 'oclock...I have my lower grate hanging by heavy hauge wire hooks about 4" below the upper grate so I get less steam and more smoke on the lower grate...geez, these look like a mini roast now that they're into the smoker:

---

Top grate has 4...I'll rotate the grate positions at 2.5 hours into the smoke just for extra insurance on more even cooking as my grate temps in these positions vary by about 10-15*, lower being hotter. My probe therm is in between the grates, so I'm reading the average of the two:

---

Smoke is on for 90 minutes now, and I had some low temp issues when I wanted to push it hard...not sure, but I think I had too much used charcoal in the chimney. If I have old briqs, I usually lay in about 1/3 chimney of fresh, then 1/3 old and another 1/3 fresh to get the coal bed started in the Gourmet...today I used about 50/50, and it was pretty sluggish. I ended up adding 2 more 1/2 chimneys to get the fire woke up and coming on strong, but she's alive and kickin' now.

It surprised me because this rig can push about 300* with breaking a sweat, espe cially with the beautiful  mid Feb weather we're having right now with light/moderate winds and mid 40's temps.

---

I may as well post this in progress now, since my initial classic SMF boo-boo. I intended on loading text and pics only until the end....(sigh)

Ah, such is life!

See ya with the finish!

Thanks all! 

Eric

 

[scarbelly]

Great looking chops Eric. I love the stuffing too

 

[meateater]

Those look mighty good.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

The finish at last!!!

These popped up over 160* before I stuck 'em @ 2-hrs, 50 minutes!!! Who'd of guessed it? I wouldn't have...especially with the temp problems I had early on.

Just short of the 3 hours, I had the fire grate transferred to my weber kettle to snuff out the coals, and commenced grabbing my tongs and platter:

---

A good look at the pocket...if you look closely, you can see a very faint but deep smoke ring, and it still has cheese inside...yeah, baby!!!:

The same chop, as I'm working my way towards the end of the journey...and what a tasty journey it was!:

Next time around I'll try to get a probe into a coupl eof them sooner just so I can catch 'em around 158*, then carryover will take 'em to 160*. These still had a fair amount of juices, but could have been a bit more moist had I checked them earlier.  They sure did finish alot faster than I expected, but this may have something to do with the type of stuffing used. Good eats, regardless.

Oh, and the bits of banana peppers along with the cheese and brocholi was a nice last-minute touch that I hadn't originally planned on, but glad I did...just a nice zip now and then while you chewed, which went right along with some of the spices in the mediterranean blend of seasonings, as some iof them add a bit of tanginess as well.

---

Oh my, those were worth the few little problems I had today, and so simple to make...hmm, I'm making room for tons of easy stuff to smoke lately.

I love it when a relatively easy smoke comes together like this! I love smoked chops, but now, I think I'll have to chop-out (thick cut) 1/2 of my whole loins to prep and stuff. Then, we can have stuffed chops one day, and a whole loin the next...yep, I'm hooked...and it's a deep and torturous wound which will only be healed by more stuffed chops! LOL!!!!!

As always, it been fun sharing a good smoke with ya!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Eric, Here we go again for another wild ride! You gotta slow down, your killin me!

Ha-ha!!! Brother, I can't slow down...it's like a freight train on a down-hill grade...just gotta let it roll 'til it looses it's momentum...I'm on one of those down-hill grades, I guess. Hmm, every time I fire up to cook another meal, something different hits the plate. The wife and kids love eating it (well, so do I), and I love putting meals together. Anyway, it's been a great ride for a long time in my kitchen, so I'll just keep on keepin' on!

 

Well Eric it's been along time

Yeah, Mark, I pulled a classic there...oldest boy walked in while I was loading pics, and I tried to multi-task with a human while computering...bad idea...pre-view and submit buttons should be on opposite sides of the footer for just those occasions...more idiot-proof! LOL!!!
 

Great looking chops Eric. I love the stuffing too

Thanks, that was a simple but tasty way to cram some extra goodness into those bad boys.
 

Those look mighty good.

Thanks, they are going to be on my regular/routine smokin' list from now on. Smoke chops are really good, but these just go right over the top. I've smoked some stuffed loins, but this is just so much easier to prep and get through the danger zone.

Heck I could ahve left these @ 220* the whole time (if I had more time) and they'd come through it just fine. I started the smoke 1-hr, 20 minutes later than I wanted to, and they still were finished when I originally planned for dinner, which was 6:00 pm. Somehow, it all worked out fine in the end.
 

---

We were still eating when I posted the finish, and we have over 2 chops left. My boys and I are pretty big eaters, especially with something new to us, or something we've not had in awhile, but these chops were pretty big for most of us here to eat. I managed to stomp in 1-1/4, while my oldest boy (just got home tonight from college from the weekend) was bursting at the seems with one of the largest chops, plus the veggies and a serving of lastnight's smoked manicotti, smoked spaghetti squash and my sauce. He's done! LOL!!! I'm glad when I have the weekends off work, 'cause I know he'll eat well while he's here. He likes his Mom's cooking too, but all my kids (heck, wife & me, too) are kinda spoiled with my smoked/grilled foods.

Anyway, that was a fine way to end another 2-day chapter for my passion for food.

See ya all in 5 days, unless I'm off work early enough to crank up a smoker or even a grill for some more fun!

Thanks again, eveyone!

Eric

 

[les3176]

Wow those are some awesome looking chops eric!!!! Your stuff is always great!!! Another great post,thanks!!!

 

[rp ribking]

You hit those chops out of the park, they look great.

 

[SmokinAl]

Ditto, you hit another homer, Eric! Un freakin believable!!     

 

[nwdave]

Well, what a new look at the poor pork chop.  Gotta say, it's another hit.  Quite flexible in what you could use for veggies.  Delicious.

 

[billbo]

Wow does that look good!

 

[Bearcarver]

Another Awesome meal Eric!!!

If that smoke ring is about 1/2" deep, I see it.

Is the air in Wyoming usually more clear during the week???

Thanks for another Great one!

Bear

 

[fpnmf]

Looks great!

  Craig

 

[forluvofsmoke]

You hit those chops out of the park, they look great.

Thanks, that had to be the best chops I've ever cooked, or eaten. 

Ditto, you hit another homer, Eric! Un freakin believable!!     

Thanks, pretty easy to prep, but the eating is waaaaaaaaaay worth the couple minutes to get 'em ready. 

Well, what a new look at the poor pork chop.  Gotta say, it's another hit.  Quite flexible in what you could use for veggies.  Delicious.

Oh yeah, I know that fresh spinach is among the favorites for stuffed loins...there could be dozens of others worthy of the ride as well.
 

Wow does that look good!

Thanks, I think most of us ate more than we should have that night! LOL!
 

Wow those are some awesome looking chops eric!!!! Your stuff is always great!!! Another great post,thanks!!!

Thanks, oh I wouldn't say it always looks great, but...well, I shouldn't judge my own food I guess...I might be my own worst critic! LOL!!!

 

Another Awesome meal Eric!!!

If that smoke ring is about 1/2" deep, I see it.

Is the air in Wyoming usually more clear during the week???

Thanks for another Great one!

Bear

Thanks Bear, yeah, 1/2" depth is about right...it was another one of those extremes I pull off from time to time.

Hmm, is the air more clear during the week...as in, when I'm not smoking? Ha-ha-ha!!!

Looks great!

  Craig

Thanks!

---

Dang, I finally got hooked back up here, and now I feel like I've been gone a whole year!

Great smokes to all!

Eric
 

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks Bear, yeah, 1/2" depth is about right...it was another one of those extremes I pull off from time to time.

Hmm, is the air more clear during the week...as in, when I'm not smoking? Ha-ha-ha!!!



Thanks!

Eric

---

LOL---Yup!---You got it!

Bear