For our Christmas eve dinner we had originally expected to serve four so I pulled a package of four lamb steaks out of the freezer. A couple days later our guest list swelled by six and I suspected that our guests might not appreciate lamb. At Sam's I found a package of nice looking boneless loin pork chops. (I think these are really just slices of pork loin...) I didn't worry that there were nine chops and I figured I only needed six. That's what the FoodSaver is for. I did worry a bit that they might come out dry since they looked really lean. I've had good luck brining fowl so I looked for and found recipes for brining pork. I settled on one by Alton Brown that included salt, sugar and cider vinegar and was spiced up with mustard powder.
In the morning I put the pork in the brine the requisite 2 hours prior to estimated cook time. After taking it out and rinsing it, I seasoned with some garlic, pepper and fresh rosemary on peanut oil and put it on a hot cast iron grate. This is what they looked like when I turned them the first time:
I took the pork to about 160° F. I did the lamb while the pork rested.
I just wanted to say that if you have not tried brining pork, you need to. It came out pretty good. In fact, there was no need for the FoodSaver this time. I had cut the pork and lamb into inch wide strips so that our guests could take a little or as much as they wanted. (My ulterior motive with that was to get some of them to taste the lamb as well - it's too good to pass up!) They left only a couple pieces.
In the morning I put the pork in the brine the requisite 2 hours prior to estimated cook time. After taking it out and rinsing it, I seasoned with some garlic, pepper and fresh rosemary on peanut oil and put it on a hot cast iron grate. This is what they looked like when I turned them the first time:
I took the pork to about 160° F. I did the lamb while the pork rested.
I just wanted to say that if you have not tried brining pork, you need to. It came out pretty good. In fact, there was no need for the FoodSaver this time. I had cut the pork and lamb into inch wide strips so that our guests could take a little or as much as they wanted. (My ulterior motive with that was to get some of them to taste the lamb as well - it's too good to pass up!) They left only a couple pieces.
