Tenderness of sous-vide pork chops

Question

I made some sous vide pork chops this week that didn't turn out as tender as I expected. They were about as tender as when I grill them; maybe a little bit worse.

I had marinated them overnight in a Vietnamese soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, lemon grass, etc., marinate and them cooked them at 132 degrees in the marinade for about eight hours.

What could I try to do differently? Longer cooking? Brining?

Asked by David Norman

Answer

I had similar experiences, and I've found that there is a big difference for long cooking between 132°F and 138°F (55°C vs 57.5°). Try a slightly higher temperature next time, you should be pleasantly surprised!

Answered by Marc-André Lafortune

Check more discussion of this question.

What are double-cut chops?

Question

I was in a restaurant recently and the menu included "double-cut pork chop". The person I was with ordered this, but it looked like an ordinary pork chop to me. (I don't eat pork so I don't have a lot of experience with this -- just what I've seen others eat.) Google led me to speculation, but nothing authoritative, that they're thicker; one site said up to 20oz, but the menu in this restaurant said 10oz. (I also searched Seasoned Advice but didn't find anything.)

Are double-cut chops cut from a different part of the animal (more toward the center, maybe?), or is it just a wider cut from wherever the butcher was cutting anyway, or is the Google speculation wrong and it means something different? And is this term specific to pork, or are there other kinds of double-cut chops (e.g. lamb)?

Asked by Monica Cellio

Answer

The term "double" is not specific to pork - it's also used with lamb - but it means something different in each case.

• A lamb double chop or loin double chop differs from a regular loin chop by including both the top loin and tenderloin, but not the flank. It hasn't actually been cut twice.

• A pork butterfly chop is sometimes called a "double chop" because, as the name implies, it's been butterflied. A very thick cut is taken from the loin eye and then cut again to make the butterfly.

Of course, if you cut a butterflied pork chop in half, and served just one half, it would basically be a regular pork chop. So if you that's what you actually got, I'd call it a marketing gimmick.

I've never actually heard the term "double-cut chop" - there are some vague references to it on Google, but as far as I know, it's not a proper butchering term. Perhaps the term got relayed through several people and mutated somewhere along the way.

Answered by Aaronut

Check more discussion of this question.

Are smoked pork chops from the butcher safe to eat without any further cooking?

Question

I bought a smoked pork chop from the butcher yesterday, and assumed I would cook it like any other pork chop, but after looking at it, it seems like it may be edible as is. The appearance is close to that of a cooked ham.

I saw some suggestions online about using it in soups or as breakfast meat, but nothing mentioned just eating it fresh from butcher.

Answer

It is "probably safe" but (IMHO) not worth the risk.

The chief "scare" for pork is a condition called trichinosis (or trichinellosis). There has not been a case of this disease reported to the Center for Disease Control from commercial pork since 2001. Assuming your butcher received the chops from a reputable commercial source then you it should be 'ok'. If the source was wild hog then there is some risk.

Personally I would just as soon grill it up than take the chance, but you should know that smoking is not considered an adequate safeguard.

(your profile does not say where you are, so if you are outside the US, your mileage may vary)

Check more discussion of this question.