Servings: 2 people
Calories: 282kcal
Equipment
- 1 Sous Vide Precision Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 medium pork chops
- 2 sprigs fresh oregano or thyme
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Pork Chops
- Pre-heat the sous vide device to 140 degrees F.
- Salt and pepper the pork chops to taste. Put the chops in a freezer bag or vacuum seal bag with the garlic, fresh herbs, and olive oil then remove the air through a vacuum sealer or the displacement method. Drop pork chops in the bath for at least 1 hour.
Finish the Pork Chops
- Remove bag from bath. Take chops out of the bag, pat dry and lightly re-season with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the herbs and garlic from the bag.
- Heat a cast-iron skillet on high and add a high smoke point oil like ghee orgrapeseed oil. Sear for 45 seconds on each side. Remove pork chops from skillet and place on a platter.
Notes
I use a vacuum zeal for sous vide cooking, but it's not required. The old water displacement method works well. Using the latter approach means you place the pork chops in a ziplock bag and place it in the water bath unclosed. Submerge the bag as deep into the water as you can while preventing water from entering the bag. The pressure from the water will force all the air out of the bag, so once it does close the bag.
If your pork chops aren't heavy enough to stay submerged fully you may need to add weight. I've never had this issue with pork chops or steak, but I've experienced it with other foods.
The thickness of the pork chops matters. I don't change temperature, but I will increase cook time depending on size/thickness. I skew closer to 2 hours for thicker pork chops.
I know you're thinking - 1-2 hours to cook pork chops! Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. However, the trade-off is perfection in both texture and taste. And it's quite satisfying at least to me, to cook something to the perfect preferred temperature.
Sous vide pork chops aren't the prettiest chops when they're done. Though they are completely done the external side will be quite pale and not that dark golden color we expect for cooked pork chops. The reason is that you're not cooking at those super high temperatures. Given this, you'll want to give the chops a very quick sear. I prefer to get a cast-iron skillet really hot and sear about a minute per side. You can achieve the same by using a broiler.
For next-level flavor add butter to the skillet and spoon over the pork chops repeatedly as they sear in the skillet.
Bone-in pork chops are my preferred cuts to use. Rib chops are great, but I'm a bigger fan of the center cut chops or the porterhouse steaks style if you can find ones reasonably thick.
Because there are bones present there is a chance that the chops can puncture ziplock bags if you're using them. You can always wrap the tips somehow as a preventive measure.
Nutrition
Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 1228mg | Potassium: 551mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 2mg
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