Tony Zentgraf
Grilled Pork Chops are a crowd favorite any time of the year. Fire up that grill and make these Apple Brined Duroc Pork Chops. This is a recipe that will surely increase your BBQ game for the next party.
The apple brine gives the pork chops additional moisture and the apple juice & whisky deliver some sweetness to the meat. Made with a Canadian Style Whisky from Pendleton Whisky, the flavor goes well with the apple brine and grain mustard.
When paired with the Sweet Whisky & Grain Mustard Sauce the pairing is made for each other.
Get Other Delicious Culinary Seasons Pork Recipes
Duroc Pork, a Heritage Breed
You may be asking, what is a heritage pig breed and why does it matter? Heritage pigs are ones that were farmed before industrial farming took off.
There are several breeds that classify as heritage breeds. These include Berkshire, Tamworth, Red Wattle, Yorkshire, Gloucester Old Spot and Duroc. The Duroc breed was shipped across the Atlantic to the U.S. from Africa during the 1800s.
Marbling Equals Flavor
The meat has a higher amount of fat marbling making it more flavorful. The additional fat marbling will help to not dry out as easy as commercial pork. It is recommended that leaner cuts such as pork loin/chops should be cooked slightly pink.
Cooking to 135° and letting it rest, it will rise in temperature. As it sits it will deliver a moist, slightly pink loin or chop that will be moist & flavorful.
Why Should I Brine Pork?
Brining allows flavors to infuse into the pork. This happens because the salt in the brine when mixed with a liquid creates a reaction that relaxes the protein strands in the meat.
Enabling the protein strands to relax allows the meat to become more tender. Plus bringing in the flavorful ingredients in the brine, sugar for sweetness, peppercorns for some spice, or even whisky as in this recipe.
Brining for 6-24 hours is best. Brining too long can begin to make the meat salty and the texture can become mushy.
I recommend only a 6 hour brine in this recipe. But you can take it as long as 12 hours to keep the texture and won’t become too salty.
Apple Brined Duroc Pork Chops will wow your family. Serve with some roasted vegetables too!
Enjoy!
Apple Brined Duroc Pork Chops with Sweet Whisky & Grain Mustard Sauce
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Apple Brine Ingredients
- 2 cups Apple Juice
- 1 ½ cups Cold Water
- ½ cup Whisky (I used Pendleton Whisky a Canadian style whisky made in Pendleton, OR)
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- ⅓ cup cup Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp Black Peppercorns
- 4 ea Duroc Pork Chops (cut approx 1" thick)
Sweet Whisky and Grain Mustard Sauce
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- ½ cup Yellow Onion 1/4u0022 diced
- 3 ea Cloves of Garlic minced
- 2 tbsp Grain Mustard
- ¾ cup Whisky (I used Pendleton Whisky a Canadian style whisky made in Pendleton, OR)
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 3 tbsp Cold Butter cut into pats
- Flour to dredge the butter
- Season to taste with Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
Instructions
Assembling the Apple Brine
- In a bowl, combine the brown sugar and Kosher salt with the water and apple juice.
- Whisk the ingredients until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
- Add the whisky and black peppercorns and mix to combine.
- Use a container that will allow the pork chops to be submerged in the brine. Place the pork chops in the container and cover with the brine.
- Refrigerate the pork chops in the brine for 6 hours.
Grilling the Pork
- Preheat your grill. (Charcoal, gas grill or pellet smoker)
- Remove the pork from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Let sit at room temperature while your grill preheats, 1/2 hour to 1 hour.
- Season the pork chops with salt and pepper to taste.
- Grill the pork chops to an internal temperature of 135°.
- Remove the pork and let rest while making the sauce. The pork chops will up temp about 5-10° while resting.
Making the Sweet Whisky and Grain Mustard Sauce
- In a saute pan over medium high heat, saute the onions in vegetable oil.
- Saute the onions until they begin to get some color and look translucent.
- Add the garlic and saute for a minute.
- Add the grain mustard, mix to combine with onions and garlic.
- Saute the grain mustard in the pan over medium low heat for a minute or two. This toasts the mustard and brings out the flavor of the mustard.
- Add the whisky and reduce by half. Increase the heat to high to reduce.
- Once the whisky has reduced by half, add the chicken broth and reduce by half. Keeping the heat on high.
- While reducing the chicken broth, add the brown sugar. As the sauce reduces the sugar will bring out the caramelized notes of the sauce.
- While the sauce is reducing cut 2-3 tablespoons of cold butter and let them sit at room temperature on a plate.
- Once the sauce has reduced by half, dredge the butter in some flour. Patting the butter into the flour so the flour will stick to the butter.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the floured butter pats to the sauce. Swirl the butter to incorporate and as the butter begins to incorporate, increase the heat to a medium to allow the sauce to thicken.
- Adjust the seasoning of the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the Apple Brined Duroc Pork Chop. ENJOY!
