smoked pork chops

[al_sfbay]

Has anybody brined and then smoked 1" chops with bone in? I have just brined about 5"lbs of them and am trying to decide on a temp to smoke.  Should I smoke till IT is 145 or smoke cooler then grill? 

 

[Pork Belly]

I would go less, perhaps 140 then seared on a screaming hot grill. If you go 145 it will carry over to 150 without ever hitting a grill.

 

[mnsmoker]

I would go with a lite smoke till 130 135 IT then grill a couple minutes a side, in my experience pork tends to pick up flavor easily so I go with a lite apple wood, should be awesome... don't forget the photos!!

 

[al_sfbay]

thanks everybody.  I am going to smoke the chops along with some "duck bacon" I am trying.  I have the duck firming up with a rub on it and then hope to smoke it the very same way.  I will keep you posted and show pics.

allison

 

[DivotMaker]

What are you doing after the brine, Allison?  Oil or mustard and a rub?  If you left them in the smoke the whole time, at 235, they should take about 2 hours to get to 150.  I like Jim's idea of 130-135, then reverse-sear on the grill!  That works great with pork loin, too (but to 150, not 135).  The pork chops will cook to temp much faster on the grill.  I like 150 for pork chops - done, but not dry.

Can't wait to see the duck bacon, too!

 

[al_sfbay]

I am leaning towards no rub etc.  I have used this brine before and just grilled and the flavor is amazing, not to mention moist.  the brine consists of the following:
sugar, salt, apple juice, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, star anise, cloves, allspice, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and a pinch of pink salt.

I like the idea of pulling it off early (IT135) and searing on the grill, I just can't decide what temp to smoke at.

I would like to smoke at around 160-180 as I have some duck to smoke too, but  I don't want to dry out the chops.

 

[mnsmoker]

I would go with something around 200 or so for 90 minutes maybe less depending on thickness since your not trying to fully cook on your smoker just get a lite smoke flavor then finish on the grill it's easy to over smoke chops and tenderloin resulting in a bitter and dry product and use a digital instant read thermometer when grilling and they should be awesome!!

 

[DivotMaker]

I'm with Jim - shouldn't take a lot of time to get some good smoke flavor into 1" chops, and you want to minimize the time in the "danger zone" of safe temperature.  I'd probably even go 225, starting with cold chops and cold smoker.

 

[al_sfbay]

the chops were awesome but the Duck bacon was so good it was all I could do not to gooble it up!  I just started a new batch of it by letting it cure with a rub.  OMG this stuff is like meat candy!  I will get pictures this time, honest.

 

[DivotMaker]

How'd you finally end-up smoking the chops, Allison?

 

[Pork Belly]

I would have liked to have seen pictures of the duck