Sous Vide Pork

So I've been cooking SV for some time now, just got my joule and decided to cook a pork chop. Now I've cooked pork chops in the past (and steaks) and they always seem to have the same texture coming out of the bath. They are nice and tender, but they are not juicy.. not even close. They aren't bone dry like when my mom cooked pork chops either. They are just.. meh. This goes for steaks and chops. Longer cooks seem great.

So my question is what could cause this to happen?

Info about the chop/cook process;

1.5" thick center cut boneless pork loin chop (frozen)

bagged with oil and garlic

put in iced bath and started from work (super handy)

cooked at 136 for 3 hours

dried, salted, seared (30s per side), rested, sliced.

I'm thinking I should brine the pork first? It's happened with almost all tender cuts I've tried. Thoughts?

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Comments

meyer8863

I definitely think brining will help a ton. It's not nearly as important with chicken (in my opinion) but with pork it's a necessity.

brian_martin2001

While i think brining will definitely improve your results, I'd personally decrease the time as well. You're cooking it right to the ceiling of the recommendation. You might consider cooking it for 1.5 hours. Because it is such a lean meat, it isn't a particularly forgiving piece of meat (no fat or connective tissue to break down). Try brining and decreasing the time a bit, and see if it improves at all. Good luck. And let us know how you make out.

pd3ski_278514

Yes brining for sure with pork!! It's the lean nature of pork these days. I did the same as you a while back and yes while tasty it was a little tough and dry. A minimum of say 30-40min will help but longer is better like a few hours.

Brian makes a good point about the time as well.

Pics please!

lockgavin

Thanks all, I'll have another go at it. I figured the time would be ago since it was from frozen. But if I'm brining i can't do that do. Hehe.

Here is pic of last nights pork. With Brussels and parsnip purée.

pd3ski_278514

Sure looks good Vinlo 🍴

I used about a 3% brine w/brown sugar, lemon zest plus the fruit, rosemary, thyme, garlic. pepper, bay leaves. Really brought good things to the table!

Katherine_Hannula_Bral_30514

I've had really juicy results for frozen boneless center cut loin chops at 135F for up to 3 hours with no brining, but I buy the darkest, well-marbled heritage pork I can find. We just had these last night with garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom cream gravy and, stop reading byrdie, roasted Brussels sprouts.