Alton Brown's 2-Hour Mustard Brine for Pork Chops or Roast

Kittencalskitchen's Note:

This is a recipe from Alton Brown on the food network, the regular recipe stated 1 cup salt but I cut it down to 3/4 cup you could even reduce the salt down to 1/2 cup but go ahead and use the 1 cup if you wish, remember kosher salt ONLY or you will not be able to eat the chops, and only brine the pork for 2 hours, NO MORE than that! You can use less than 5 large thick-cut pork chops or you might be able to fit more pork chops than five, just make certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine though.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 5 pork ch ...

• 5 thick loin-end pork chops (can use less, or use what ever cut pork you wish)
• ¾ cup kosher salt (DO NOT use regular white table salt!)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder (do not use prepared mustard!)
• 2 cups cider vinegar (heated until hot)
• 1 lb ice cube

Directions:

1. In a large plastic container with a lid, put the salt, Brown Sugar, peppercorns and mustard powder; add in the HOT vinegar and swirl to dissolve the sugar and salt completely.
2. Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes at room temperature to develop flavor.
3. Add in the ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice.
4. Add in the pork chops, making certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine.
5. Cover with lid and refrigerate for 2 hours (NO MORE than 2 hours!).
6. Rinse the pork well under cold water before cooking.
7. Cook as desired.

Reviews

[Zelda Mae]

I loved this brine i rinsed my chops well and they were not salty at all. I brined for 1 1/2 hours and thought it would have been even better had I brined for the full 2 hours.

[boteman]

I made this, but using 1-inch thick pork chops that I had in the freezer. I only brined them for about 1.5 hours or a bit less because there was simply less meat there than this recipe calls for and I was afraid of making them too salty. They were certainly more moist and tasty than your typical pan fried chop would be without brining and I can see where some people might consider them too salty. I liked them and will perfect this method in the future under better circumstances.

Just remember: people have different tastes so figure out what you like and go with it.

[MrBIP]

Don't know why so many reviews complain of "too salty" or "too 'vinegary' "... I got nervous after starting this because of the reviews and shorting the time to just over an hour, wish I'd left for the entire two hours because these turned out really nice. I used boneless center cut chops about 1-1/2 to 2" thick, added some fresh thyme to the bryne, hit them hard in a hot cast iron pan, put some chicken broth in the pan (with the thyme from the brine) and put in the oven at 325 for 1/2 hour to finish... came out very nice.... Yes, the cider does make the meat a bit gray colored.