Sous-Vide Double Cut Pork Chops for 2

Entered for safe-keeping, from J. Kenji López-Alt, Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats. The ultimate solution to dry pork chops! Meat cooked sous-vide is less likely to overcook, and can be left in the water bath until ready to serve (up to 3 hours). The meat cooks to an even temperature throughout. For appearance's sake, the chops are best pan-seared or grilled just before serving. You can vary the seasoning to your personal taste; I'm likely to grab my Paula Deen House Seasoning. A double-cut bone-in pork chop is about 1 1/2 inches thick, with 2 rib bones. For more information: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/sous-vide-101-double-cut-pork-chops.html, including the discussion that follows about internal cooking temperatures. If you are still nervous about trichinosis, raise the sous-vide temperature to 140 degrees for medium for 1 hour. Kenji offers some DIY alternatives to expensive sous-vide immersion circulators and chamber-sealers, made possible by a cooking time of an hour or less. My prep time does not include time for water bath to reach desired temperature.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1  double-cut bone-in  pork rib chop (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
•  kosher  salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste (or your preferred seasoning)
• 1  tablespoon canola oil or 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 2  tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Set sous-vide cooker to 135 degrees Fahrenheit for medium-rare or 140 degrees Fahrenheit for medium. (Or go to DIY SOUS-VIDE ALTERNATIVE, Step 9.).
2. Season pork chop generously with salt and pepper, or seasonings of your choice. Seal in a FoodSaver-style vacuum packer.
3. Cook pork chop in sous-vide for at least 45 minutes and up to 4 hours. (If using DIY alternative, do not leave pork chop in much longer than minimum time because the beer cooler cannot maintain the temperature.).
4. Remove pork chop from cooker or cooler, open bag, and carefully pat dry on paper towels. (It won't be pretty, hence the next step!).
5. Heat oil and butter in a small skillet over high heat until foaming has subsided and butter begins to brown and smoke slightly.
6. Add pork and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on both sides, about 4 minutes total, lowering heat if butter turns black or smokes excessively.
7. Using tongs, lift chop and hold sideways against the skillet, pressing firmly until all the edges are browned and fat is crisped, about 2 minutes longer.
8. Transfer pork to cutting board and let rest for 2 minutes. Serve as-is, or carve before serving. (Kenji likes to separate the chop into the ribs, the loin, and the fat cap/deckle: with a sharp knife, 1) cut all meat off the bone, following the contour of the ribs; 2) cut through the strip of fat that separates the large eye of meat from the fatty deckle attached to the top; 3) slice both the loin part and the deckle part thinly, and split the ribs.).
9. DIY SOUS-VIDE ALTERNATIVE.
10. Fill a large beer cooler with hot water. Use a kettle of boiling water to adjust heat to 3 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the suggested target temperature (would be 138°F for medium-rare or 143°F for medium).
11. Season pork chop generously with salt and pepper (or your seasoning choice).
12. Place chop in a heavy-duty zipper lock bag and seal, leaving a 1-inch section unsealed. Slowly lower into sous-vide cooker, pressing out air as you go. Seal bag completely just before the seal goes under water to completely remove air from bag.
13. Return to Step 3.