These Smothered Bacon Jam Pork Chops are certainly not your regular, run-of-the-mill pork chops. These are taken completely over the top with the addition of my Bourbon Bacon Onion Jam and then smothering everything with a “healthy” dose of my Down South Pimento Cheese. If you’re looking for something savory to cook for dinner – look no further because you’ve hit the jackpot!
Smothered Bacon Jam Pork Chop Ingredients
The ingredient list for this dish is fairly short. You need the following:
- Bone-in, center-cut pork chops at least 1-inch thick (preferably 1 ½-inch thick if you can find them),
- Down South Pimento Cheese
- One batch of my Bourbon Bacon Onion Jam
- Garlic
- Unsalted Butter
- Fresh Thyme
- Suga
- Kosher salt and black pepper.
One optional step, but one that I recommend, is dry brining the pork chops, which I have outlined further down in this post.
The Bourbon Bacon Onion Jam is really something special. Please go check out my blog post on how to make it over here! It’s not just perfect for this recipe, you can use it as a burger topping, on sandwiches, or you can finely mince it and serve it on a charcuterie board. This takes roughly 1-½ hours to make, so it’s recommended to make it ahead of time.
Cooking Methods
Dry Brining
An important part of obtaining a great, flavorful crust is to have dry meat when you sear it. Any moisture on the outside will create steam, which doesn’t lead to browning. The best way to achieve a nice dry crust is to salt the outside of the meat and let it rest on a wire rack in the fridge, uncovered, the night before you cook. This seasons the meat all the way through and also dries the surface of the meat perfectly.
To learn more about the subject, check out this article about the science of dry brining from Serious Eats. This article is packed full of information, which I have found helpful.
Normally I don’t use anything but salt in my dry brines, but for this recipe, I added ½ teaspoon of granulated sugar to each pork chop. This added a sort of glaze to the exterior of the pork, which helped everything get nice and brown.
Reverse Searing
One other key to this recipe is to “reverse sear” the pork chops. This entails baking the pork chops at a relatively low temperature (250°F) for 25 to 30-minutes until the pork registers about 110°F internally. The next step is searing both sides in a ripping hot skillet to form a crust and to finish cooking them through. This method does a few things:
- Evenly cooks the pork chop and let’s you more accurately cook them to your desired temperature compared to other methods
- Provides a fantastic crust, which in turn adds a ton of flavor.
- You can add any aromatics you like while searing. Things like thyme, garlic, rosemary, shallots, etc. work perfect to add an extra layer of flavor.
It only takes several minutes per side to form a crust and to finish cooking the chops to your desired temperature. I like to add some unsalted butter, garlic cloves, and thyme to the skillet and baste the pork chops while they are searing.
One thing to note – your pork chops will be mostly grey-ish and won’t look very appealing, but just trust the process. Because they’ll go from this:
To This:
You are able to control how well-done your pork chops turn out with how long you sear them for. You can cook them to an internal temperature of 145–150°F for medium rare, 150–155°F for medium, 155–160°F for medium-well, and 160°F for well-done. The biggest determining factor for how long to cook these is how thick they are, so it’s always better to defer to temperature vs. time.
The last, and quite possibly the most important part, is to allow everything to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. This allows the juices to stay in the meat, giving you a more flavorful experience.
Assembly
By all means, stop right here and enjoy your pork chops as is. Just garnish with some kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and you’ll be good to go! But if you really want to take these to the stratosphere – As the top them with some of my Bourbon Bacon Onion Jam and a hefty dollop of my Down South Pimento Cheese as everything rests! These two additions (that can be made ahead of time) really bring a ton of flavor to this dish.
Did you make this recipe for Smothered Bacon Jam Pork Chops?
Let me know in the comments below how yours turned out, and don’t forget to leave a rating!
Recipe
Smothered Bacon Jam Pork Chops
Equipment
- 1 Wire Cooling Rack For Dry Brine
- 1 Large Heavy Bottom Skillet Stainless Steel or Cast Iron
Ingredients
- 4 Pork Chops Bone In, about 1-inch to 1 ¼-inch thick
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt per pound of meat For Dry Brine
- 2 teaspoon Granulated Sugar For Dry Brine
- 6 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Large Sprig of Thyme
- 1 Cup Down South Pimento Cheese Recipe Linked in Blog Above
- 1 Batch Bourbon Bacon Onion Jam Recipe Linked in Blog Above – This could be made ahead of time and will take roughly 1 ½ hours total.
- Fresh Thyme Minced, for Garnish
Instructions
Dry Brine
- The day before cooking, rinse your pork chops and pat dry with paper towel.
- Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat and ½ teaspoon of granulated sugar per pork chop. Lightly rub into the meat to evenly coat. Place on a wire rack over a plate or a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate uncovered overnight.
Reverse Sear
- The next day, remove pork chops from the fridge and preheat your oven to 250℉.
- Place the pork chops on a baking sheet and bake for 15-minutes. Flip pork chops and bake an additional 10 to 15-minutes until the internal temperature reaches 110℉. Remove from oven.
- Towards the end of baking, preheat a large cast iron skillet on the stove top over medium-high heat until the unoiled pan reaches about 400 – 450℉ on an infrared thermometer, approximately 5 – 8 minutes.
- Add half of your butter, garlic, and thyme and allow butter to melt. Add pork chops and sear for 3 to 5-minutes per side or until cooked to your desired doneness (145-150⁰F for Medium Rare; 150-155⁰F for Medium; 155-160⁰F for Medium-well, 160⁰F for Well Done).
- Remove the pork chops from the pan and immediately spread several tablespoons of Bourbon Bacon Onion Jam, followed by several tablespoons of Pimento Cheese. Cover loosely and allow to rest 5 to 10-minutes .
- Wipe your skillet out with a paper towel and allow to come back up to temperature. Repeat the searing and topping process with your remaining pork chops.
- Garnish with freshly minced thyme leaves.
Michelle
Not your every day pork chops!