Easy Orange Glazed Pork Chops | Freezer Friendly Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to moist pork chops? ›

Fat is key to keeping pork chops moist

Basting them with fat, such as butter. Add in aromatics while basting for more flavor — similar to how you might cook a steak — and then you have the added bonus of browned butter and crispy garlic and/or herbs to serve with the meat.

Combine water, salt, and any additional seasonings in a large container. Stir well to dissolve the salt and sugar. Soak the pork chops in the brine solution, making sure they're fully coated. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Tenderize Pork with a Meat Mallet

An old-fashioned meat mallet is a quick, affordable, and reliable way to soften up any cut of meat. It's great for pork chops because you can use it lightly on thinner chops and put more force into thicker cuts.

While there are a number of ways to cook pork chops for dinner, baking is arguably the easiest path to perfection. The hands-off cooking method cooks pork chops gently and evenly without the need for extra fat, resulting in juicy, healthier pork chops that pair well with practically any side dish.

Pan juices and BBQ sauce – Pour over some roasting pan juices (it's got tons of flavour, we are NOT wasting it!) and some BBQ sauce. Just enough of both to juice up the meat a bit, not drown it!

Because one of the best ways to bake pork chops is to start in an oven-safe skillet on the stove and then transfer them into a hot oven. High-heat frying sears them to a golden brown; and a moderately hot oven (400 degrees F) bakes the pork chops gently enough to keep them from drying out.

Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.

How do you make pork soft and tender? ›

How do you make pork soft and tender? Soak your pork in a salt-based brine before cooking it using your desired method. Pork chops need to soak between 12–24 hours, an entire pork tenderloin needs to soak for 6–12 hours, and an entire pork loin requires 2–4 days of soaking.

Brine the pork to maintain moisture by soaking it in a mixture of salt and water, baking soda, vinegar or even milk. You can also pour hot water over the loin to shrink the rind, which can enable better absorption of brine, milk, oil or marinade.

Overcooked Pork Chops Are Tough

This is partly due to carry-over cooking. Even when you take the chops out of the oven or off the stovetop, they still continue to cook a tiny bit due to the retained heat. And it's often this little bit that can take them from tender to tough.

The very best way to reheat leftover pork chops is low and slow with a little extra moisture — you can use either broth or water with great results. While you can reheat pork tenderloin in a pan or use a cast iron to reheat lamb chops, pork chops really do reheat best in the oven.