Fried Pork Chops

I played around with some pork chops the other night and the results were spectacular so I thought I'd share them.

It's pork chop go time!

Ordinarily, you season some flour, coat the chops in that and then wash them in beaten eggs and then dredge them in bread crumbs before frying in vegetable oil. I made a few, simple modifications as follows.

1. The chops were frozen when I got home, so I thawed and brined them at the same time. I added salt and sugar to a pot of water, heated it to about 125 and then added the frozen chops. You're supposed to brine in cold water and for a much longer time, but I figured every little bit of flavoring and tenderizing helped.
2. I used fresh herbs where I could instead of dried. I diced up some rosemary and thyme from our garden for the seasonings. Salt, pepper and garlic powder rounded out the mix.
3. I rubbed the seasonings directly on the meat instead of adding it to the flour. I figured this would be a more direct method of seasoning the pork chops and the flavor would be sure to stick.
4. I then did the flour - beaten eggs - bread crumbs bit.
5. For the first time ever, I fried in corn oil. A few weeks back, I stood like a nerdy dufus in Costco in front of the oils, consulting my phone as to smoke points and flavoring of the various oils. I'd never bought corn oil, but thought I'd take a chance. What a winner! I'll never fry in anything else again. Fabulous! It added a subtle sweetness to the food with no bitter or burnt taste at all.

The results speak for themselves. Tender and delicious!

One more thing. I highly recommend getting an infrared thermometer. I use it for frying and warming water for thawing. It works like a champ. You can get your oil or water or pan to the right temperature with no guesswork and then turn the heat down to stabilize things. No more burning food!