Tomaporks are thick-cut pork chops with 2 bones left attached. We flavor this tomaporks with our smokey dry rub. This smokey dry rub does very well on chicken but great on a thick pork chop.
Make a little more than you need so that you can immediately grab it when you barbecue again. Together with the fire-roasted salsa, you put something delicious on the table.
These pork chops are cut from the rib part instead of the shoulder. You don’t have as much intramuscular fat, so they are leaner and could use some help to keep them juicy. Therefore we are going to brine the tomaporks.
With brining, salt is absorbed into the cells of the meat, and they retain moisture. So brine is little more than water with salt. The salt is the only thing that penetrates into the meat. All other additions will stick to the outside. We put some honey in the brine for the sugar, and that gives the meat a lovely color.
This barbecue comes with a smoker box. We fill that box with some wood chips, in this case, cherry, and then place it next to the first burning burner. This ensures a subtle amount of smoke under the lid.
We put the meat on the cool side of the barbecue. We close the grill and keep it closed until the pork chops have an internal temperature of 60°C (140F). This method of preparation is called a reversed sear. You slowly bring the meat up to temperature so that it is cooked equally everywhere and then proceed to the next step.
We sear the meat above the side burner. Make sure you keep your eye on it because this is going fast. Turn the meat regularly so that it doesn’t burn. That would be such a shame.
You can now see that the meat is really juicy. That’s your reward from the extra work of brining. You want to serve the pork chops juicy, so now you let the meat rest. All juices will then divide through the meat.
If you do not let the meat rest, you will see that you leave a lot of moisture on the cutting board. And that’s a pity, right?
Ingredients
- 2 tomaporks (thick cut pork chops)
- 2 liters water (8.5 cups)
- 100 grams salt (3.5 oz)
- 100 grams honey (3.5 oz)
- For the smokey dry rub
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1½ tsp garlic granulate
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp celery seed
Instructions
- First, you prepare the brine a day in advance. You take 2 liters of water, 100 grams of salt, and 100 grams of honey and warm it up while stirring so that everything is melted. Now let the brine cool.
- The next day, the meat goes into the brine for 4 to 6hours.
In the meantime, you can already make the dry rub by mixing all the ingredients. - After the brine, pat the meat slightly dry and sprinkle the dry rub over the pork chops in a thick layer.
- Prepare a barbecue to cook indirectly at a kettle temperature of about 150°C (300F). Place the meat on the cool side to a core temperature of 60°C (140F).
- Fire up the barbecue and grill the pork chops to golden brown with a few sweet grill stripes and a core temperature of 70°C (160F). Then let the meat rest.
