Pork Chops Should Be Marinated in Root Beer
Juicy, perfectly cooked pork chop is easy to achieve; a simple pickle followed by toasting in reverse order will make it juicy and flavorful every time. But if you feel like you want to add some sweetness to your life and create a truly bomb, try soaking them in root beer for a couple of hours.
Like Coca-Cola with ham, the sugar and flavors in the root beer infiltrate the pork, and the acid in the soda helps soften the chop from end to end. I like to salt them well before they go into the soda bath to enhance their meaty flavor and make sure they are fully seasoned. The sugar in the soda makes the crust crazy, and the leftover marinade (which is regular soda) can be boiled to make a frosting with surprisingly noticeable maple syrup vibrations. To make these juicy, slightly sassafras, sweet and savory chops, you’ll need:
- 2 pork chops on the bone
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 can of root beer
- Neutral oil (such as vegetable or grape seed oil) required for frying
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for basting
Sprinkle both pork chops with a teaspoon of salt, wrap them back in meat paper and refrigerate for at least four hours, ideally 24 hours. Take them out of the refrigerator, place in a shallow dish. dish and pour over the root beer. Cover and refrigerate for two hours (I tried only one, and it turned out to be not enough). Use this time to watch a movie, perhaps a good documentary. Just before the movie is ready, preheat the oven to 225 ℉.
Remove the pork chops from the root beer, pat dry with paper towels, and place on a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the internal temperature of the chop reaches 110 ℉ (20-30 minutes). In the meantime, pour leftover root beer into a saucepan and bring to a boil, removing foam and dark solids as they appear. When the baking soda turns into a light-colored liquid syrup, add the soy sauce and a tablespoon of butter and set aside.
Once the pork chops reach 110 ℉, heat a cast iron or stainless steel skillet over high heat (you want it to be between medium-high and medium) and drizzle with a little vegetable or grape oil. Wipe off excess with a paper towel and sauté the pork chops on each side, turning frequently to avoid browning in one place. If they start burning all over the place, turn the heat down, but slight blackening is fine. Once they reach a core temperature of 120 and form a rather impressive crust, add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet and water the chops until they reach a temperature of 135 ℉. Remove them from the pan so they remain; depending on their thickness, the residual heat will bring the internal temperature up to 140 ℉ or even 145 ℉. Pour the root beer frosting into a hot skillet, stirring constantly, to mix with the drips from the pan to form a thick frosting. Pour the chops or serve on the side for a dipping.