Grilled Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Cider Brine and Apple Butter Glaze. A taste of fall from the grill, pork chops with an apple cider brine.
Orange and brown leaves skitter past as the wind nips at my ears. Fall is here, and it is apple picking time - and also pork chop time. Back before refrigeration, when seasonal cooking was the only way we could cook, pigs were a fall animal. Of course, that meant pork was paired with apples, a fall fruit.
In this recipe, I'm building on that tradition. I season the pork with an apple cider brine - a very modern technique. The cider adds sweetness and helps the chops brown quickly on the grill. Then, for even more flavor, I brush the pork with an apple butter and mustard glaze.
When I cook boneless chops, I want them thick cut - the thicker, the better. That way, I can sear the outside, and have plenty of time for the chops to finish gently over indirect heat. I prefer my pork chops medium-rare, cooked to 145°F (measured with a digital instant read thermometer in the thickest part), with a three minute rest. The result is tender, juicy, perfectly cooked pork.
Looking for a taste of fall? Enjoy these pork chops with layers of apple flavor.
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Grilled Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Cider Brine and Apple Butter Glaze
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 pork chops 1x
Description
Grilled Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Cider Brine and Apple Butter Glaze. A taste of fall from the grill, pork chops with an apple cider brine.
Ingredients
- 4 thick cut pork chops (1¼ inches thick, about 10 ounces per chop)
Apple cider brine pork chops
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup kosher salt
Apple butter glaze
- ½ cup apple butter
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Brine the pork chops: Stir the apple cider, water, and kosher salt in a large bowl until the salt dissolves. Submerge the chops in this brine, cover, and refrigerate for one to eight hours.
- Simmer the glaze: Put the apple butter and mustard in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Set this glaze aside for later.
Note: I simmer the glaze on the grill, in a grill safe pot, while I cook the chops. - Set the grill for two zone medium-high heat grilling:Â Prepare a medium-high heat fire on one side of your grill. On my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill for ten minutes with all the burners set to high. Then I brush the grate clean with my grill brush, turn burners #1 and #2 down to medium-high, and turn off all the other burners.
- Grill the pork chops: Remove the pork chops from the brine and pat them dry with paper towels. Set the pork chops on the grill directly over the medium-high heat fire. Grill the chops, with the lid closed as much as possible, until they have browned grill marks on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip the chops and grill until they have browned grill marks on the other side, about 2 more minutes. Flip the chops and rotate 90 degrees, and grill until the chops have a browned crosshatch of grill marks, about 2 more minutes. Brush both sides of the chops with the apple butter glaze, then move the chops to the indirect heat side of the grill, crosshatched side up, and close the lid. Cook over indirect heat until the chops reach 145°F in their thickest part for medium-rare, about 10 minutes. (Medium-well is 160°F, about 12 minutes over indirect heat.) Brush the chops with another layer of glaze, then remove to a platter, and let them rest for at least three minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
These are big chops. If you have big eaters (like me), one chop per person is good; if you have normal eaters (like my wife and kids), a half a chop per person is a more reasonable serving.
I grill an extra chop for leftover lunch; sliced pork chop sandwiches with a little extra apple butter are a great midweek treat.
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: American
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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Linda C
My favorite grilled pork-- I buy a porketta butt roast and slow-cook it on my rotisserie. Nothing like it!
mami2jcn
Pork ribs with barbecue sauce
ET Pruitt
Marinaded pork steak
Jessica
To use a center cut chop and brine it with coffee and salt and then grill it
Email: jwineedfood@hotmail.com
sentssaver
I love a marinated pork tenderloin on the grill with veggies!
stefanie.gladden(at)gmail.com
PJ
One of our favorites is rosemary wrapped pork tenderloin on the grill.
susitravl
Marinated, then grilled pork loins. YUM
Randi Goodies
Pork chops butterflied and stuffed with stuffing and grilled until golden brown!
annalene
I love grilling pork chops with a Hawaiian inspired marinade... soy sauce, sugar, ginger, pineapple juice. Love to have a little bit of sweetness there!
cezovski
My favorite way to cook pork is bone-in pork chops with lots of seasoning!
Ancilla J.
My go to method for grilled pork is to marinate it for a few hours in a west indian seasoning. The seasoning includes a blend of Cilantro, celery, garlic, green onions , thyme, water, salt & pepper. I grill my meat and then chop it up and drizzle fresh seasoning on top.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner
Fran, thank you for pointing that out - it's fixed now. (I originally used lemon juice and mustard, but switched to only mustard...then deleted the wrong ingredient from the instructions.)
Fran Bell
Mike, the glaze ingredients listed are mustard and apple butter but the directions call for apple butter and lemon juice. Is something missing?
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner
From an anonymous commenter:
"Was at Costco today and picked up some boneless pork chops. They were quite thick. While brining sounds good I didn't have the time. I heavily peppered them, lightl salted and seared them in a hot pan with EVOO. Removed, added a bit of butter then diced shallots, sauté a bit, added cider then returned the pork. Simmered til done. Your brining sounds good, I'll have to try that. I'm freezing the rest of the chops... "
Anonymous
Was at Costco today and picked up some boneless pork chops. They were quite thick. While brining sounds good I didn't have the time. I heavily peppered them, lightl salted and seared them in a hot pan with EVOO. Removed, added a bit of butter then diced shallots, sauté a bit, added cider then returned the pork. Simmered til done. Your brining sounds good, I'll have to try that. I'm freezing the rest of the chops...