• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
DadCooksDinner
  • Home
  • Rotisserie
  • Sous Vide
  • Recipes
  • Tools
  • Books
  • Merch
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Merch
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Books
    • Tools
    • Merch
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes by Type » Grilling

    Grilled Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Cider Brine and Apple Butter Glaze

    Published: Oct 9, 2014 · Modified: Feb 10, 2015 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 23 Comments


    This post is sponsored by the National Pork Board and Costco. Celebrate #Porktober with pork at Costco!

    As the weather turns crisp and you start gathering around the table with family and friends more frequently, serve something you know they’ll love – tender, juicy pork! And, don’t forget to visit Costco.com for information on weekly discounted fresh pork cuts and everything else you’ll need to celebrate “Porktober”.


    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.

    And, please support today's sponsor, Costco. They have all the ingredients you need for your fall feast, including a special on boneless pork chops and roasts this week, 10/6 to 10/12. Thank you, Costco!

    Recipe: Grilled Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Cider Brine and Apple Butter Glaze


    Prep Time: 60 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 4 thick cut pork chops (1 ¼ 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

    Directions

    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. Set the grill for two zone medium-high heat grilling

    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.

    4. 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 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.

    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.
    • Costco has deals on boneless pork this month - stop in and support today's sponsor! Costco has a special every week of #Porktober. The deals are:
      • Boneless chops and roasts from 10/6 through 10/12
      • Boneless sirloin tip roast from 10/13 through 10/19
      • Whole boneless loins from 10/20 through 10/26

    What do you think?

    Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

    Related Posts

    Grilled Ribeye Pork Chops with Smoked Spanish Paprika Rub
    Grilled Thin Pork Chops with Quick Brinerade
    Grilled Pork Chops with Bourbon Brine and Baste

    Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via eMail or RSS reader, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, and buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.

    « Porktober Prize Pack Giveaway
    PicOfTheWeek: The pork chops are almost there... »

    Sharing is caring!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says

      December 26, 2014 at 11:40 pm

      Excellent!

      Reply
    2. David Lewis says

      December 26, 2014 at 11:39 pm

      Wow! I just cooked an 11 lb. turkey on my gas BBQ using your recipe and technique .... I was awesome and many thought that it was the best turkey they had ever eaten.

      Reply
    3. Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says

      December 22, 2014 at 3:28 pm

      Go ahead and follow the “immensely successful technique” if you like; Rubbing the spice rub under the skin on the breast can only help.

      Reply
    4. Horatio says

      December 22, 2014 at 3:18 pm

      I'll be making our Xmas turkey following this recipe. Quick question: In your rotisserie chicken recipe you place a good amount of salt/spices UNDER the breast skin. I didn't see that technique being used here (although I have seen the folks at America's Test Kitchen do it). Any reason you "sprinkle and rub evenly over the turkey" here rather than following the immensely successful "under-the-skin" technique? Thanks!

      Reply
    5. Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says

      December 08, 2014 at 3:52 am

      See my answer to this question on the other comment you left - the basic answer is no, wrapping your turkey in foil does not make it any more (or less) juicy.

      Reply
    6. Steve Johnston says

      December 08, 2014 at 2:40 am

      I'm curious..... I've always been under the impression that you need to wrap the turkey in foil to keep the juices in, until the last hour or so to brown it. I see that this, and most other recipes don't mention this. Are there any dryness issues from skipping the foil wrap?

      Reply
    7. Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says

      November 06, 2014 at 3:57 am

      See my comment in the header text:

      "*You'll see some bay leaves in the pictures of the dry brine. Ignore them. They're not really there. These are not the bay leaves you're looking for. (Waves hand in dismissive manner.)

      **OK, OK, you caught me. I tried to crumble them by hand, and I couldn't break them up small enough to use in my dry brine. I should have used my spice grinder, but I didn't want to get it dirty just for the bay leaves, so I left them out. It tasted great without them."

      Reply
    8. harleygurl72 says

      November 06, 2014 at 12:45 am

      I noticed in your picture for the dry rub ingredients you have bay leaves however they are not listed in the text ingredients list. Is it just two bay leaves and how are you using them?

      I want to make this for thanksgiving this year and I am still wondering about the 2 bay leaves?

      Reply
    9. Linda C says

      October 14, 2014 at 2:11 am

      My favorite grilled pork-- I buy a porketta butt roast and slow-cook it on my rotisserie. Nothing like it!

      Reply
    10. mami2jcn says

      October 13, 2014 at 1:31 pm

      Pork ribs with barbecue sauce

      Reply
    11. ET Pruitt says

      October 12, 2014 at 9:59 pm

      Marinaded pork steak

      Reply
    12. Jessica says

      October 12, 2014 at 6:00 pm

      To use a center cut chop and brine it with coffee and salt and then grill it
      Email: jwineedfood@hotmail.com

      Reply
    13. sentssaver says

      October 12, 2014 at 3:47 pm

      I love a marinated pork tenderloin on the grill with veggies!
      stefanie.gladden(at)gmail.com

      Reply
    14. PJ says

      October 12, 2014 at 1:54 am

      One of our favorites is rosemary wrapped pork tenderloin on the grill.

      Reply
    15. susitravl says

      October 11, 2014 at 10:34 pm

      Marinated, then grilled pork loins. YUM

      Reply
    16. Randi Goodies says

      October 11, 2014 at 2:42 pm

      Pork chops butterflied and stuffed with stuffing and grilled until golden brown!

      Reply
    17. annalene says

      October 11, 2014 at 2:32 am

      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!

      Reply
    18. cezovski says

      October 10, 2014 at 2:53 am

      My favorite way to cook pork is bone-in pork chops with lots of seasoning!

      Reply
    19. Ancilla J. says

      October 10, 2014 at 1:20 am

      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.

      Reply
    20. Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says

      October 10, 2014 at 12:18 am

      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.)

      Reply
    21. Fran Bell says

      October 10, 2014 at 12:15 am

      Mike, the glaze ingredients listed are mustard and apple butter but the directions call for apple butter and lemon juice. Is something missing?

      Reply
    22. Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says

      October 10, 2014 at 12:08 am

      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... "

      Reply
    23. Anonymous says

      October 09, 2014 at 11:45 pm

      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...

      Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner! I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Pressure Cooker Chili Verde (Green Pork Chili)
    • Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
    • Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice
    • Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

    Recent

    • Instant Pot BBQ Meatballs
    • Instant Pot Spare Ribs with BBQ Rub and Sauce
    • Chickpea Puttanesca
    • Instant Pot Chorizo Chili (with Pinto Beans)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2022 Dad Cooks Dinner

    20 shares