Why You Should Cold-Sear Your Pork Chops

With a cold pan and the right cut, you’ll attain juicy, tender chops in minutes—without even dirtying your cooktop.

Get our Pan-Seared Pork Chops recipe: https://cooks.io/4aPU0Td
Learn more: https://cooks.io/3SfDELh

ABOUT US: The mission of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Founded in 1992, the company is the leading multimedia cooking resource serving millions of fans with TV shows (America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation), magazines (Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country), cookbooks, a podcast (Proof), FAST channels, short-form video series, and the ATK All-Access subscription for digital content. Based in a state-of-the-art 15,000-square-foot test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, ATK has earned the trust of home cooks and culinary experts alike thanks to its one-of-a-kind processes and best-in-class techniques. Fifty full-time (admittedly very meticulous) test cooks, editors, and product testers spend their days tweaking every variable to find the very best recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques. Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

If you like us, follow us:
http://americastestkitchen.com
http://facebook.com/americastestkitchen
Tweets by TestKitchen
http://instagram.com/testkitchen
http://pinterest.com/testkitchen

– We eat a lot of pork chops at my house. In fact, my husband’s nickname is Pork Chop. So I’m always on the lookout for a new recipe. And today, Elle’s got something to show me. – That’s right. We’re gonna make a simple and delicious variation with a maple agrodolce sauce.

So to make it, we start with a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar. – [Julia] Ooh. I like balsamic vinegar when it’s cooked down because it takes on sort of a round fruity flavor. – I love it. I love it. And it also calls for a little bit of maple syrup, about two tablespoons.

And this is two tablespoons of minced shallots and two tablespoons of golden raisins. Let’s get all those golden raisins. All the gold. (Julia laughing) We need all the gold. – Agrodolce always has raisins in it. I think that’s the classic sweet component- – Yeah. – In an agrodolce.

– [Elle] To finish it off, we have a pinch of red pepper flakes, pinch of salt. We’re gonna put this over medium heat. I’m gonna just give it a stir. So once it comes to a boil, reduce heat, then it just needs to go for another

Eight to 10 minutes to reduce to about half. And now that we got the sauce going, we can start talking about our pork chops. This recipe calls for 14 to 16 ounce bone-in rib chops. – That’s a big chop. – Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is.

It also needs to be one and a half inches thick. That thickness and that weight really helps for even browning and also for the longer cooking time. – [Julia] Right. – So this is also known as an end cut, a center cut, and a rib cut, in case you go to the store

And they don’t know what you need. – [Julia] Right. It can get confusing. – [Elle] It can be confusing. So you also need to make sure you have the right cut of meat. And what you need to look for is this large eye of loin muscle.

Then you know you got the perfect cut. – [Julia] All right. – So our two chops have already been patted dry and salted 24 hours ago. – Aha. That’s key. – Yeah. It’s key. And I only use one and a half teaspoons per chop of kosher salt.

And if the chops are enhanced, you don’t need to salt them. So I’m just gonna add half a teaspoon of pepper to these chops, both sides. – [Julia] Those chops are gorgeous. – [Elle] They’re beautiful. – [Julia] In my house that’s not a Wednesday night chop, that is a special occasion chop.

– [Elle] And we’re gonna start with what we call at the Test Kitchen, cold sear method. So cold searing is good for a few reasons. First, it allows for gradual and even cooking. It’s also good for making sure that the meat on the surface level doesn’t overcook and does not buckle.

– Oh, the pork chop cup. – The pork chop cup. – [Julia] I’ve done that. – I could do without it. (Julia chuckling) So what we’re gonna do is start these chops again in this cold pan. – [Julia] No oil? – Yeah. So we don’t need any oil.

It’s a non-stick pan. We don’t need that. And starting with the cold sear also helps us to prevent that hazardous move of overheating a non-stick pan. – [Julia] Right. – Yeah. – [Julia] Which is dangerous. – It is dangerous. – Nice big 12-inch non-stick. – Yeah. Yeah, and we’re gonna put ’em in

With one skinny end facing one thick end. One inch apart, at least. – [Julia] It looks like yin and yang in there. – [Elle] Absolutely. (Julia chuckling) I’m gonna turn it on high heat and let it cook on this side for two minutes. All right, so it’s been two minutes,

And I’m just gonna flip these chops. Now we’re getting a little browning, but not much is happening right now. So this will be another two minutes, and then we’ll reduce the heat. Okay. So this is our second flip. I’m going to turn that over. (pork chops sizzling) – [Julia] Ooh! – [Elle] Looking beautiful.

I’m gonna reduce this head to medium, and we’re gonna continue to flip them every two minutes until they reach 140 degrees, and that should take about 10 minutes. – All right. Now if you’re cooking this on an electric stove, the cooking method’s a little different

And you can find that information on our website. – Okay. Let’s take a look at our sauce. – [Julia] Ooh. – [Elle] Oh yeah, that looks great. – [Julia] It looks nice and glossy. – [Elle] It’s beautiful, and it smells amazing. – [Julia] It does. – [Elle] Yeah.

All right, so we’re just gonna turn it off. – All right. I’ll set it over here. Give us some room. – Perfect. All right, I’m gonna give these another flip. And they’re just getting more beauteous by the turn. – [Julia] They really are. – [Elle] Yeah. Yeah. All right. Another two minutes.

– [Julia] Okay. – Looking for kitchen inspiration on the go? Check out the America’s Test Kitchen mobile app. (upbeat music) Cook with confidence and take our recipes, reviews and more wherever you go. – [Julia] Access thousands of fail-proof recipes, equipment reviews, how-to videos, and full episodes of our TV shows.

– With smart searching, favorites and other tools, it’s your ultimate kitchen companion. – [Julia] Download the America’s Test Kitchen mobile app today. (upbeat music) So you’d think that lifting the chops out of the pan and flipping them repeatedly would cool down the meat and extend the overall cooking time,

But actually, the reverse is true. These chops will cook more quickly. Here’s why. In an ideal world, we’d sear the chops simultaneously both from the top and the bottom, but since we only have one heat source this flipping method is the quickest way to go.

After the chops are flipped, the top of the meat is still hot, so that the heat continues to travel downward through the meat. And that happens every time we flip. So the more often we flip, the faster the chops heat through from both sides.

So there’s no reason to be afraid of the frequent flip. – Okay, so it’s been ten minutes and I think our chops are ready, but I need to make sure that it’s at 140 degrees. – [Julia] They are gorgeous chops. – [Elle] They are beautiful. (pork chops sizzling) Ah, they’re ready.

All right, so I’m gonna take ’em out and let them rest on a cutting board for about five minutes. Okay, so these chops have rested for five minutes, and I think this is probably your favorite part. (Julia laughing) You look so excited. – I am. I’m really excited to try these chops. – [Elle] All right. I’m gonna just carve them off the bone. All right. This is so beautiful. – [Julia] Oh, goodness. – [Elle] I’m very grateful for this pork chop. Look how juicy they are. – [Julia] I know! It’s that cold pan start that really makes sure it’s good and juicy. – [Elle] Yeah. Finishing salt sprinkle for you. (Julia humming) – [Julia] Little coarse sea salt? – [Elle] Little coarse sea salt. And our perfect, intensely flavored agrodolce sauce.

– [Julia] Oh, it’s gorgeous. – [Elle] Oh my goodness. Look at that. – [Julia] Oh. You said it clung to the meat in just the right way, and it does. – [Elle] Yeah. You deserve the best in life. This looks fantastic. – [Julia] It looks beautiful, Elle. That’s how pork chop is supposed to taste. – Yeah. – It tastes like really clean pork. It has flavor, perfectly cooked. Pulling it out at 140 so it’s tender, it’s juicy. – [Elle] No one would believe how easy this is to make. – [Julia] Yeah! – It seems like

Such a complex dish and it took, like, little to no time. – [Julia] And that sauce! (Elle humming) That sauce is magic. I really like the combination of the maple and the balsamic vinegar. That’s a really clever combo. – Thank you so much. – Oh, this is fantastic! Thank you.

– Thank you. (upbeat music) – [Julia] You want to make these celebratory pork chops? Use rib chops that are one and a half inches thick, start in a cold non-stick skillet, and flip the chops every two minutes. From America’s Test Kitchen, a killer recipe for pan-seared, thick cut, bone-in

Pork chops with a maple agrodolce. I can’t wait to make this for Ian. (Elle chuckling) He is gonna flip. We hope you enjoyed this video as much as we enjoyed making it. – Don’t forget to hit that like button and subscribe to our channel. – And if you’re ready to take your cooking

To the next level, head over to americastestkitchen.com and get a free all-access trial membership. – While you’re there, you can sign up for our free email newsletters and download our app. – [Julia] With unlimited access to over 14,000 of our Test Kitchen recipes and 8,000 product reviews,

You’ll have everything you need to cook and learn. – So I ask, what are you waiting for? – Let’s make something great together.