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The sous vide method is great for cooking meat to the exact temperature you desire.  One of the best meats to cook sous vide is pork.  This is our recipe for a sous vide pork chop in a coffee and molasses marinade.

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The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food in a water bath to the exact temperature you want that food to reach.  For pork chops I like to cook the meat to 145 degrees.

Food is placed in a vacuum sealed bag and dropped into the heated water.  A nice feature of sous vide cooking is that you can leave it in the water for a long period of time and it will not overcook.

We use an Anova Sous Vide immersion circulator.  According to their web site you can cook pork to as low as 130 degrees and it will be safe.  The official recipe on the web site suggests 140 degrees.  However, 140 is pretty medium rare.  We find many people simply are turned off by pork with that much red.  I have found 145 degrees is a nice medium that is still juicy.

If you want to understand why you can cook meat to a lower temperature using sous vide you can read our full guide or see this very detailed article from Science Direct.  The basic summary is that killing bacteria requires holding meat at a certain temperature for an extended period of time.]

Sous Vide Cooking Guide

Sous vide is a cooking technique that has hit the mainstream in recent years.  We love this technique because it allows you to perfectly cook meat.  This is our guide to getting started with sous vide cooking. Overview The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food in a water bath to the exact […]

Sous vide holds an exact temperature for enough time to kill any bacteria.  For our pork chops we do an hour and a half. The Anova recipe indicates an hour is enough, but I tend to err on the side of caution.  You don’t have to worry about overcooking and can keep it in the sous vide bath for longer.  However, it is not recommended to go beyond 4 hours for pork chops (pork shoulder is a different story).

I am a huge fan of marinades and rubs for pork chops.  They really add some nice flavor.  I was introduced to sausage maker Bruce Aidells and own not only his awesome sausage cookbook but also his pork cookbook.

In his Complete Book of Pork, Aidells has a master recipe for pork chops.  You can adjust the master recipe with different brines and rubs he recommends.  This sous vide pork chop recipe uses his coffee and molasses brine.

In addition to the marinade, I use a coffee rub that I designed.  This is only one of many options and you can always experiment with different rubs.  This is also a good base recipe for all pork chops cooked sous vide and you can experiment with different brines and rubs.

For those short of time, a sous vide pork chop can be cooked without a brine or rub and come out very tasty.  The brine mainly adds some salt and flavor to what has historically been a bland, dry dish.

Once you start using sous vide for pork chops you will never back to traditional methods.  It is amazing how simple it is to prepare this dish.  You can prepare it well in advance.  The only thing you need to do is quickly sear it on a skillet or grill right before serving.

Check out more sous vide recipes here.

Top 10 Sous Vide Recipes

Sous vide is a cooking technique that has hit the mainstream in recent years.  We love this technique because it allows you to perfectly cook meat.  This is our regularly updated list of our top sous vide recipes. Overview of Sous Vide For an overview of sous vide and the equipment you need be sure […]

Sous Vide Cooking Guide

Sous vide is a cooking technique that has hit the mainstream in recent years.  We love this technique because it allows you to perfectly cook meat.  This is our guide to getting started with sous vide cooking. Overview The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food in a water bath to the exact […]

Sous Vide Pork Chop with Coffee and Molasses

This pork chop recipe uses the sous vide method combined with a coffee molasses brine and rub

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 6 hours hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Equipment

• sous vide immersion circulator

Ingredients

  

• 3 pounds boneless pork chop bone-in also works

Brine

• 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups coffee
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• 3 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Rub

• 2 teaspoon ground coffee
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon ginger powder

Instructions

 

• In large bowl combine brine ingredients. Add pork to bowl, cover and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
• Combine ingredients for rub in small bowl. Set sous vide bath for a temperature of 145 degrees. Remove pork from marinade and pat dry. Coat pork on both sides with rub. Place pork in sous vide bag, seal and cook in bath for at least 1.5 hours.
• Heat skillet or grill to high. Remove pork from sous vide. Sear pork on skillet or grill until brown on both sides (about 2 minutes per side).

Keyword pork chop, Pork Recipe, Sous Vide, sous vide pork

Go here for our guide to sous vide cooking.

Sous Vide Cooking Guide

Sous vide is a cooking technique that has hit the mainstream in recent years.  We love this technique because it allows you to perfectly cook meat.  This is our guide to getting started with sous vide cooking. Overview The idea behind sous vide is that you heat food in a water bath to the exact […]

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