How to Make the Ultimate Juicy, Flavorful Grilled Pork Chops

You see, on the family beach vacations of my youth, my father always grilled our dinner over charcoal. He grew up on a farm in the ’50s, and when he’d cook pork chops he’d get on one of his favorite high horses: “These modern pigs might as well be made of chalk! They’ve had all the fat and flavor bred right out of them.” 

But one summer, fate placed a pack of special pork chops in the cooler at our local market. To this day no one knows why, but those chops were beautiful—tender and deeply flavorful. The magic pork chops tasted how one might imagine flame-kissed pig would taste on the other side of the pearly gates. 

I’m proud to say that I’ve found a path back to the promised land of “magic” chops. 

I developed this recipe with great care, taking pains with every step to coax the utmost flavor out of the ingredients and to deliver unfailingly tender, succulent chops. I’ve had long conversations with our science editor, Paul Adams, about the best way to brine. I’ve consulted with my local butcher, ordering batch after batch of chops cut to a variety of precision specs. I’ve scoured the test kitchen library and set fire to a small mountain of charcoal. 

Here are the keys I’ve landed on for pork chops you’ll take pride in. 

The prime choices for grilling are bone‑in rib chops (the most iconic-looking chops, made up of a large cross section of loin attached to a rib bone) or bone-in center-cut chops (T-bone style, with a cross section of both the loin and the smaller tenderloin attached to the bone). The bone provides a bit of insurance against overcooking, and the rib meat closest to the bone has more marbling, which makes it more flavorful. One‑inch-thick chops are ideal. Thinner chops can overcook before they get flavorful browning and char, while thicker chops provide a smaller ratio of flavorful exterior to more subtly seasoned interior. 

Pork loin, the muscle that makes up the majority of these chops, is lean and prone to overcooking and drying out. Brining provides a safeguard against this. At its simplest, a brine is a measured amount of salt dissolved in a given volume of water. The salt not only seasons the interiors of the chops but also restructures the proteins, tenderizing the meat and enabling it to hold on to more moisture during cooking. When compared with dry brining (salting the chops in advance), wet brining results in juicier meat since it adds moisture from the brine itself versus merely helping the meat retain its own juices. Sugar enhances the natural sweetness of the pork, balances the saltiness of the brine, and promotes browning (which a wet brine can otherwise inhibit). 

Fat is a powerful medium for dissolving aromatic flavor compounds (and thus making them available to taste). Look for chops with as much interior marbling as possible and with a generous exterior ring of fat (ask your butcher not to trim too much if possible). That fat will much more readily pick up fat-soluble flavors from the brine. Additionally, briefly sizzling aromatics (the same ingredients you used in the brine) in olive oil unlocks their fat-soluble flavors, creating a flavorful oil to brush on the chops as they cook and to spoon over them before serving.

We include neutral-tasting vodka in the brine because some flavor compounds dissolve more readily in alcohol than in water. Our science editor, Paul Adams, explains: “Because a small amount of the alcohol is able to get into the meat, it carries with it flavor compounds [like those present in the garlic and spices] that are soluble in alcohol but not in water.” If you prefer not to use alcohol, simply substitute water. These chops will still be delicious.