How to smoke 2" bone in pork chops without overcooking and get good grill marks.

[Atos]

Usually, I charcoal grill my pork chops, mainly because I get a good char, but tonite I thought about trying it on my Traeger 572sq in. Never had luck in getting a good char on anything smoked, but I'm not an expert on my Traeger. What I want to avoid is overcooking the center, while having good grill marks. Any advice? Much appreciated in advance!
Dave

 

[RustyJake]

There are probably many methods out there.
Popular method would be reverse searing. Searching Google might give you a few recipes/guidelines to use on your cook
Here's the one from the Traeger site

https://www.traeger.com/recipes/reverse-seared-pork-chops

Big key is not to overcook in the first step. Knowing that you are resting and searing, you can judge and adjust what temperature you want to take it off for on that first step. Searing won't take long. If you want, you could sear on the stove in a hot pan. You aren't adding smoke at the high sear temps. A few of us will use a gas grill, cast iron pan or Grillgrates.
Option is your for finishing

 

[JPSBBQ]

Grill grates ^^^^^^^ they amplify the temperature by at least 100 degrees and sometimes more. They work.

 

[Atos]

Thanks to RustyJake and JPSBBQ for your insight. I also read https://www.traeger.com/recipes/reverse-seared-pork-chops
provided by RustyJake. Much appreciated! After reading through all the notes on the above link, I think I'm going to use the charcoal grill. For 2 reasons, I'm better at gauging cooking times and (most importantly), I'm worried about heat loss on the Traeger as I "guess" when to check the internal pork temp, possible many times. I have a 2nd internal probe slot on my Traeger but have no idea how that might work with the other probe inside the grill checking the general internal temp. And it's cold.

 

[Sloppysalmon219]

I'm trying my grill grates from my weber gas grill. I have 5 panels and my pro 570 uses 4 of them.. so giving it a try tomorrow on chicken and 2 inch ribeyes

 

[ExUnifliter]

My favorite reverse sear method for thick-cut bone-in pork chops is an overnight brine, followed by dry-racking for a couple of hours in the refer, then a half hour-plus on the counter,
Traeger’d at 180* to IT of 140*, rest for a couple minutes then sear about 2 minutes per side on either my GrillGrate’d gas grill or a super heated cast iron skillet.
Traeger’s Apricot BBQ Sauce is a nice finish…

 

[GrillMeister]

Reverse seared pork chops are the way to go. Have a nice day!

 

[Atos]

My favorite reverse sear method for thick-cut bone-in pork chops is an overnight brine, followed by dry-racking for a couple of hours in the refer, then a half hour-plus on the counter,
Traeger’d at 180* to IT of 140*, rest for a couple minutes then sear about 2 minutes per side on either my GrillGrate’d gas grill or a super heated cast iron skillet.
Traeger’s Apricot BBQ Sauce is a nice finish…View attachment 8143

Man that looks good. Thanks I'm going to try it when the weather warms a bit.

 

[Jacob_Sausalito]

Grill Grates is the answer for me. If I want a smoke flavor I smoke first at a low temp. Then I put the grill grates in and raise the temp to 425 and give them a quick sear. Works EVERY TIME. Incredibly moist and tasty. Just remember to pull the pork shops at about 120 or so. Then you finish the cooking on the grill grates. You have to watch the temp closely because they cook very quickly on the grill grates. Good luck!

 

[Gary]

Grill Grates will solve any issues

 

[Gary]

Grill Grates will resolve any issues
Smash burgers are great steaks,chops.
They really work great

 

[Cyndi]

My favorite reverse sear method for thick-cut bone-in pork chops is an overnight brine, followed by dry-racking for a couple of hours in the refer, then a half hour-plus on the counter,
Traeger’d at 180* to IT of 140*, rest for a couple minutes then sear about 2 minutes per side on either my GrillGrate’d gas grill or a super heated cast iron skillet.
Traeger’s Apricot BBQ Sauce is a nice finish…View attachment 8143

 

[Cyndi]

Are you saying that you do a wet brine followed by a dry brine?

 

[ExUnifliter]

Sorry for my cryptic short-hand notes.
I wet brine, then, a couple-three hours before the cook, I rinse the chops very well under cold running water and put them on a rack in the refrigerator to air-dry.
30-45 minutes before they go on the heat, I pull them out to take the chill off by resting them rack‘d on the kitchen counter.
Same process when I marinate the chops (my latest favorite: 1 unit Agave nectar, 2 units low sodium soy plus minced garlic and crushed red pepper), except they stay in the marinade for only an hour or two instead of an overnight brine.
I’ve found that after air-drying you can freeze VacuSeal meal-size portions for later use, so you can prep Family Pack sizes for future use.

 

[Cyndi]

More questions please. . Do you rinse as well after marinating…do you do anything with the remaining marinade… and how long do you air dry in the fridge. Thank you!