A Tale of Cast Iron (Recipe: Skillet Roasted Pork Chops)
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I love cooking with cast iron. I love pork chops. I love cooking pork chops in cast iron. And when the pork chops cooked in cast iron turn out in a spectacular, moist, tender fashion, a fairy tale is born. Let me tell you ’bout the fairy tale I just birthed. I should also tell you that same fairy tale got eaten shortly after it got birthed.
Pork chops can either be delectable or garbage can worthy. There’s no in-between. Some cuts are so lean they wind up being dry as a bone when cooked. Brining helps and I do that for all my pork roasts. For smaller pieces, like the aforementioned fairy tale pork chops, season well in advance of cooking and let salt work its magic to start breaking down tissue and getting the molecules to behave properly and play nice with juices.
The list of ingredients for this mind-altering experience is impressive. And short. There’s two. One. Two.
The method by which I prepared the chops today is gumdrops, candy canes, rainbows and Leprechauns. It’s the best of the best. Rogers and Hammerstein should write a song about the pork chops that came out of my kitchen. Cast iron skillet met pork chops and the result made us sing….with our mouths full. The chops were flavorful, tender and moist. Easy as pie preparation is an added bonus, too. Don’t let the big, Fred Flintstone type knife shown in the picture scare you. The chops are tender enough to eat with a fork.
I must run now and get the Unicorn out of the kitchen….. again.
Y’all come see us!
Skillet Roasted Pork Chops
yield: 3 to 4 servings
Choose bone-in chops cut from the rib section. Season with seasoned salt at least one hour prior to cooking. Longer is even better. Bring the chops to room temperature prior to cooking.
3 to 4 (1 inch thick) bone-in pork chops
seasoned salt (I prefer Morton’s Season-all seasoned salt and list it as one of my Favorites.)
Season both sides of chops with seasoned salt at least one hour prior to cooking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat well-seasoned iron skillet. When screaming hot, place in chops in a single layer. Sear for about three minutes on one side or until the chops take on a gorgeous brown color. Turn the chops when brown, cover the skillet and place in preheated oven. Roast for one hour. Remove from oven, leave covered and let sit for 10 minutes.
Eat them all and then write to me and tell me about the fairy tale you created.
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These pork chops look amazing! Next time I will try seasoning the chops for 2 hours before cooking and bringing them to room temperature. I have never done that. Thank you for the tips and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
will definitely try this next time, big believer in iron skillets,especially cornbread. everything you cook i could eat. thanks for sharing
Elaine,
Cooking with cast iron just makes me feel good all over!
Happy New Year!
These are a work of art! Happy New Year to you and your pork chops!
Hope,
Thanks so much. Happy New Year to you and everyone in Fairhope, AL!
Yes, anything cooked in an iron skillet, griddle or dutch oven will be better than any other method. I was lucky enough to inherit my mother’s iron cookware plus my grandmother’s dutch oven and feel like they are in the room with me whenever I use them. After many years of use by herself then me, the 12-inch skillet was hopelessly crudded on the outside. I had to resort to using my brother-in-law’s fire pit to burn it off. Of course it also burned off the seasoning INSIDE the skillet as well, so there I was, having to season it all over again. I could hear my mother chastising me for letting it get in that condition to begin with. Isn’t that the way, hearing the voices of our loved ones years later when we mess up? But we know it’s a good-natured fussing ’cause we can also still feel the hugs we would get afterwards. Oh, the memories of hand-me-downs!
Laurabun,
I hear my relatives talking to me all the time! It’s our way of keeping them alive in our hearts.
I hope you have a safe, prosperous and peaceful New Year!
You’re right about the either/or when it comes to pork chops. I notice that yours are bone-in (which is very important). And I’m guessing they were fairly thick, another key. — Thank you for posting this simple, yet delicious recipe.
Yes, yes, and you’re might welcome. Thanks for stopping by, Adam!
This looks fantastic! If you can believe it, I have never made pork chops before. I think I should try this out soon
This is a good place to start for pork chops! I hope you love them.
I also love anything cooked in my cast iron cook wear. I can hardly wait to try the pork chops, Thanks for sharing.
Linda,
You’re most welcome!
These sound scrumptious! I want to make these today and I so hope you will have a moment to answer my question because I want to have fairy tale chops too. I have the Morton’s Season All on hand but it is the 25% less sodium version. Will this work or do I need to wait until I have the regular type? I thought maybe it wouldn’t have the needed salt to work the magic. Thanks so much. I love your blog!!!
Hi De! I think the reduced sodium will work just fine. Go ahead and them seasoned up now so it will have plenty of time to work it’s magic.
Thank you so much Jackie for getting back to me so fast! I have them babies all fixed up now. I can’t wait for supper!
Enjoy the fairy tale, De!
and we joined the song, sing we did……with our mouths full! Absolutely DE-LISH!
Hurray!!! Thanks so much for letting me know it turned out for you, De. I’m cooking those pork chops tomorrow. I just bought a bigger cast iron skillet so I can cook more at one time!
and now you have made my mouth water again so back to the store I go! http://syrupandbiscuits.com/sweet-and-tangy-chicken/
You’re really going to like this one, De!!
Just made these for dinner tonight and they were amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Sara,
So glad you enjoyed the pork chops. This is my favorite way to make them, too!
Lets talk about how fabbbbulous these chops are! My husband scraped the plate and asked me to always cook chops this way! I used an all purpose seasoned salt from our vendor at the local farmers market. During the rest period, i topped them with a slice of butter. Served with pimento white cheddar Mac and cheese and pan roasted broccoli.. Perfect, perfect, perfect! We had this on a casual, snowy Wednesday night, but these come highly recommended for guests, as most of the cooking is in the oven so you can actually hang out.
Susan,
I absolutely loved the description of your meal! I feel like I was an invited dinner guest. I wish you and your family many more enjoyable meals.
I have always used a cast iron griddle until recently when we purchased a glass top stove. The manufacturer warns against using cast iron on the glass-top. I almost threw out my griddle. However, I am going to try heating the skillet in the over at 500 for 30 minutes so that it is really hot and see if I can seer the meat that way. Then lower the temperature and roast as you have suggested. I am hoping that this will work! I just hate not being able to use my Cast iron!!!! Pork chops and white gravy is our favorite! Will be trying this tonight! Thanks for posting your recipe!
Nancy,
I use cast iron on my glass top stove all the time. The manufacturers recommend against using it because some of the pieces of cast iron have sharp edges as opposed to smooth or rounded. I’m very careful to pick it up and not scoot it across the surface. I’ve found a cast iron users group on FB and posed the question to them regarding the use of cast iron on glass top cook surfaces. 100% of them use it following the same precautions I stated. Just giving you some “food for thought”.
Thank you Jackie! I did seer my chops in the oven and it turned out very good and moist. My preference, however, is to use the stove-top. I will just have to be extra careful not to slide it like you suggested. So happy to know that I don’t have to give up my cast iron skillets! Yay!!!! The sales guys told me that he thought the cast iron might get too hot and cause the glass to crack. Since you haven’t had any problems, nor that cast iron users group, he probably didn’t know what he was talking about. You just made my day! Thank You!!!