smoked porkchop question.

[RAF128]

First a little background.    This past weekend we were at the cabin.   In the summer on Saturdays a Hutterite colony come and sets up a farmers market.   They've got lots of produce, different kinds of meats, sausage pastry and so on.   One of the things they had were smoked porkchops.   I've never had smoked porkchop and my wife thought we should give them a try.   Friends have had them and rave about how good they are.   We'll see 'cause we bought a package and will try them next weekend.  They're obviously not cooked and will do them on a grill.    If they're good I'd like to make them myself and avoid they high cost of meat at a farmers market.   
The question.    Would I be cold smoking them and for how long?   I don't see any obvious signs of any seasoning.   Should I put something on?     My original thought was cold smoke and then grill with seasoning while cooking.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Not sure what you have in mind for chops - thickness, bone-in or boneless, but you could do several differnet things depending on the result you want.

1.  cure and smoke - the are a couple of recipes on the recipe site.

2.  cold or hot smoke then finish hot as on a grill

3.  hot smoke as in BBQ cooking.

I did a whole pork loin a couple of weeks ago - used ~ 1hr of smoke at ~ 225 then finished on a grill at ~ 350 indirect.  For cut chops, which will cook quickly, I think I would probably lean toward just hot smoking @ 225 until done, with 1 hr smoke max.

There are a number of German and Alsatian charcuterie dishes that make use of smoked pork chops in preparations that are subsequently further cooked, often a braise with sausages, cabbage, sauerkraut, etc.  In that case I would probably go the cure and smoke route.

[classicrockgriller]

I have seasoned them and smoked them in the Bradley at 220* until done several times and they are great.

But the smoke then grill finish sounds pretty good too!

[OU812]

What I do when they have New York strips, on sale I will buy the whole side, cut into steaks, cold smoke for 1 hr with Pecan, vac seal and throw in the freezer for a later date.

Or if you want them now do the cold smoke, wrap in plastic let rest in the fridge overnight and throw on a hot grill the next day and do your thing.

Good stuff.

[RAF128]

My plan is to buy a bunch of cut chops, smoke, vacuum seal and put in the freezer.

[seemore]

RAF128 we have done these and put in freezer very good
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?87-Hot-Smokin-Gal-s-Smoked-Pork-Chops&p=100#post100
seemore

[ExpatCanadian]

I like to brine the chops overnight first using an apple cider brine:

1/2 gallon of water
1/2 gallon of cheap apple cider
3/4 Cup of kosher salt
1 Tbsp cracked black peppercorns
1 Tsp crushed garlic
One lime, sliced thinly (This is taken from http://www.smoker-cooking.com/smoked-pork-chops.html

After the brine, I rinse and hot smoke for a couple hours until done, but I have also cold (not TRUE cold, just no additional heat) smoked for an hour or so then grilled.  Either way, they are delicious  :)

[BuyLowSellHigh]

My plan is to buy a bunch of cut chops, smoke, vacuum seal and put in the freezer.

In that case, if it were me, I would cure and cold smoke, then quickly chill and freeze.  For cut chops I suspect 1 hr of smoke would be generous.  Personally, I like apple on pork.

[ArnieM]

I also prefer apple on pork.

I've done thick boneless chops, brined for a couple of hours, then hot smoked for an hour.  Continue cooking to an IT of 135-140.  Then, onto the grill until done.  Simple S&P seasoning.  They came out really nice.