These smoked pork chops are so juicy and tender be sure and make plenty for leftovers!
A quick brine, an easy rub and then these pork chops are grilled on our favorite wood pellet grill. We use a Traeger, but this recipe will work on any wood pellet grill.
Easy smoked pork chops!
Last week, I shared with you my Quick and Easy Pork Chop Brine. In case you were wondering what I did with those brined pork chops, here you go!
Brining the pork chops is optional, but it's so easy, I encourage you to give it a go!
After the pork chops were brined, I made a quick rub, then put then smoked them for a little over an hour and ended up with the best smoked pork chops!
I wish I had taken a photo to show you how juicy they were inside, but I was too busy enjoying their smoky goodness!
Ingredients for pork rub.
You can simply smoke the pork chops with a little salt and pepper and they would be great, however I like to use this very simple pork rub recipe.
You'll need:
- Black Pepper
- Paprika
- Brown Sugar
- Kosher Salt
- Dry Mustard
- Cayenne Pepper
My Chicken Rub would also work with these pork chops!
Step by step instructions.
When you look up how to smoke pork chops you'll find instructions all over the place from cooking them at 180° all the way to 500° and anyone were from 2 hours to 8 minutes!
I decided that I wanted a nice smoked flavor and settled on my favorite smoking temperature of 225°. That is hot enough to cook the pork chops completely and low enough to let them pick up good smoke flavor.
So, preheat your grill to 225° and load with your favorite pellets. I used hickory, this Handy Wood Pellet Guide from Traeger can help you decide which pellets to use.
Pat your pork chops dry.
Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with the rub. Let them sit for about 15-30 minutes to come to room temperature. The rub will take on the look of a paste, which is what you are looking for.
Place them directly on the grill grate and close the lid.
It is important to cook pork chops to temperature, not by time, so I highly recommend using your temperature probe with your grill or a digital read thermometer.
What temp are pork chops done? You want to smoke the pork chops until they get to 140° or 145°. I like to pull mine off at 140° and let the residual cooking rise it the last 5 degrees while it rests, but you can also pull it off at 145°.
My pork chops took an hour and 15 minutes. These were not overly thick or thin, they were the basic chops you buy at the grocery store - between ½ to ¾ inches thick.
How long to let pork chops rest? Pork chops only need to rest about 5 to 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute. You want those juices to flow back into the chops and not run out on your plate when you cut into them.
These smoked pork chops were so good! They were juicy, tender and had the perfect amount of smoke flavor!
You may have noticed that I didn't even mention turning them. I've found with my Traeger, I rarely even need to turn what I'm grilling, especially if I'm using a low temperature. The heat is so evenly circulated everything comes out perfect!
More wood pellet recipes to try:
Recipe
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Easy Smoked Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops bone in, ½ to ¾ inch thick
Pork Rub
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Option step - brine pork chops. See notes for link to brine recipe.
- Preheat wood pellet grill to 225 and fill with your favorite wood pellet - we used hickory.
- Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl.
- Pat pork chops dry and sprinkle generously with rub, patting it int. Let pork chops sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Place chops directly on grill and cook until temperature reaches 145. (Mine took an hour and 15 minutes.
- You can flip the pork chops about half way through if you'd like, but with the excellent heat circulation, I usually don't bother!
- Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Rick says
Awesome recipe! Did not brine the pork, and generously applied the rub. A little spicy, but incredibly juicy and a great flavor. My wife said best pork chop she’s ever eaten!
Pam Greer says
So glad you liked them!
VonHop says
Why people still think you should bring meat to room temperature is baffling. There's no such thing, especially in 30 minutes. That meat does not make it to 70*, which is room temperature. It only rose to about 40* sitting for 30 min. Besides, you don't want to have warm meat when cooking, especially smoking it.
Reagan says
Loved these.. used 1.5" thick chops, brined in my own basic brine about 24 hours.
Got smoker to about 200º +/- and went to 145º internal.
LOVED the spice, and the paprika really set it off !
I brushed with a melted garlic butter about 3 or 4 times and then drizzled that on at serving.
Spectacular !
Molly says
This dish was amazing. My whole family loved it. I brined the chops using your recipe along w/ garlic cloves for about 4 hours. I used your spice rub ingredients as well. The pork chops turned out nice & juicy. I will definitely make them again. (I only used about 1/2 of the pepper, because I was almost out, but used all the others. I was a bit spicy (& I'm a weinee) but it was definitely worth it. Thank you so much!
Pam Greer says
So glad you liked it!
Dawn says
Brine .. hiw long do you do this?
Pam Greer says
If you use my brine recipe, which is designed for a shorter brine 1-2 hours.
Michael Hartzell says
Way too hot. Too much pepper and cayenne. Not much of a sweet flavor. I won't make it again.
Jalen H says
You could just switch the seasoning…the recipe was perfectly fine
David says
Has to be one in every crowd 😆
Beth says
We used this tonight on 1 1/2 inch bone in pork chops, grilled on the pellet grill. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! Best pork chops we have ever had!
Pam Greer says
So glad you liked it!!
Hayes A. Roberts says
Great recipe and the rub is wonderful. Good spice. I also seared it on my grill afterwards.
Jennifer says
Found the rub to be too peppery/spicy. Will try again and reduce black and cayenne pepper by half.
Raquel says
My husband will love these - thanks for the recipe!
Kayla says
Yum! I love anything smoked and these pork chops really delivered big on the flavor. Perfect for weekend grilling!
Liz says
Our neighbors have a smoker and I think they're going to love this recipe! Thanks for the idea- perfect for summer!
Jenn says
I can't wait to try this recipe. I'm new to the pellet smoking world, so this easy recipe looks like a great fit for my family!
Biana says
Pork chops look delicious, perfect for summer!
Pam says
We don't have a wood pellet grill, but my neighbors do so I'm sharing this recipe with them.
Kristen says
These pork chops are amazing. Thank you for the great recipe!
Mirlene says
It's been a while since I cooked with pork. This recipe is amazing!