The Truth About Cooking Pork Chops On The Grill

When it comes to cooking, there are a few smells that can immediately invoke a craving — bacon cooking, fresh baked sweets, and meat on a grill. When a neighbor lights their grill, something pavlovian happens. That smoky scent combined with images of a perfect char can literally make your mouth water as you scan the contents of your fridge looking for something, anything, to grill for a dinner entree.

But when it comes to grilling, not all meats fare so well under the fire, and according to culinary experts pork chops, in particular, should be reserved for cooking in the kitchen. In an interview with Bloomberg, John May, executive chef and sommelier, explains why pork chops taste so much better while cooked in a pan. "They have that strip of fat on the outside; rendering that beautiful cap in the pan over medium heat allows you to save that melted fat," May said. "It also lets the meat get nicely crisp. In a pan, you can put the chop on its side and baste with that rendered fat, thus enhancing the porky goodness! Try doing that on the grill." Executive chef Erik Petterson of Evo Italian agrees, stressing that pork chops are simply too lean for grilling, and achieving the perfect outside char will inevitably result in dry overcooked chops (via Insider).