2 Hour Brine

Pork chops emerge from the grill juicy and flavourful after bathing in this brine. Because it is strong, it takes just 2 short hours to brine chops—anymore time and they start to cure and get too salty. Larger roasts can stay in the brine for longer—the bigger the cut of meat the longer it can soak.

I made this for a Greek dinner and added dry oregano to the brine, but that can be replaced with another dry herb, or negated all together for a simpler brine.

Brine

½ cup COARSE sea or kosher salt (not table salt)

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon dry oregano (optional)

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1-2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 cups boiling water

2 cups ice water

6-8 pork chops, at least 1 and ½ inches thick

Place the salt down to the vinegar into a large, non-reactive bowl. Pour the boiling water over and stir until the salt and brown sugar dissolve. Allow to sit and steep for 10 minutes, then pour in the ice water.

Make sure the brine is room temp or cooler, before adding in the pork chops. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, no more. Remove from the brine, rinse, pat dry and grill.