A recent comment on my Pressure Cooker Pork Chops, Smashed Potatoes with Gravy recipe (pictured above) inspired this post. In response to the question, “Why are my pressure cooked pork chops tough?” I decided to further investigate to find a solid answer.
A dear reader of mine tried my recipe and loved the flavors but tenderly let me know that “the meat didn’t get nearly as tender as I was hoping to get.” In other words, her chops were tough. As a food blogger with an honest intention to be a trusted resource for my readers, this REALLY upset me. I want my recipes to be solid, clear and infallible.
Okay, perhaps that’s a bit much and actually quite impossible because there are a bazillion avenues us home cooks can dive off into. And just like all of you pressure cooking hounds, I’m still learning. But E-gads, fails for any of my fellow foodies, using my recipes bugs me like a fly itches a no-tailed horses arse.
I couldn’t understand what could make her chops tough and mine not. Mine always turn out perfectly tender. Seriously. My first thought was that maybe it was because I always buy whole pork loins and cut my own chops to the thickness of my liking. Maybe she used a different cut of pork meat?!?! Surely there has to be a perfectly clear explanation I can give to my readers when their repetition of my recipe doesn’t turn out the way I boasted it would.
There in, lies the answer. Let me explain.
I visited three different butchers at three different locations in my local area. Each one had their own wonderfully detailed explanations about what could make a pork chop tough. I learned more from these guys than I ever thought I would and now have a better understanding of what pork chops actually are, how they cook and what most package label terminology means. All that info is really great to know but unfortunately, pressure cooking pork chops wasn’t something any of them could give me solid answers on.
The next step was to do a bit of research. I consulted one of my favorite books, Wayne Gisllen’s, Professional Cooking, 7th Edition, and found that tough meat can be the result of many complex variables. I won’t dull you with this one but I will say that the science behind proteins, their water content, fat distribution in, on and throughout along with your method of cooking are all important (boring) factors to consider.
Finally, I did some online research and came across none other than the American National Pork Board’s website, Pork Be Inspired. Here’s where my “Aha” clarification came into light. This little passage on their website made all the information I’d gathered make sense and gave me a solid reason pressure cooked pork chops can turn out tough.
Pork chops come from the loin of the pig, the portion of meat located between the pig’s shoulder and hip. When shopping for pork chops, you may find that labels can have various names including loin, rib, sirloin, top loin and blade chops. “All pork chops cook the same. The length of cooking primarily depends on the thickness of the chop. Thickness can vary from ½ to 2 inches. Whether you choose chops boneless for convenience or chops with the bone attached for their attractive appearance, the cooking time is the same.”
So, foodie friends.. Because, “all pork chops cook the same,” bones or no bones, the reason your pressure cooked pork chops are tough is not necessarily how long you’ve pressure cooked them. I mean, yes you can over cook them but the key element here is how thick your chops are or not. The thinner your pork chops are, the higher your chances of getting tough meat is going to be.
In my recipe, I specify the thickness of the chops as 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick. Like most home cooks, I just eye-ball it when I’m cutting my chops. If I were to buy my pork chops in an package, because of the way they’re packaged, it’s not a measurement I could easily determine. There’s a chance that when I go to pressure cook them, they’re going to be too thin and turn out tough.
My advice for tender pressure cooked pork chops is to make sure you know how thick they are. If you can’t clearly see how thick they are when you buy them, (packaging can be deceiving) don’t waste your hard earned money. Either buy a whole loin and cut the chops yourself or ask the butcher to do it for you. You want them to be no thinner than 1 inch. An easy way to judge this is to use the middle part of your index finger, knuckle to knuckle, as it measures about an inch.
I hope this information is helpful for all you lovely foodies out there. I enjoyed learning the “porkology,” as Pork Be Inspired would say of chops. I look forward to sharing more great pork chop recipes here at Happy Belly Foodie. For your convenience, the printout for my original Pressure Cooker Pork Chops, Smashed Potatoes and Gravy recipe is below.
To those butchers out there that took the time to answer all my questions about pork chops, I sincerely thank you. Thank you for working so hard and sharing your knowledge.
Have a beautiful day and as always, keep it delicious!
Till next time ~ much love, Connie
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So if you already have your chops and they are thinner than 1″, how long do cook for?
Hi Phyllis, I would cut the time by a few minutes. Say like 3. Thanks for stopping by 😉
I was wondering about this, because I was afraid to mess up a whole meal, so I did the potatoes and only one fresh pork chop at 1.5 in thick. It still came out too tough. Any suggestions? If I were to reduce the cooking time, how would I make sure the potatoes were well done enough?
You could cook the potatoes separately from the chops. The timing on this recipe is based on the weight of the chops. It takes some fiddling but you’ll quickly get the hang of it. Thanks for giving it a shot and for letting me know. I love hearing from fine foodies like yourself. <3
Perfectly tender chops! I put 1.5inch chops in a salt water brine for a few hours before cooking. The chops were seared quickly then I placed them on top of the potatoes. I cooked the onions a bit in the skillet that the chops were cooked in then put those on top of the chops. I pressure cooked them for 15 mins using about 1.5 cups of water. They turned out absolutely perfect. You could cut them with a fork.
Thank you for the research on cooking pork chops. I think that really helped. I’ll be pinning this recipe in the success category =)
I have found placing loin chops for 30-60 minutes in a salt water brine the best way to have tender chops.
A great tip from America’s Test Kitchen: As pork chops cook, the fat and silverskin around the edges contracts and will cause the chops to curl or bow. To prevent this and ensure better browning and even cooking, with a sharp knife, cut two slits about two inches apart into the fat and silverskin of each chop. Works like a charm!
I don’t see where you add the second half of the onion and garlic. I put it on top of everything else but wondering…
That’s what I’m looking for as well. Am I missing something??
Connie, thank you so much for the detailed information about cooking pork chops in the Instant Pot. I’m new using the Instant Pot and couldn’t figure out how long to cook my boneless thick-cut pork loin chops. This information helped tremedously. The fifteen minutes worked like a charm. Since I was not confident, I let them Natural Release five minutes, then finished with a Quick Release. They were fork tender. Thank you!
I have read that releasing pressure immediately after cooking will toughens the meat. It was suggested to use natural release for 15 minutes before opening the lid.
Natural release is my favorite way to tend to pressure cooked meats. Essentially, it’s a matter of patience.
Read your comment about using your index finger to measure. Good point. However using the tip of your thumb to the first joint is much easier as you only have to move your finger vs turning your entire hand to measure.
Another reason the pork chops might toughen up is the pressure release method. A rapid release will cause the protein stands to toughen up. Natural cool down always for meat in the pressure cooker.
When you say natural release, does that mean you don’t open the steam release button but just turn the machine off and let it cool that way? If so, how long is the cool down time?
Yes. Depending on the size ip and how much you’ve got in there, 15 to 20 minutes
When the plunger drops the natural release is done. Sometimes that happens as quick as 10 minutes … Sometimes it takes 20.
Can the amount of liquid make a difference? I had thick pork chops, cooked them in gravy for 15 minutes after browning them first. They weren’t tender for sure. Looking at some other recipes it appears you need 2 cups of liquid??
I am always looking for ways to cook boneless pork chops via instant pot or slow cooker so they come out moist and tender.