The Cooking Mistake That Made Your Pork Chops Dry

Whether you pan-sear, grill, bake, air fry, or broil your pork chops, chances are you're probably overcooking them. Since pork chops are such a lean cut of meat, they cook ultra-fast and aren't very forgiving to overcooking, even if it's just a few minutes too long. If your chops turned out tough and unpleasantly chewy, overcooking is the culprit.

"But, Tasting Table," you might be wondering, "how could I have overcooked my pork chops when I followed the recipe exactly — and measured the temperature?" Allow us to introduce a longtime nemesis of ours, and of every home cook who's ever been forced to throw away an indelible, overcooked pan of meat before: carryover cooking.

Carryover cooking is what happens when the retained heat inside the chops continues to cook the meat even after it's been taken off of the grill or stovetop. The concept is similar to how brownies slightly continue to bake after being removed from the oven due to the heat trapped inside the glass or ceramic baking dish. It's all about the laws of thermodynamics as energy changes form. The natural water and fat content in the meat act as insulators, trapping that heat inside and causing the meat to continue to rise in temperature. Carryover cooking can make a difference of five to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (that's major). If you remove your pork chops from the heat when they reach their desired finished temperature, then you've already passed the point of no return.

The ideal pork chop for your go-to recipes should be juicy, soft to chew, and a little pink at the center. But, this is nearly impossible to nail based on visual cues alone. When it comes to lean, mean pork chops, precision counts.

To best avoid carryover cooking and subsequently overdone chops, bust out the meat thermometer. This digital meat thermometer by Alpha Grillers, for instance, displays an exact temperature to the tenth decimal place. Inserted into the thickest section of the chop, the perfect medium-rare temperature will read 145 degrees Fahrenheit. So, to achieve this elusive sweet spot, take the chops off of the heat when they read 140 degrees, then allow them to rest for 10 minutes, or five minutes tented with foil, during which time they'll reach 145 degrees. Resting also yields a more succulent, tender bite as the pooled juices redistribute and the fibers have a chance to relax.

Pro tip: If you're cooking your chops using a high-heat, fast technique, the carryover cooking is going to be more impactful compared to a low-heat, slower cooking technique. Also, boneless chops cook more quickly than bone-in chops and bone-in chops retain more substantial carryover heat.