Sous Vide: Getting Started Class

ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

ChefSteps

Joule® Turbo Sous Vide

Ruler(s)

1-gallon Ziplock-style freezer bag(s)

10-inch Nonstick skillet

Pork chop(s)

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Neutral oil

Rosemary

Garlic clove(s)

Unsalted butter

Flake sea salt

Heat sous vide water bath to desired temperature according to our doneness guide. 

[f 126]: Very rare; soft and rosy
[f 131]: Rare; pink and juicy
[f 135]: Medium-rare; tender and blushing
[f 140]: Medium; tender and juicy (our favorite)
[f 149]: Medium-well; firm and fibrous
 
TIP: Don’t own a sous vide immersion circulator? Use <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/cook-sous-vide-tonight-stovetop-method">an improvised technique like this one</a>.

Heat sous vide bath

Using a ruler, measure thickness of chops (thickness determines sous vide cook time). Season chops generously on all sides with salt and pepper. 

Place chops and 30 g oil in a 1-gallon ziplock-style freezer bag or vacuum-seal bag, and turn chops in bag to evenly coat with oil. Add rosemary and garlic (if using). 

Seal bag using water displacement method or vacuum sealer.

Season and bag pork chops

Lower bag into sous vide bath until chops are fully submerged, and clip to side of water bath container.

Cook, following our timing guide for chop thickness.

1 inch / 2.5 cm: 1 hour
1 1/2 inches / 3.8 cm: 1 hour 30 minutes
2 inches / 5 cm: 2 hours

Once cooked, chops can be held in sous vide bath for 1 hour without any loss in quality.

Cook pork chops sous vide

Remove chops from bag and transfer to a paper towel–lined plate or tray; reserve aromatics for finishing chops if desired. Gently pat chops dry.

In a 10-inch skillet, heat remaining 15 g oil over high heat until just smoking. Add chops and cook, flipping every 30 seconds, until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes total.

If butter-basting, slide chops to back of skillet, opposite handle, and add butter to front of skillet. Once butter is melted and foaming, add reserved aromatics. Tilt skillet so butter pools near handle of skillet, and using a spoon, baste chops with butter and aromatics. Continuously baste chops, flipping every 15 seconds, until well-browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Sear chops

Transfer to cutting board and slice against grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle with flake sea salt (if using) and serve.

Serve

Is a perfectly cooked pork chop even possible? Yes, thanks to sous vide.A lot of home cooks are afraid of pork, which is understandable. For decades, there was a mass misconception that even a blush of pink in a cooked pork chop meant the meat was almost certainly lethal. Fear of undercooking led to a profusion of unappetizing, overdone chops. Either the other white meat was going to kill you or you had to sit at the table for hours chewing your dinner.Making matters worse, pork producers settled on raising leaner breeds, part of a misguided effort to market pork as a competitor to chicken. Lean meat dries out way faster than fattier meat, and thus overcooked pork chops are even drier and even more leathery than they should be.For all these reasons, pork chops are ideal for cooking sous vide. When cooked in a temperature-controlled water bath, even the leanest pork chop can be well-seasoned, juicy, and perfectly cooked from edge to edge. Give the chop a little sear when it’s done to get some of those toasty flavor notes from <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/mastering-the-maillard-reaction">Maillard browning</a>, and you’ll get a pleasing contrast between the browned, crispy exterior and the tender, blushing interior.Serve it up with a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/light-and-lovely-apple-puree">bright apple purée</a> and a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/a-zesty-brussels-slaw-you-can-whip-up-in-a-flash">shredded Brussels sprouts salad</a> or some of your other low-effort, high-reward sides and you’ve got a delectable, weekend-worthy meal that’s easy to put together even on a weeknight.

Sous Vide Pork Chops