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I've had great success preparing chicken using variations of the following procedure:

  1. Arrange chicken pieces in a roasting pan with a lid
  2. Add other flavorings (whatever I have on hand or am in the mood for)
  3. Roast covered for 30 min at 425 F
  4. Uncover and broil for 15 more min

The chicken skins crisp during broiling, but the insides stay wonderfully moist, exactly the way I like them. Now I'm thinking of adapting this for pork chops, but I'm wondering whether I might have more luck if I broil the pork before roasting it. Pork chops don't have skin, obviously, and I'm wondering if broiling first will help to seal in moisture and flavor.

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2 Answers

There's really no such thing as 'sealing in juices' when it comes to meat. Skin-on chicken breast stays relatively moist because of the fat in the skin; because the skin is on top, it pretty much self-bastes. Broiling just crisps the skin afterwards and will do nothing moisture-wise.

With pork chops, however, the fat is around the side and so will drip off during roasting, and broiling beforehand will just dry out the surface of the meat. I'd suggest rolling the fat in some salt, then placing the chops fat side down on a warm pan for a few minutes. This will render out the fat. You can then drizzle this on to the pork to help keep it moist and impart extra flavor.

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I'm sorry if I'm being stupid, but I don't see the point of roasting these pork chops, unless you want to use the broiler for some other purpose while they cook.

I line the broiling pan with aluminium foil, so the fat from the chops cannot escape into the bottom, and cook pork chops under the broiler. The only disadvantage is that they need watching, which is not the case if they are wrapped and roasted.

The two stage process makes sense when you have chicken skin to crisp up.

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