A pork chop is just a bone-in slice of the pork loin, which is located beneath a hog’s ribs and against its backbone. It’s a great piece of meat to sink your teeth into, which is why so many people like a pork chop—but it doesn’t have a lot of natural fat. This means that it needs some help in the flavor department. Here’s how I do it. It’ll be the best pork chop you ever had. No joke.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　4 2-inch-thick loin pork chops (each about 1 pound)

　　1 cup Hog Injection (page 21)

　　1 pound ground pork sausage

　　3 cups Jack’s Old South Original Rub, or 1 recipe Basic Barbecue Rub (page 20)

　　1 recipe Tangy Sweet Sauce (page 23)

　　

Step 1

Place the pork chops in a large aluminum baking pan, and cover with the hog injection. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

　　

Step 2

When you are ready to cook the pork chops, heat a smoker to 300˚F.

　　

Step 3

Remove the pork chops from the marinade, and discard the marinade. Cut a 2-inch-long slit about 2 inches deep in the side of each chop opposite the bone, making a pocket. Remove the pork sausage from the casing, and stuff the sausage deep into the pocket of each pork chop. For each pork chop, use three toothpicks to close off the pocket and hold the sausage in place. Season both sides of each chop with the rub. Put the chops in a clean aluminum baking pan, place the pan in the smoker, and cook for 30 minutes.

　　

Step 4

Remove the pan from the smoker, flip the pork chops, and return the pan to the smoker. Cook for 30 more minutes.

　　

Step 5

Remove the pan from the smoker. Glaze the chops on both sides with the tangy sweet sauce, return them to the smoker, and cook for 10 minutes.

　　

Step 6

Remove the pan and let the chops rest, loosely covered, for 10 minutes. Then serve them up.

　　Reprinted with permission from Smokin' with Myron Mixon by Myron Dixon with Kelly Alexander, © 2011 Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.