You're Missing Out If You're Not Cooking Pork Chops With This Sweet Spread

Pork chops are a pillar of summertime cooking, but while people like Bobby Flay enjoy savory pork chops for their 4th of July cookout, we quite enjoy adding some sweetness to the meaty dish. To do this, brush some apple butter onto the meat and watch as it magically transforms pork chops into an even more irresistible meal. We recently talked about the topic with BBQ Hall of Famer Rodney Scott amidst the fourth annual Battle of the Beggin' BBQ Cookoff. He had some expert insight into why this sweet addition is such a strong choice when grilling them up. 

"Apple butter brings this deep, almost jammy sweetness that just makes sense with pork," Scott told The Takeout. "It's got that smooth texture that coats the meat real nice when it cooks down on the grill." While some might assume the sweet flavor clashes with the meat, that couldn't be further from the truth. Not only are pork chops the perfect choice to add sweet ingredients to (we love marinating pork chops in root beer, for example), but apple butter specifically blends incredibly well with grilled pork. "It complements the smoke without fighting it," Scott continued. "Apple and pork are natural partners and that concentrated apple flavor in the butter just amplifies what's already there."

Apple butter is a cheat code for achieving the best pork chops imaginable, but knowing exactly when and how to apply it is crucial to getting the most optimal results. For starters, when it comes to preparing the pork chops, Scott says it's better to keep things as simple as possible and let the eventual addition of apple butter do most of the heavy lifting. "Season your chops with salt, pepper, and a little brown sugar about an hour before cooking," he advised. "Grill your chops over medium heat. In the last three to four minutes, start brushing on that apple butter."

With this in mind, prepping the apple butter before applying it is also wise, as most apple butter recipes result in a consistency that's a bit too thick for its use as a pork chop glaze. "Thin your apple butter with just a touch of bourbon or apple juice," Scott added. "You want it to brush on easy." Then, when your pork chops are done cooking (and the apple butter has caramelized onto them as a crust), all that's left to do is choose the correct side dishes. For Scott, the best options here are pickled onions and coleslaw, as they "cut through all that richness" at play.