Pork Chops!

I decided to grill some pork chops. I set up for direct/indirect grilling. I got a nice fire in the fire box, and dropped the grill in place. I generally run the fire box without the grill to give me room to easily add charcoal and wood chips and bits.

The pork chops I rubbed with my personal mix. I blend equal portions of zesty seasoned salt (from the Dollar Tree), black pepper, and kosher salt in a shaker with good sized openings in the lid. I did a light dusting on each side of each chop, patting the mix into the surface of the meat.

A note on the zesty seasoned salt. It has a good overall flavor, with a bit of pepper and citrus salt detectable in the mix. I rather like the light citrus tang. Generally my blend provides good seasoning without being overwhelming.

I seared the chops on the fire box grill, and then transferred them to the smoke box to finish via indirect heat. I removed the grill from the fire box so that I could shape the fire to my liking. I prefer to rake the coals over close to the opening into the smoking chamber. I use a garden hand rake for the job. I also keep a garden trowel nearby for moving charcoal and debris.

There was a small error in my cooking I want to note. In placing the chops in the smoking chamber I got the thinner pieces too close to the intake from the fire box. Some of the edges charred. Fortunately, some family members consider this a good thing. However, I think I will be more careful with placement of thinner pieces in the future.

One new thing I tried with these pork chops was individually wrapping them before placing them in the freezer. This way I could pull just the number I was going to cook and spread them out in the refrigerator to thaw. I got an even thaw on each piece this way.

On the whole another very nice barbecue, late in the season.