Ham Chops & Tatonka Dust

We had some thick cut pork chops in the brine/cure for two days. Also a small amount of bacon. My wife wanted bacon for breakfast, so we moved it's smoke date up by 18 hours so it cured for 6 days and a bit instead of my usual 7 days.

While I was prepping the pork chops for smoking, I decided to give some a couple of different rubs. Three of the chops got an off-the-shelf Cajun mix, while three more got a good sprinkle of Tatonka Dust. I had a couple of small sample packets that arrived from the States and I was saving to try on something worthwhile.

After smoking the chops, I pulled a couple and stuck over the hot smokenator insert to grill. One was treated to the traditional Filipino soy sauce and kalamansi juice. The other had been dusted with Tatonka Dust prior to smoking.

My wife really loved her Filipino flavored chop and was whining I didn't grill enough. So I gave her a bite of my Tatonka Dust chop. She came to a dead stop, got a second piece and ate it, then lifted my chop up by the bone and inspected it closely.

"How many did you make with this stuff?" she asked.

"Two more," I replied, "in the fridge."

"Mine!" she declared, like she was declaring dibs, "And order more of that stuff!"

So I sure hope That Marty, his wife, and daughter, get this stuff to market soon. It converted my wife in two bites! I thought it was pretty darn good, probably the best chop rub I've ever tasted. For sure the best one I've ever cooked with.

A few photos later.

So my camera is waiting for a new charger to arrive. These photos were from my old cell phone. Please pardon the quality.

Part I: The "Ham" chops -

Here are the pork chops, out of the brine and dusted. Three in the back with Tatonka Dust, three in the front with off-the-shelf cajun spices, and a few were plain for my wife to do as she liked.


Here they are on the Weber/Smokenator along with two slabs of belly bacon that were done with a coffee flavored cure. One slab is pepper and the other is plain.



Note that I move the water pan out of the cutout and to the top of the grill. It still bubbles away and much easier to move out of the way and add charcoal or wood chips as necessary.



These are the chops pulled at an internal temperature of 135F. I would normally cook until 140F but I pulled these early to save for the refrigerator. The ones we ate went over the Smokenator and grilled. Sadly, no photos and they disappeared pretty darn quick.

Here is a photo of the coffee-cure pepper bacon. It is good, not as smokey as I expected because I was testing out some of Greg Bonder's experiments with wetness and temperature. Next time, I'll do it my standard way which gives a smokier result. None the less, still very good and the coffee adds an deepness of taste but is hard to identify.

Part II: The bacon ready to smoke -



The bacon smoked, sliced, and cooked in the oven -




So the bottom line:

The cured and smoke Pork Chops were great and Tatonka Dust is spectacular! Seriously, very ... very good! My wife has declared I have to get more of this and soon!

The Coffee Bacon - pretty good but not as smokey as I like. I tested Greg Blonder's results with smoke adhering better to wet surfaces than dry and to cold surfaces better than warm. I didn't let the bacon form a pellicle, but rather kept it wet and straight from the fridge to smoke. Next time I will let it form a pellicle. The coffee aspect was pretty good and I will do that part again.