This is by far one of my favorite marinades for pork. I normally use pork chops on the grill and they always come out tender and slightly sweet when I use this marinade due to the acidiy in the coffee. The acid in the coffee does a fantastic job of softening the meat, which makes the pork chops very tender on the grill. The molasses give the resulting meat a deeply hearty flavor too.
Although I’ve never tried it, I could imagine this being a great marinade for other cuts of the pig as well or for beef. For the grill, it’s best to use pork chops that are nicely marbled and not too lean. Lean pork chops dry out easily on the grill and taste like cardboard (but you already knew that).
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Coffee Marinated Pork Chops
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Whitney Love
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 250ml (I cup) strong coffee, cold
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
- 175ml (6 oz. dry weight) molasses
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 pork chops
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients except the pork chops in a non-reactive bowl (glass or plastic).
- Place the pork chops in a zipper-top plastic bag, then pour in the marinate and close the top so no liquid escapes.
- Marinade for 20 minutes, up to overnight. The longer the chops sit in the marinate, the better (obviously not for a week but up to 24 hours).
- Cook the chops on the grill until they aren’t pink in the centre. You can also tell pork chops are cooked thoroughly when they have some give, the edges have turned brown from the sugar in the molasses crystalizing and a knife can’t easily be poked in the center.
- Serve and enjoy! Potato salad goes nicely with these chops as does a simple side salad.
Notes
Adapted from Alton Brown’s Coffee Marinated Pork Chops. I use garlic powder in my marinade because fresh garlic usually burns on the grill and tastes bitter, powdered garlic eliminates this problem. I also add espresso powder to my marinade to help enhance the coffee flavour in the final product.
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| For those of you living in Norway, molasses can be found in most health food stores or natural foods stores. |
I did this Saturday Night…Terrific marrinade. I should have marrinated overnight…but It was not a bad first effort. I will do it again. It went great with the potato dish too!
That looks like a yummy adaptation, Whitney. Thank you for sharing it! And I think I’m with Dave, I’d probably throw a little cayenne in there, just to develop a little sharp edge to it. And maybe some smoked paprika, particularly if doing on a gas-fired grill instead of charcoal. Looking forward to trying it!
It’s a really nice combination – and very balanced!
I’ve never tried that but it could be a good vegetarian or vegan option. Thanks for the idea Dave!
Sounds like a good marinade for tofu, if you were to add a bit of salt & cayenne. 😉