7 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Cooking Pork Chops

Dry Chops No More

By
Danilo Alfaro
Danlio Alfaro
Danilo Alfaro
Danilo Alfaro has published more than 800 recipes and tutorials focused on making complicated culinary techniques approachable to home cooks.
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Updated on 03/15/24

Pork is one of the leanest meats there is, which is why so many pork chops turn out dry and overcooked. Many home cooks are still using out of date doneness guidelines and beyond the correct pork chop temp, don't consider some other important factors. Not-so-great chops are easy to avoid and absoutely delicious when you get them right.

To help prevent overdone pork, avoid these seven common cooking mistakes and bask in the delicious glory of perfectly cooked pork chops...everytime!

  • 01 of 07

    Choosing Boneless Pork Chops

    Boneless Pork Chops
    Diana Rattray

    If preventing dry pork is a top priority, then start by choosing the right chops. While boneless chops may be cheaper, it's the bone that keeps the pork chop moist and imparts flavor. For best results, choose bone-in pork chops that are 1 to 1 1/2-inches thick.

  • 02 of 07

    Choosing Thin-Sliced Pork Chops

    Teriyaki Pork Chops
    Fenot Eric/Getty Images

    Pork chops that are too thin are highly prone to overcooking. It's not uncommon to see boneless pork chops that are cut to half an inch or even thinner. These super-thin chops are always boneless because the width of the bone itself prevents the meat from being sliced any thinner. Even if you do opt for the boneless variety, make sure you choose thin-sliced pork chops that are at least 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches thick.

  • 03 of 07

    Cooking Ice Cold Pork Chops

    Pork chops resting at room temperature.

     The Spruce

    Because pork chops are relatively lean, they will easily overcook if they spend too much time in a hot pan, oven, or grill. Pork chops shouldn't be ice cold when they hit the pan or grill. By the time the interior temperature reaches the desired 145 degrees Fahrenheit, the outer crust will be much hotter (and drier). The solution is to take your pork chops out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you plan to cook them, so they can sit and come to room temperature. Use that time to season or marinate the meat.

  • 04 of 07

    Seasoning Inadequately

    Rub pork chops with seasoning

    The Spruce

    Not seasoning food, or having insufficient seasoning, is certainly one of the top mistakes home cooks make. As pork has grown leaner over the years, its flavor has become milder, so adding the right amount of seasoning is extremely important. When you do it matters less than the fact that you season them at all. At a minimum, use Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Marinating also helps, especially if you're cooking the chops on the grill since the marinade will help prevent them from drying out. Dry rubs can also be nice.

    Continue to 5 of 7 below.
  • 05 of 07

    Not Trimming Excess Fat

    A large grill flare-up while grilling chicken

    Arno Von Rosen / EyeEm / Getty Images  

    You'll often see fat around the edges of a pork chop. Not trimming excess fat can be a problem. Ideally, this should be trimmed to about 1/4 of an inch all around. If your butcher hasn't done this, do it at home with a sharp knife. Especially when grilling, this excess fat can drip onto the coals and cause flare-ups, which can cause all kinds of other problems.

  • 06 of 07

    The Wrong Pork Chop Temp

    Flipping pork chops.

     The Spruce

    Cooking pork chops well-done is a big mistake and it stems from fear of a foodborne illness that has long since been eradicated. For generations, people were taught that pork needed to be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy a parasitic worm called Trichinella. The parasite Trichinella in pork was eradicated in the 1990s and in 2011, the USDA updated its cooking guidelines, now recommending 145 degrees Fahrenheit as the correct target temperature for properly prepared pork. Now, instead of automatically drying out your pork chops by cooking them too much, you can enjoy juicy ones at a nice medium instead of well-done.

  • 07 of 07

    Not Resting Pork Chops After Cooking

    Finished oven roasted pork chops

    The Spruce

    If you want them juicy, resting pork chops after cooking is a must. Resting means letting your pork chops (or any meat) sit for a few minutes after removing them from the grill, oven, or wherever you cooked them. When you cook a piece of meat, the juices race toward the center, away from the heat source. Cut into it immediately and those juices spill all over the place. By giving the meat a few minutes to rest, the juices will be reabsorbed, ensuring that each bite is as juicy as possible. For pork chops, resting for 2 to 3 minutes should be plenty.

Article Sources
The Spruce Eats uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. National Fire Protection Association. Grilling safety.

  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trichinellosis. Updated Sept. 4, 2020.

  3. U.S Department of Agriculture. Cooking meat? Check the new recommended temperatures.