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Pork Chops

A recipe for canning pork chops with optional vegetables and gravy stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 365 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Pork Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chops

  1. Heat grease in a skillet over high heat.

  2. Quickly sear the pork chops until browned.

  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  4. Cook until the chops are done.

  5. If desired, remove the bone and substitute with a short piece of boiled macaroni.

Pack and seal

  1. Pack the chops into cans about half full.

  2. Fill the cans with boiled string beans, spinach, sauerkraut, or small browned potatoes.

  3. Add gravy stock if desired.

  4. Exhaust the cans for 5 minutes, seal, and process.

Process

  1. For No. 2 cans, process for 60 minutes at 250°F (120°C) or 15 pounds of steam pressure.

  2. For No. 3 cans, process for 75 minutes at 250°F (120°C) or 15 pounds of steam pressure.

  3. If leaving the pork rib on the chop, add 15 minutes to the processing time.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beans + spinachtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together365 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Spinach + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together646 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Beans + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together655 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Pepper + spinachtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork chops
Provide the main protein, which browns on contact with hot grease and firms as it cooks.
Sauerkraut
Adds acidity and tang that contrast with the rich, savory pork.
Gravy stock
Adds moisture and savory flavor to the sealed cans.

The step that matters

Exhaust the cans before sealing. Exhausting drives air out of the can before sealing, which helps prevent a vacuum failure and supports safe heat transfer during processing. Skipping it risks spoilage in a sealed can.

Swap the beans

The recipe marks beans as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, spinach, potato):

  1. Beansthe original
  2. Chickpeafits about as well
  3. Sesamefits about as well
  4. Lentilsfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, spinach, potato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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