PreparationReferences
Demi-Glace
A 48–72 hour reduction, done properly
The sauce uses this demi-glace, frozen in cubes.
Pan-Seared Duroc Pork Chop, Demi-Glace and Mustard Sauce
Recipes · Pan-Seared Duroc Pork Chop, Demi-Glace and Mustard Sauce
Second revision · 11 OCT 2026
RecipeSecond revisionVia mcp
Pan-Seared Duroc Pork Chop, Demi-Glace and Mustard Sauce
Dry-brined 2.5 cm chops, fat cap rendered, turned every 30 s, thyme-garlic butter baste
Bone-in Duroc chops, 2.5 cm thick. Dry-brine with salt and MSG for 45 min. Render the fat cap on its edge. Sear in the pan and turn every 30 s to 55 °C. Baste with butter, garlic and thyme to 60 °C. Rest to 62–63 °C. Make a demi-glace and wholegrain mustard sauce in the same pan while the meat rests.
For
2 servingsWhy the second revision
First revision → second revisionNo cider was available. Replaced 150 ml dry cider with 60 ml water to deglaze and 60 g demi-glace. The demi-glace gives body from gelatin and a deeper roasted taste. The mustard now gives all the acid. The sauce is closer to a sauce Robert than to a cider sauce, so French is added as a second cuisine.
Mise en place
9 steps- 1 A
Weigh the salt and the MSG into one ramekin. Mix them.
- 2 A
Crack the black pepper into a second ramekin.
- 3 A
Crush the garlic cloves in their skins with the flat of a knife.
- 4 A
Dice the shallot fine.
- 5 A
Set out the thyme as whole sprigs.
- 6 A
Measure the oil and the baste butter. Put them next to the stove.
- 7 A
Cut the sauce butter into 10 mm cubes. Put it back in the refrigerator.
- 8 A
Weigh the demi-glace cold. Measure the water and the mustard.
- 9 A
Put a rack over a tray for the brine. Put a second rack over a plate for the rest.
Tool wire rackTool trayTool plateTool probe thermometerTool tongsTool basting spoonTool cast-iron pan
Dry brine
3 steps- 10 B
Dry the chops fully with paper towel.
- 11 B
Season all surfaces with the salt and MSG mix. Include the fat cap and the bone side.
Work Dry-brining - 12 B
Put the chops on the rack, uncovered, in the refrigerator.
45 min is the minimum. Longer is better.
Time 45 min–1 d
Cook
7 steps- 13 C
Dry the surfaces of the chops again with paper towel.
- 14 C
- 15 C
Hold the chops on their fat edge with tongs. Render the fat cap until it is deep golden and crisp.
- 16 C
Lay the chops flat in the rendered fat. Turn them every 30 s.
Work Searing - 17 C
Continue to turn them until the core is 55 °C. Probe away from the bone.
Adjust the heat so the crust gets darker steadily and does not burn.
Time 6 min–8 minTemp 55 °CTool probe thermometer - 18 C
Decrease to medium heat. Add the baste butter, the garlic and the thyme.
- 19 C
Tilt the pan. Spoon the foaming butter over the chops until the core is 60 °C.
Time 1 minTemp 60 °CTool basting spoonTool probe thermometer
Rest and sauce
7 steps- 20 D
Put the chops on the second rack. Rest them for 5 min. Keep the juices.
The core rises to 62 °C to 63 °C.
Time 5 min - 21 D
Pour off the fat. Leave about 15 ml in the pan. Keep the garlic.
- 22 D
- 23 D
Add the water. Scrape the browned residue off the pan.
- 24 D
Add the demi-glace. Simmer until it melts and coats the back of a spoon.
Do not reduce it hard. The gelatin thickens fast and becomes sticky.
Time 2 minWork Reduction - 25 D
Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the mustard and the resting juices.
- 26 D
Taste the sauce. Then whisk in the cold butter until the sauce is glossy.
Work Emulsifying
Serve
2 steps- 27 E
Cut the meat off the bone. Cut it into thick slices.
- 28 E
Add the cracked pepper. Put the sauce next to the meat, not on the fat cap.
Notes
31
CAUTION · SUBSTITUTION No sage
Sage was not available. It was removed from the baste. Thyme was increased from 4 sprigs to 6 sprigs. Thymol and carvacrol in thyme dissolve in fat, so the extra sprigs put more aroma into the baste butter.
2
CAUTION · IDEA Reverse sear for chops of 4 cm or thicker
For a chop of 4 cm or thicker, use a reverse sear. Bake on a rack at 110 °C to a core of 50 °C, 35 to 50 min. Then render, sear for 2 min while you turn every 30 s, and baste to 60 °C. Use 0.85 % salt by weight as here.
3
CAUTION · SUBSTITUTION Demi-glace in place of cider
No cider was available. 150 ml dry cider was replaced with 60 ml water to deglaze and 60 g demi-glace. The cider gave malic acid and an apple taste. The demi-glace gives gelatin, roasted depth and glutamate. The wholegrain mustard is now the only acid in the sauce.
Provenance
Inspired by a Fallow (London) video on pork chops. The method here is not copied from that video.
Related
1The science
8What is actually happening in the dish, and why the techniques work.
M1
Dry brine increases water holding and browning 0.85 % salt by meat weight · 45 min minimum · uncovered · refrigerator
Salt pulls water to the surface. In about 40 min the meat takes the brine back in. Chloride ions partly dissolve myosin. The fibres then hold more water when heat contracts them. The uncovered surface also dries. A dry surface browns fast. A wet surface steams.
M2
MSG and pork inosinate act together 0.7 g MSG · about 550 g meat
Pork holds inosinate (IMP). MSG adds glutamate. The umami receptor responds to the two together much more than to either one alone. So 0.85 % salt tastes fuller than it is. This keeps the sodium low.
M3
Thickness decides the method 2.5 cm · pan only
The time for heat to reach the centre increases with the square of the thickness. A 2.5 cm chop heats through in about 40 % of the time of a 4 cm chop. The centre reaches temperature during the sear, so a reverse sear is not necessary. A chop that comes from a low oven goes past the target during the sear.
M4
Turn every 30 seconds turn every 30 s · medium-high heat
Each turn moves the hot face away from the pan. That face cools a little while its heat moves inward. The other face then sears. The centre heats as if from two sides. The cook is faster and more even. The grey band under the crust stays thin.
M5
Target temperatures 55 °C start baste · 60 °C remove · 62–63 °C after rest · 5 min rest
Myosin sets at about 50 °C to 55 °C. This gives the texture. Actin contracts from about 66 °C. This pushes juice out of the meat. So start the baste at 55 °C, remove the chops at 60 °C, and let the rest finish at 62 °C to 63 °C. Duroc has high intramuscular fat. This fat melts in this range and keeps the meat moist.
M6
Fat cap on its edge fat edge down · 3 min · medium-high heat
Pork fat sits in cells inside a collagen network. Direct contact with the hot pan shrinks the collagen. The fat then runs out, and the remaining tissue becomes crisp. The rendered fat is the cooking fat for the sear.
M7
The pan sauce is an emulsion off the heat · cold butter
The cider dissolves the browned residue from the pan. Its malic acid cuts the fat. The seed coat of mustard holds a mucilage that acts as an emulsifier. Cold butter whisked in off the heat stays as small droplets, and the sauce becomes glossy. Hot butter melts and separates.
M8
Gelatin holds the demi-glace sauce 60 g demi-glace · 60 ml water · 2 min simmer · butter off the heat
Demi-glace is brown stock reduced until it sets when cold. Gelatin gives that set. In the pan the gelatin dissolves and the sauce coats a spoon after a short simmer. Gelatin also helps hold the butter in small droplets, so the emulsion is more stable than in a thin pan sauce. Further reduction makes the gelatin too concentrated and the sauce becomes sticky. Stop when it coats the back of a spoon.
Revisions
2A revision is written when the dish changes, and the version it replaces is kept. Beside each is a sentence describing what the dish became — the part a cook can act on.
Second revision 11 OCT 2026 Current
No cider was available. Replaced 150 ml dry cider with 60 ml water to deglaze and 60 g demi-glace. The demi-glace gives body from gelatin and a deeper roasted taste. The mustard now gives all the acid. The sauce is closer to a sauce Robert than to a cider sauce, so French is added as a second cuisine.
First revision 11 OCT 2026
First record. The chops are 2.5 cm thick, so the method is pan only. A reverse sear was planned for 4 cm chops and dropped: at 2.5 cm the centre heats during the sear. Sage was not available, so thyme was raised to 6 sprigs.