Pork chop

For a chop about 2 cm thick, sear it in a hot pan with a little oil for 3–4 minutes per side, then check the centre with a thermometer. Cook it to at least 63 °C and leave it to rest for 3 minutes; a thicker chop needs longer.

Choose chops of even thickness, pat them dry and season them before cooking. Sear over high heat, then finish over medium heat; take them off as soon as the centre reaches 63 °C and rest for 3 minutes.

Yes. Brown them in an ovenproof pan for about 2 minutes per side, then bake at 200 °C until the centre reaches 63 °C; allow roughly 6–10 minutes for a 2 cm chop, followed by a 3-minute rest.

Use a food thermometer in the thickest part, away from the bone: it should read at least 63 °C, followed by a 3-minute rest. Colour alone is unreliable, and a faint pink centre can still be safe at that temperature.

Keep raw chops covered on the bottom shelf and cook them within 3–5 days; refrigerate cooked chops within 2 hours and eat them within 3–4 days. Freeze either for longer storage, wrapped tightly to prevent freezer burn.

Try them with apple sauce, mustard or a pan sauce made with stock, plus roast potatoes and greens. They also work well with sage, thyme, garlic and a squeeze of lemon.

A chop is a cut through the loin or rib section and may include bone; a pork steak is usually cut from the shoulder and is often boneless. In the listed values per 100 g, pork steak has 175 kcal and 7.7 g fat, compared with 230 kcal and 14 g fat for pork chop.

A 100 g portion contains 27 g of protein. The exact amount you eat depends on the size of the chop and whether you count the bone.