Smoked Pork Chop Jerky
Center-cut pork loin, soy-Worcestershire cure, hickory smoke, 5 hours at 165°F.
Hickory is the workhorse for pork jerky — assertive enough to carry the cure but doesn't go bitter at low temps. One apple chunk underneath adds color and a soft sweetness that balances the salty cure. Skip mesquite (too aggressive for jerky) and skip pecan (too subtle to register through the cure).
New recipe — be the first to log a cook with I cooked this above.
Cook this once and you'll unlock First Smoke.
Ingredients
Serves 8 oz finished
- Boneless center-cut pork loin chops2 lbtrimmed of fat — partially freeze 1–2 hours before slicing
- Kikkoman soy sauce½ cup
- Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce¼ cup
- Light brown sugar¼ cup
- Coarse cracked black pepper2 tbsp
- Garlic powder1 tbsp
- Onion powder1 tbsp
- Smoked paprika1 tsp
- Red pepper flakes1 tspdial up or down for heat
- Prague Powder #1 curing salt1 tspnon-negotiable for cured-meat jerky safety — never substitute table salt
- Hickory wood chunks3–4 chunks
- Apple wood chunks1 chunk
Pork chops are the sweet spot for jerky. Leaner than belly, more flavor than turkey breast, and center-cut loin chops slice clean into perfect ¼-inch strips. A soy-Worcestershire-brown sugar cure with Prague Powder #1 carries the flavor floor, and real wood smoke — hickory with a touch of apple — does what liquid smoke pretends to do but better.
The whole cook hinges on holding 165°F. Higher temps cook the meat instead of drying it, and you get tough snappy jerky instead of pliable leathery jerky. The cure handles bacterial safety alongside the final 160°F internal temp check that USDA requires for any cured pork jerky. Cure + temp check, both non-negotiable. Skip one and you're rolling dice.
Slice direction is a personal call: against the grain for tender, snappy strips; with the grain for the chewy traditional bite most grocery jerky has. Try half the batch each way the first time — you'll know which one you're cooking next time.
Method
- 0hSlice
Partially freeze the pork chops for 1–2 hours until firm but not rock-solid — a sharp knife glides through clean at that temperature. Slice ¼-inch thick. Against the grain for tender snappy jerky, with the grain for traditional chewy bite. Trim every scrap of fat as you go. Fat goes rancid faster than the meat and it shortens shelf life by weeks.
- 0.25hCure (12–24 hours)
Whisk the soy sauce, Worcestershire, brown sugar, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and Prague Powder #1 in a bowl until the sugar dissolves completely and the curing salt is fully dispersed. Add the pork strips and toss until every surface is coated. Transfer to a zip-top bag, press the air out, refrigerate. 12 hours minimum, 24 ideal. Flip the bag halfway so the strips at the bottom take their turn in the cure.
- 12.25hDrain and dry-tack
Pull the strips and blot them dry with paper towels — you want the surface tacky, not wet. Lay them flat on wire racks set over sheet pans, single layer, no overlap. Let them sit at room temp for 30 minutes. The surface firms up and turns slightly sticky. That's the pellicle, and it's what smoke molecules actually grab onto.
- 12.75hSmoke at 165°F
Single layer on the smoker grate or wire racks placed on the grate. No strips touching. Hickory for backbone, one chunk of apple for sweetness. Hold the smoker at 165°F — do NOT go above 175°F. You are drying, not cooking. Higher temps lock moisture into the muscle fibers and you'll end up with tough, snappy jerky instead of pliable, leathery jerky. Smoke 4–5 hours. Check at the 3-hour mark and rotate trays if your smoker runs hot in one corner.
- 17hTexture and safety check
Done when a strip bends and shows white cracks across the bend but does NOT snap clean in half. Should feel leathery, not brittle. Now the USDA safety check for cured pork jerky: every strip needs to hit 160°F internal at some point in the cook. Probe several thick pieces with an instant-read. If anything reads under 160°F, finish those strips at 275°F for 8–10 minutes in the oven or a kicked-up smoker. Don't skip this — cured pork at low-temp dehydration is the textbook gray-area for foodborne illness, and the cure + the temperature check are the two things that close the gap.
- 17.25hCool and store
Cool the strips fully on wire racks at room temp — about an hour. Don't seal anything warm; trapped steam creates condensation and tanks shelf life. Transfer to an airtight container with a silica desiccant packet. Room temp: 1–2 weeks. Refrigerated: 2–3 months. Frozen: 6+ months. Vacuum-sealed at room temp: 3–4 weeks.
Get what we use
Direct links to the rubs, oils, and gear used in this recipe. As an Amazon Associate The Turkey Leg earns from qualifying purchases.
- Get it on AmazonWesternPremium Hickory Smoking Chunks
Big-box-store hickory chunks. The default for pulled pork, ribs, smoked burgers — anything where you want assertive (but not punishing) smoke.
- Get it on AmazonThermoProBluetooth Wireless Meat Thermometer (Rechargeable)
Wireless probe, rechargeable, alerts your phone when target temp hits. The tool that turns 'I hope it's done' into 'I know it's done.'
- Get it on AmazonCookinPelletsPerfect Mix Smoking Pellets (40 lb)
Hickory, cherry, hard maple, and apple — the pit-master blend. Clean burn, no filler, works in any pellet smoker.