Recipes / Meat
Pork neck chops with honey and mustard
Marbled pork neck chops in a honey, wholegrain mustard and garlic marinade, cooked over medium coals and basted until sticky.
- Prep
- 15 min
- On the fire
- 16 min
- Plan ahead
- 2 hours marinating
- Serves
- 4
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
Marinade
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Preheat with the burners on high and the lid closed for 10 minutes, then turn them down to medium so the lid thermometer settles at 175 to 200°C (350 to 400°F). Brush the grates clean and oil them.
- Close the lid between turns. It cooks a little faster than an open braai, so start checking about 5 minutes early.
- Keep one burner off or on low as a cooler zone. If fat flares up, move the food there. Never use water on a gas grill flare-up.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Whisk all the marinade ingredients together. Pour a third into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge for basting.
- Put the chops in a dish and coat them with the rest of the marinade. Cover and keep in the fridge for 2 hours, or up to overnight.
- Take the chops out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Let the excess marinade drip off and throw away what is left in the dish.
- Season the chops lightly with salt and pepper. Cook them over medium coals for 12 to 16 minutes, turning every 3 minutes.
- Brush with the reserved marinade during the last 5 minutes and turn often so the honey does not burn.
- If the chops brown too fast, move them to the edge of the fire to finish. Rest them for 3 minutes before serving.
Done when: the chops are glazed and browned at the edges and a thermometer in the middle reads at least 63°C (145°F) after a 3 minute rest. Neck has enough fat to stay juicy up to 68 to 70°C (155 to 158°F), which many people prefer.
Tips
- Honey burns over hot coals. Wait until the fire has died down to medium, where you can hold your hand at grid height for 5 to 6 seconds.
- Neck chops have a good streak of fat through them. Do not trim it before cooking; it bastes the meat.
- Loin chops work too, but they are leaner. Take them off at 63°C (145°F) or they dry out.
Pork neck chops are a favourite at South African butcheries because they are cheap, well marbled and hard to overcook. Honey and mustard is one of the most common home marinades for pork, and the vinegar keeps the sweetness in check. Outside South Africa, ask for pork shoulder steaks. For another sticky pork dish, try the sticky pork spare ribs.