This little piggy needed more sunscreen

by James Wampler
(Shelbyville, Ky. USA)

This week I put pork chops on the solar cooker. Any trepidation I had about cooking meet on this cooker is long gone. As long as I have sun, meat will sizzle.

I prefer chicken, but I had to try chops out of curiosity - - on my last camping trip, I stopped by Patti's in Paducah, Ky - home of the "famous" 2 inch pork chop -- If you are ever in Paducah, it is an establishment worth checking out! The restaraunt is unique. The place is set up to provide service from the 1880's, so everyone is decked out in clothing for the period and the bread is baked in flower pots (...although to be honest, I'm not entirely sure if that is period specific or just quirky...)

I had their one inch pork chop because I'm not really into gimmicks, but it was amazing! I have a long way to go on my pork chop technique.

I would currently describe my pork-chop technique as "Spartan" -- as in I bought it from the store...and....put it on the grill.

As such, it was kind of tough, and not anywhere close to the soft juicy chop I had at Pattis. Part of this might be due to the fact that i let it cook for longer than I felt necessary owing to the fact that I did not have a meat thermometer. That is still on the "to-get" list.

At least I now have a benchmark and something to shoot for. Pattis has also given me the future idea of baking bread in little flower pots :) You'll have to wait for pictures from that experiment!