Thick-cut pork chops smoke beautifully and cook fast. The trick is pulling them at the modern safe temp so they stay juicy instead of drying to the old shoe-leather standard. Set your time below.
How long to smoke pork chops
At 225°F, thick chops run about an hour to ninety minutes to a 145°F pull. Hot and fast at 300°F cuts that to under 45 minutes. A brine or dry-brine first is the difference between juicy and dry on a lean cut.
Pull at 145F, not 160F
USDA lowered the safe pork temp to 145°F with a three-minute rest, and it changed everything: a chop pulled at 145°F has a faint blush and stays juicy. The old 160°F habit is why a generation thought pork had to be dry.
Reverse sear for a crust
Smoke to about 130°F, then sear hard over direct heat to 145°F. You get smoke, a crust, and an edge-to-edge juicy interior.
FAQ
What temp are smoked pork chops done? 145°F internal with a three-minute rest. A little pink is safe and normal at that temperature.
How long do pork chops take to smoke? About an hour to ninety minutes at 225°F for thick chops. The calculator times it exactly.
Should I brine pork chops? Yes, lean chops benefit hugely from a brine or dry-brine to hold moisture through the cook.
Pork chops (thick-cut) prices: retail vs wholesale
Pork Chops (Thick-Cut) cost about $2.23 a pound at the grocery store this week and $1.49 a pound wholesale. The lowest advertised price is in the Midwest at $1.95 (18 stores). USDA data: grocery ads running Oct 3-9, wholesale trades through Oct 9.
$2.23/lb national grocery ad average for CC Loin Chops, Bone-In, Thick Cut (ads running Oct 3-9, 37 stores)
$1.49/lb wholesale, Pork loin, bone-in center-cut (chops) – USDA boxed-cut trades, Oct 5-Oct 9, 232,059 lb traded. The shelf price also covers cutting, packaging, labor, shrink and the store’s margin, and a supplier quotes above this for their margin, spec and delivery.
By region this week: Midwest $2.64 · Northeast $2.91 · Southcentral $2.77 · Southwest $3.39 · Alaska $4.90 · Northwest $3.19 · Southeast $3.39 · Hawaii $3.99
See prices for every cut → · How much should you buy? · Cooking for money? Price the whole job
Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (Market News + LMPRS mandatory reporting), tracked daily by MeatSmokingCalculator. Retail = advertised grocery feature prices; wholesale = national boxed primal values. Not a quote – your store and supplier will vary.
Where pork chops (thick-cut) finishes. Pull temperature on one thermometer, against the safety floors; the faint ticks are every other cut on the chart.
Times & temperatures
| Style | Method | Pit temp | Approx time | Pull / done temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | Slow and Low | 225°F / 107°C | ~70 min | 145°F / 63°C |
| Classic | Hot and Fast | 300°F / 149°C | ~35 min | 145°F / 63°C |
📊 See the full smoking times & temps chart for every cut →
Keep these numbers. Save a card with pork chops (thick-cut)’s pit temp, time and pull temp, or put them on your own site.
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Written by John Kirker, who built the first meat smoking calculator in 2011. Times come from cooks we have actually run and logged; temperature and feel decide the finish, never the clock alone.
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