Bone-in pork rib chops, they vary so much in size

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crankin

Senior Cook
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
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I'm a fan of buying thick cut bone-in pork chops from behind the meat counter, but I get frustrated sometimes how much they vary in size and am trying to see if there is a way I can request what I'm looking for. Either way I want them to be thick cut, maybe 1 1/4 inches thick, but it's the surface area of the meat that varies so widely.

For instance, sometimes the chops look like this, where the eye of the meat isn't that big and the bone protrudes quite a bit more outwards:

mprk_ccrbchp_z.jpg


On the other end, some of the chops look like this, which when cut to similar thickness, ends up being a lot more meat:

rib_chop.jpg


What I'm wondering is, is the first picture a cut from a different end of the rib chop spectrum and the second image towards another end, where the shape of the meat is changing? I find that the first image when cut thick ends up around 10-12 ounces, which after factoring in the bone weight I think is a reasonable portion. Versus the second image which sometimes are closer 16 or more ounces, which I think is too much for a single portion.

I suspect I'm being overly picky but just thought I'd ask if there is any wording I could use to describe the first when asking for a rib chop cut from the meat counter.
 
You are correct. The whole bone in pork loin rib is not the same size from one end to the other. Nor, is the fat to meat relation the same. You can get about 4 different chops from one loin. The first chops you show are center cut chops which are closer to the rib end (which come from the center part of the loin). This photo is the same chop from further down the loin where the tenderloin is till attatched.
pork_loin_pork_chop.jpg


Here is the whole piece that you get chops from. One end is nowhere as lean and the piece has a larger profile(bottom of photo) so the pieces cut are broader...Your chops come from the middle of this piece...
IMG_0211.JPG
 
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Thanks for the response. I guess what I'm asking is, both of those pictures I posted would be found under the same category in the meat case as "rib chop" so I'm wondering if there is a way to specify one over the other and what the terminology would be.
 
Right, this is a fact of life and very un-PC BUT tell your butcher that you need two MAN portions and NOT one lady chop and one 'man' chop. I do not like it, I do not agree with it but i'll tell you one thing. This conversation works!
Bad eh?
However, you will get two equal size chops..............unless your butcher is a woman!!
 
Costco distinguishes each cut. Pictures 1 and 3 by a 10¢ margin with number 3 being 10¢ more.
They also name them both. I wish I could remember the differing names. I am guessing but i think picture 1 is called a rib chop and picture number 3 is called a sirloin rib chop. Just a guess, not a statement.

I prefer the rib chop (pic 1) as you can fit three in one fry pan where pic number 3 will only hold two comfortably. However, that little piece of tenderloin is sure nice.
 
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Crankin, am I right in understanding that you want the smaller chops, the ones in your first picture? If that is what you want, I would use the term that Rocklobster called it, "centre-cut chops".
 
You are correct. The whole bone in pork loin rib is not the same size from one end to the other. Nor, is the fat to meat relation the same. You can get about 4 different chops from one loin. The first chops you show are center cut chops which are closer to the rib end (which come from the center part of the loin). This photo is the same chop from further down the loin where the tenderloin is till attatched.
pork_loin_pork_chop.jpg


Here is the whole piece that you get chops from. One end is nowhere as lean and the piece has a larger profile(bottom of photo) so the pieces cut are broader...Your chops come from the middle of this piece...
IMG_0211.JPG
Great explanation Roch, thanks.

I really like the pix of the whole, bone in loins. I never really understood how the tenderloin was attached to T-bones, now I get it.
 
Crankin, am I right in understanding that you want the smaller chops, the ones in your first picture? If that is what you want, I would use the term that Rocklobster called it, "centre-cut chops".

Yes that is right, I am looking for picture 1, the smaller ones. I'll give that a try next time. Hopefully they don't confuse that with the center cut loin chop that they have next to rib chops, which look more like a T bone.
 
Yes that is right, I am looking for picture 1, the smaller ones. I'll give that a try next time. Hopefully they don't confuse that with the center cut loin chop that they have next to rib chops, which look more like a T bone.
Ask the butcher to show it to you before he/she wraps it up. Then you can tell the butcher if it isn't the right kind. If you do get the right kind, ask what they would call it.
 
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