Cool Kitchen Gadget and Awesome Pork Chop Marinade Recipe

My neighbor came over the other day with this nifty little gadget and said that I should try it. It was a meat tenderizer that pokes lots of little holes into the meat. She said I could borrow it and see how I liked it.

Well, let me say…it worked like a charm! I had some pork chops that I had thawed out and wanted to marinate. So I thought that I would try it out on those first.  It has a small plastic disk that stays over the little nails so you don’t poke anything that you don’t want to. Then when you push down on the tenderizer, the disk slides up the nails so that the nails can go into the meat. A rather clever design with safety in mind. I found that it didn’t take a lot of effort to push them into the meat and it was very quick and easy to use. I definitely give this a 5 star rating and would recommend this to all.

Here is the recipe for the marinade that I made for my pork chops. The best part of the recipe is the fact that it is relatively low is sugar so when you grill it, it doesn’t burn and get really black. I tried this out on my family and they told me to make it again.

1 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together until well mixed. Pour over pork chops (chicken or beef) and turn meat to coat well. Let marinate in refrigerator for 3-4 hours or overnight.  Cook on grill for about 7-8 minutes per side. Pork is cooked when the internal temperature is 165F for well done or 140F for medium.

One of the best things I have found for cooking meat is a digital meat thermometer. It really helps to keep your food from getting overcooked and dried out.