Solar Cooking: Boneless Breaded Pork Chops

by Texas Homesteader
*contains affiliate link

Well it looks like a sunshiny day and the wind will not be high. So I can’t think of a better reason to use my * Solar Oven. I want to bake boneless, breaded pork chops – OUTSIDE!

It doesn’t matter if it’s going to be hot or cold outside. That’s because the outside temps don’t really affect the cooking with a solar oven. I’ve heard it said that ‘all you need is a shadow‘.

Summer or winter – as long as the sun is shining and the wind isn’t high enough to mess with the reflectors, solar oven cooking is a GO!

Today I think I’ll try my hand at baked pork chops…

It's hot & humid outside, but I'm not adding it inside our home. How am I going to cook tonight's supper? You won't believe it! #TexasHomesteader

(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a tiny commission. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)

RancherMan has harvested a couple of wild sow hogs in the last several months. We’ve been enjoying many savory recipes using the pork, such as meatloaf, grilled ribs, slow-cooker roast with red wine and BBQ sandwiches.

But the meat processor provided several thick tenderized steaks and some thick boneless pork chops as well.

Now I love me some pork chops! And I think they come out more juicy & tender when they’re breaded and baked.

Thankfully baking is easy to do in a solar oven. So today I’m going to give it a go with these pork chops.

*About My Solar Oven: For those of you asking, I have a Sun Oven brand solar oven and I LOVE IT!  If you’ve been waiting to get a solar oven of your own – now’s the time!

Preparing The Pork Chops

I pulled out the boneless chops and rinsed them off. Then I dipped them in a beaten egg and then rolled them in breadcrumbs. I made those breadcrumbs from sourdough baguettes that had gotten WAY too hard to eat. No food waste!

Then I seasoned them with some dried thyme from my herb garden and a little salt & pepper.

Finally I laid them in the black porcelain pan that came with my solar oven and placed the see-through lid on so I could watch its progress as it was cooking.

But then I got to thinking… There were 2 enamel stack pans in my solar oven kit. Why not cook the side dish at the same time?

So I decided to stack the pork chop pan on top of my other black porcelain pan that I filled with sliced carrots. Just a little salt & pepper, a touch of water, a pat of butter and a sprig of rosemary.

Hey, why shouldn’t they both be cooking at the same time?

It's hot & humid outside, but I'm not adding it inside our home. How am I going to cook tonight's supper? You won't believe it! #TexasHomesteader

By positioning the reflectors directly toward the sun the temp on my solar oven soared to 325 pretty quickly.

Solar Oven Maximization

It can sometimes be a challenge (for me at least) to be able to tell when the solar oven is at the exact proper pitch to take advantage of the sun.

Newer Sun Ovens already come with the Sun Cube, but mine is older and that feature wasn’t available then.

I ordered the retrofit kit so that I could have the sun cube on my solar oven as well. And boy am I glad I did!

Now it’s simple to tell when your solar oven is maximized for efficiency. But if you have an older model Sun Oven too, you can get the retro-fit kit here –> *Sun Oven Retro-Fit Kit.

Cooking The Pork Chops

USDA Recommended Internal Temps for cooking pork states that you want to cook pork to an internal temperature of 145 degrees for safety. I usually strive for between 145 – 150 degrees F. internal temperatures. So my pork chops were cooked in just over an hour.

So RancherMan & I enjoyed an early supper of the most delicious breaded pork chops I’d ever tasted along with fresh steamed carrots.

And not one lick of additional energy was needed to cook this meal. Gotta love it!

It's hot & humid outside, but I'm not adding it inside our home. How am I going to cook tonight's supper? You won't believe it! #TexasHomesteader

With warmer weather knocking at our door I’ll be using this solar oven more & more. Not only for the energy-free cooking that I love but also to keep that cooking heat & humidity outside where it belongs.

The temps really heat up during the summertime in our area of Northeast Texas. Any heat you can leave outside is a good thing indeed!

~TxH~

Looking For More Solar-Cooking Recipes?

You can see our other SOLAR oven articles here

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Favorite Wild Hog Recipes

(Can use store-bought pork instead)

Pork Roast Recipes:

Other Wild Pork Recipes:

Recipes with Leftover Pork Roast:

See All Our Recipes

 

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Reference:

USDA Recommended Internal Temps For Cooking Pork

 

* A word about our Affiliate Link – We are currently enrolled as an Amazon Affiliate.  Occasionally I will insert an affiliate link into one of my posts if I think it may be of interest to you.  I  receive nothing from the manufacturer, but I love this solar oven & thought you might too. If you click on any of my affiliate links and buy something (almost anything, not just what was linked) I get a small referral percentage from Amazon.  But here’s the really important part – the price you pay for your items is UNCHANGED.

When you buy something through the affiliate link it’s a great way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket so please click often!

*Amazon Affiliate Link

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12 thoughts on “Solar Cooking: Boneless Breaded Pork Chops

  1. Anya

    I love the idea of solar cooking though never actually attempted it before (seems intimidating for me!). And this recipe looks so delicious!

    Reply
  2. heidi

    Solar cooking is perfect for summer. I want a solar oven.

    Reply
  3. Gina

    So cool! A solar cooker! I have never tired to use (or even heard of) one of these! Thanks for sharing this on the #ShareTheWealthSunday linkup!

    Reply
  4. Toni

    I’ve been looking at Sun Ovens for a while now, and I’m planning to buy one soon. I’ve read the reviews on the newer version of yours on amazon, and one reviewer says the food cooked in it takes like plastic. So, I was wondering if you’ve had any dishes turn out tasting like plastic?

    Reply
  5. All that's Jas

    Wow, that is really neat! Never heard of solar ovens before. Does it take longer to bake and can you set the temperature? Thank you for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things. Hope you have a fabulous day!

    Reply
  6. Deedra

    I keep telling my husband that it would be a great idea to have one of these solar ovens. I know in the summer time with I use the oven ( just about every other day) the house heats up more. I live in Nevada and have sun most days out of the year and Im guessing because it gets over 100 here I would have no problem getting high temps in the stove. I am glad I found you off of the Fluster Buster party #121.

    Reply
  7. Beverly

    What a clever idea. I had never heard of solar cooking before. I need to check into that. Your pork chops looked awesome. Thanks for linking up to Wake Up Wednesday.
    Bev

    Reply
  8. Heidi @ Pint Size Farm

    Great post, I have always wanted to try solar cooking 🙂 I featured you at the HomeAcre blog hop this week (at Pint Size Farm). It will go live tomorrow AM. Congratulations!

    Reply
  9. Shanna

    I love my Sun Oven; so happy to see someone else blogging recipes with it. I use mine mostly in the summer months when I don’t want to heat up the kitchen. Thanks!

    Reply
  10. Felecia

    I love how you stacked the food! Two birds with one stone! I love utilizing my Sun Oven on warm, sunny days! Today will be a good day to set that up! Think I’ll bake some bread! Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend! Blessings from Bama!

    Reply
  11. Karen

    Yes, summer is on it’s way and the baking will become more limited. 🙁 Love me some cookies. I haven’t come across many posts in the blog world that discuss the use of solar ovens. How versatile is it as far as the types of cooking you can do? Do you believe the investment has been worth it to you?

    Reply
  12. Texomamorganlady

    Just wanted to check in and let you know that the batch of crockpot enchiladas were a big hit, even with hub, who is not fond of cheese!

    Reply

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