How to Keep Breaded Pork Chops Crispy After Frying

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Whether you bread boneless chops cut from the tenderloin or bone-in chops from porker's rib section, breading and frying is a sure-to-please meal. When you're cooking for a crowd, or just a hungry family, one large skillet isn't usually large enough to cook all the pork chops you need. You don't want to crowd too many chops in one pan because crowding them risks having them steam instead of fry and results in soggy breading instead of the crispy, golden brown coating that you want. The good news is that the solution to keeping the first batch warm is as close as your oven.

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit if you have only two batches of pork chops to keep warm for no more than 10 minutes. If you need to keep more than two batches of chops in the oven for longer than 10 minutes, set the temperature lower, to 250 degrees F.

Step 2

Place a baking sheet with a wire cooling rack set inside it into the middle of the oven. Or, set a sheet of aluminum foil on your oven rack below a cooling rack in your oven. The baking sheet or foil will catch any stray crumbs, while the rack will keep the pork chops from getting soggy as they would if you set them directly on a baking sheet.

Step 3

Set each pork chop on a piece of paper towel to absorb excess fat and turn it to blot the second side as well, as soon as soon as you remove it from the fry pan. Don't let the pork chops stay on the paper towels or they may stick.

Step 4

Place each pork chop on the rack in the oven immediately after blotting. Keep in mind that if you leave the chops in a 400 degree F oven for longer than 10 minutes, or in a 250 degree F oven for longer than 30 minutes, the chops will dry out.