The topic title says it all. I’ve read many recipes and have made pork steaks once myself and I was less than impressed by the results. I think I over cooked them, which is hard to do when the steaks were still part of the shoulder, if that makes any sense. So, I would like some insight as to how to best prepare and then to cook these. The steaks are from the Cinta Senese heritage breed I was touting for the spare ribs earlier. Cooking for some friends on SBS.
I ended up following the How to BBQ Right technique folks touted there, but since my shoulder cut steaks were an inch or less thick probably, I grilled on each side for about 10-15 minutes max, on an elevated grate above the fire. I then wrapped in foil for 20 minutes or so until they came up to about 195, and then brushed with my sauce (from a Steven Raichlen recipe) and seared a little. They were VERY VERY good. Wife and I definitely want them again. Here's my cook:
After doing this, I have to think that if they were dry, you either had pork with low fat content in the shoulder (hard to believe, but maybe possible?), or they didn't break down. I do think that the braise in foil is an important way to help tenderize this particular cut. You certainly don't want to treat it like center cut pork chops, where you will ruin them if you cook beyond 140F. These would be tough at that temp I think.
Last edited by jfmorris; February 8, 2022, 04:47 PM.
As the OP of the first link I will say that Malcolm's recipe was very good and I am making it again tonight. And yes, those steaks have to be more than an inch thick for this recipe, mine are 1 1/2"
I’ve cooked them like St. Louis Pork Steaks. They do them two ways. One is to smoke them like in a reverse sear and then finish them off on a hot grill and sauce. The other way is just cooking them hot and fast turning frequently and then sauce. I’ve done them both ways and can’t tell much difference between the two. I prefer hot and fast for time sake.
IMO it depends, if they are higher fat then I'd reverse sear or just straight up hot and fast, but if they are low fat, you could just smoke 'em the whole way with no sear.
I did them "Tootsie" style on my pit barrel. I got them cut thick (2.5 inches) and mopped them throughout the process. I was really happy with the result.
Rob whatever
St. Louis Pork Steaks are called pork blade steaks in most parts of the country and are cut from the Boston Butt 1/2â€-1†thick. The can be grilled or smoked and then seared.
If they will be seared: Heat grill to 550 degrees or higher and after dry brining them and covering with rub sear them turning them every 30-60 seconds for 6 to 8 minutes until they reach an internal temp of 160. Then sauce them until the sauce becomes tacky.
Smoked: Smoke them at 250 until they reach an internal temp of 160. That should take about two hours. Remove the steaks and wrap in foil covered with either butter and brown sugar or BBQ sauce. Put them back on the smoker until they reach an internal temperature of 190. Remove from the grill and unwrap. Then sear them turning every 30 seconds. Once well seared sauce until the sauce becomes tacky.
Last edited by LA Pork Butt; February 9, 2022, 08:29 AM.
I get "thick cut" (1.5â€+) shoulder steak. I dry brine them for 6-8 hours & then MMD. Put them on my WSM @ 250ish. I try to get close to an internal temp of 140 degrees. Sometimes I just take them off and eat other times slather with Blues Hog original and then put them over hot coals to caramelize them.
I've never grilled a pork steak. We always dredged them in flour, fried them in a cast iron skillet, and made awesome gravy. Served with mashed potatoes. Curious to know how they turn out.
OK, Coincidentally, I had bought a pork butt and cut some into steaks. And the butt that I was going to grind (grinder malfunction) was sitting there mocking me so I thought I'd smoke it.
I touk two steaks and covered them in Killer Hogs "The BBQ Rub". Smoked them to 170F and pulled them off, then chilled them (this was around 2pm). For dinner, I took one out and seared it, finishing it with a few minutes in the oven since it was straight out of the fridge.
I cut these medium, not really thick - about 1"
VERDICT: MMM.... These are tender, with light smoke from about 90 minutes in the smoke and nice flavor from the rub. I'm going to experiment with the other one and SV it for a few hours tomorrow because although this was quite tender, the fat wasn't fully rendered.
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