Since Most super markets dont sell pork steaks separately. They can be cut from Butts, however, my question is, how?? With the different muscles in a Butt what's the nest way to slice them in to 1+ inch thick steaks? Or does it even matter? I assume you first start with boneless butts?
Thanks!
They are not that rare in Midwest supermarkets; while they are not always available, I'm not surprised when I see them. We eat them from time to time, generally pan fried in a CI skillet, with gravy made from the drippings/fond. I usually see them bone-in, but sometimes boneless. As for cutting them, generally cut perpendicular to the length of the bone one finds in pork butts:
The big challenge if cutting by hand, besides the bone, would be to keep a uniform cut on a relatively large chunk of meat. I think the ones we see in grocery stores are cut on a band saw. If your using a boneless butt, try to use the spot where the bone was as a guide. These are among my favorite cuts of pork, especially for the price.
My family grills these steaks often. They are about 1/2 - 3/4" thick and prepared by a Meat Market. Pretty sure a band saw is used as Murdy alluded to.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I think cutting them yourself from a boneless butt would be problematic, as the area where the bone is cut out will lead to half the butt having steaks with the center torn out, that will not want to stay together while cooking. It could be done though - you just gotta work to keep it together, or else cut it into smaller pieces than a complete steak for those parts.
Any supermarket meat department should happily cut whatever size steak you want out of a whole butt.
What I do often as not is buy a whole, bone-in butt and cut 2 - 3 nice steaks off of the money muscle end then either smoke and pull, or debone and chunk up the bone-in portion. Use the chunks for chili verde, carne adovada, carnitas, etc.
Any big grocery store that cuts/packages meat on site (around here we have Kroger, and Sam’s Club) will most likely be happy to slice a bone-in pork butt into pork steaks for you at whatever thickness you prefer (3/4 inch is our pick). An actual butcher or meat market definitely will. Just ask. Then use that conversation to develop a working relationship with said grocer or butcher. Good things sometimes happen if you’re friendly with the folks at the meat counter.
I agree with one caveat. Sometimes, depending on what they are cutting that day, they may want one-day's notice to cut pork. Unless they have more than one saw, they probably will not want to cut pork until they are done with beef for the day, as they have to clean the machine before switching back to beef.
I was at a BBQ class and the restaurant putting the class on showed us how they sliced butts for pork steaks. One trick was that they slice them on a band saw frozen since it made them cut more uniformly than thawed butts.
Oooh, Good point!..... I'll check Wild Foods and other suppliers for product availability! I'll have to come up with something else for Sunday though! Thanks!
I agree with Murdy, pork steaks cut from the butt are quite common in the upper midwest. Our family buys them often and we use a gochujang based marinade for 24 hours then a quick sear on the grill. Excellent.
One of our favorites. The meat has a good amount of fat and it's real easy to debone with a filet knife. Cube up the meat for making carnitas, pozole, of a variety of pork guisadas. Grilling like a steak is also good. There are lot's of recipes on the web for things like https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/sai...e-pork-steaks/
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