So the thread on local specialties got me thinking about a summer time staple here in St. Louis, MO -- the bbq pork steak. Now, some may disagree with calling it true barbeque, but that's how it's known here so that's what I'll call it.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the pork steak it is a blade cut steak from the boston butt, typically 1/2" to 1" thick. As it's from the butt this particular cut is juicy and flavorful but can be quite tough if not prepared correctly. My understanding is that this cut is becoming more available throughout the country but if you can't find it any competent butcher should be able to cut some for you. Depending on which part of the butt is cut the steaks can be boneless or bone in. I don't notice much difference in flavor but the bone in ones seem to stay together better for long cooking times.
It seems every backyard chef here has his own variation on the recipe for bbq pork steaks, but generally they are prepared one of two ways. The first way is on the grill with direct heat the whole time. The steak is first seared and then is basted with sauce and flipped regularly for an extended period of time. This method, when done correctly, results in steaks that are relatively tender with a wonderful thick layer of caramelized sauce on them. Most of the fat renders out so you get some kind of crispy parts which are quite tasty as well. It is the faster of the two methods but the more risky -- the bbq sauce used (see note below on sauce) is very easy to burn and all the fat in the meat makes flare ups quite common.
The second recipe I will detail below. Essentially it involves searing the meat on the grill and then slowly braising it in sauce. This is a much slower process and results in more tender meat.
Note on sauce: obviously there are thousands of different bbq sauces out there and I'm sure most would work very well. Most people here use a kansas city or st louis style of sauce. St Louis style sauce is similar to KC style with more tomato and vinegar and less spice and smoke. The quintessential brand is Maull's, which I use below. Personally I prefer a good KC style, but since I'm showing you the "St. Louis style" I figured I'd use the local favorite. Any relatively sweet tomato based sauce should work though.
So here we go. Below are the ingredients:
Pork steaks (I'm only doing 2 but you can easily do this with a whole bunch)
Sauce
Beer (I'm using Bud Select as it's the only cheap beer I had on hand. Use whatever strikes your fancy)
aluminum pan
rub or marinade (optional)
So we start with the meat itself. As you can see I have one bone in steak and one boneless steak. These are average thickness. The meat was $3.19 per pound and the two steaks together weighed 1.71 pounds.
I trim up the meat a bit first -- just the big chunks of fat along the edges. If you are going with the grill the whole time method I suggest leaving them intact.
At this point I just hit them with some kosher salt. Some people like a nice rub on their steaks and others like to brine or marinate them. I rarely bother but by all means go for it if you want. The thin cut means brining or marinating should be quick (half hour?).
Now you'll want to put them on a nice hot grill. My BGE was at about 475*. Remember, you're just searing them. So I put them on and then go prepare the braising liquid.
The braising liquid should be roughly even amounts of beer and bbq sauce. You can add other spices or flavorings if you so choose, but beer and bbq sauce is all I'm going with. You want enough in the pan to cover the meat without spilling over. Combine them in an aluminum pan and take the whole thing back outside.
By now the first side should be nicely seared. Flip and be careful of flare ups.
Once the second side is seared (another 3-7 minutes depending on your grill and how dark you like them) put the pan on the grill and put those bad boys in the sauce. Submerge them as much as you can (you may need to add some more beer and bbq sauce now) and cut the heat down on the grill. Ideally you just want to simmer them but if it starts hotter it isn't a big deal. Some people pull the steaks off the grill and do the braise in an oven.
Now walk away for a half hour. When you come back flip the steaks or rearrange them so the ones that were on top are submerged and then leave for another half hour.
The steaks should be pretty tender by now. Another half hour or so should get them to the falling off the bone stage. So pull them at your desired level of tenderness and serve with some fresh bbq sauce. As you can see mine were fully falling apart and What was once two complete steaks became numerous small chunks of delicious meat. As a side note: at this point the steaks could stay in the warm sauce all day long and be served as needed. That's one of the reasons pork steaks are so popular for big get togethers.
The meat is fork tender and quite juicy. The sauce is of course a lot of the flavor but there is still lots of good pork flavor as well.
So there you have it. Easy to prepare, delicious, very little cleanup required, and scales easily for large groups. Easy to see why it's a summer time favorite here! Enjoy!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the pork steak it is a blade cut steak from the boston butt, typically 1/2" to 1" thick. As it's from the butt this particular cut is juicy and flavorful but can be quite tough if not prepared correctly. My understanding is that this cut is becoming more available throughout the country but if you can't find it any competent butcher should be able to cut some for you. Depending on which part of the butt is cut the steaks can be boneless or bone in. I don't notice much difference in flavor but the bone in ones seem to stay together better for long cooking times.
It seems every backyard chef here has his own variation on the recipe for bbq pork steaks, but generally they are prepared one of two ways. The first way is on the grill with direct heat the whole time. The steak is first seared and then is basted with sauce and flipped regularly for an extended period of time. This method, when done correctly, results in steaks that are relatively tender with a wonderful thick layer of caramelized sauce on them. Most of the fat renders out so you get some kind of crispy parts which are quite tasty as well. It is the faster of the two methods but the more risky -- the bbq sauce used (see note below on sauce) is very easy to burn and all the fat in the meat makes flare ups quite common.
The second recipe I will detail below. Essentially it involves searing the meat on the grill and then slowly braising it in sauce. This is a much slower process and results in more tender meat.
Note on sauce: obviously there are thousands of different bbq sauces out there and I'm sure most would work very well. Most people here use a kansas city or st louis style of sauce. St Louis style sauce is similar to KC style with more tomato and vinegar and less spice and smoke. The quintessential brand is Maull's, which I use below. Personally I prefer a good KC style, but since I'm showing you the "St. Louis style" I figured I'd use the local favorite. Any relatively sweet tomato based sauce should work though.
So here we go. Below are the ingredients:
Pork steaks (I'm only doing 2 but you can easily do this with a whole bunch)
Sauce
Beer (I'm using Bud Select as it's the only cheap beer I had on hand. Use whatever strikes your fancy)
aluminum pan
rub or marinade (optional)
So we start with the meat itself. As you can see I have one bone in steak and one boneless steak. These are average thickness. The meat was $3.19 per pound and the two steaks together weighed 1.71 pounds.
I trim up the meat a bit first -- just the big chunks of fat along the edges. If you are going with the grill the whole time method I suggest leaving them intact.
At this point I just hit them with some kosher salt. Some people like a nice rub on their steaks and others like to brine or marinate them. I rarely bother but by all means go for it if you want. The thin cut means brining or marinating should be quick (half hour?).
Now you'll want to put them on a nice hot grill. My BGE was at about 475*. Remember, you're just searing them. So I put them on and then go prepare the braising liquid.
The braising liquid should be roughly even amounts of beer and bbq sauce. You can add other spices or flavorings if you so choose, but beer and bbq sauce is all I'm going with. You want enough in the pan to cover the meat without spilling over. Combine them in an aluminum pan and take the whole thing back outside.
By now the first side should be nicely seared. Flip and be careful of flare ups.
Once the second side is seared (another 3-7 minutes depending on your grill and how dark you like them) put the pan on the grill and put those bad boys in the sauce. Submerge them as much as you can (you may need to add some more beer and bbq sauce now) and cut the heat down on the grill. Ideally you just want to simmer them but if it starts hotter it isn't a big deal. Some people pull the steaks off the grill and do the braise in an oven.
Now walk away for a half hour. When you come back flip the steaks or rearrange them so the ones that were on top are submerged and then leave for another half hour.
The steaks should be pretty tender by now. Another half hour or so should get them to the falling off the bone stage. So pull them at your desired level of tenderness and serve with some fresh bbq sauce. As you can see mine were fully falling apart and What was once two complete steaks became numerous small chunks of delicious meat. As a side note: at this point the steaks could stay in the warm sauce all day long and be served as needed. That's one of the reasons pork steaks are so popular for big get togethers.
The meat is fork tender and quite juicy. The sauce is of course a lot of the flavor but there is still lots of good pork flavor as well.
So there you have it. Easy to prepare, delicious, very little cleanup required, and scales easily for large groups. Easy to see why it's a summer time favorite here! Enjoy!
