Saturday Porterhouse: Foiled Again Batman (Pics And Lotsa Dialog)

[Gonna Smoke]

A "true" Porterhouse steak is not just a T-bone with a large portion of tenderloin.

The fact is that the closer to the sirloin a T-bone/Porterhouse is, the bigger/wider the fillet. That's a fact. I was a meat cutter for Winn Dixie way back in the day and we cut whole beef loins, not short loins, and their standard was the fillet had to be at least 2" wide from the bone to the bottom of the fillet in order to be called a Porterhouse. From just under 2" to 1", it was a T-bone. Less than 1", we boned it out and sold it as a NY Strip, even though everything above the bone on a beef short loin is considered a NY Strip. Another gauge is that extra seam in the strip part. It starts to disappear at about the same place that the fillet gets narrower than 2"

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Kinda rough but all I have to work with is a Sawzall and some really good knives.

Robert.

Robert, I'm still hanging on to two Porterhouses for that "special occasion"... Thank you, my friend...

 

[SmokinEdge]

No shame at all using the sawzall. I butcher and cut a lot of my own meat, I also have a meat bandsaw but still find it expedient to use the sawzall and often on carcass.

Way better than when I was a young boy and my dad used a dedicated gas chainsaw for meat with no bar oil in it. Back then that was big medicine, but the battery sawzall is the bee’s knee’s now for short work.

 

[Retired Spook]

The fact is that the closer to the sirloin a T-bone/Porterhouse is, the bigger/wider the fillet.

I'm just reiterating what the chef at Peter Luger told me. I do not believe they based their cuts on the size of the filet but rather the location and number of Porterhouse steaks cut from the short-loin.

Whatever the case, they were the most tender, best tasting steaks I have ever tasted, to this day.

 

[indaswamp]

Way better than when I was a young boy and my dad used a dedicated gas chainsaw for meat with no bar oil in it.

Old men at grandfathers deer camp had one like that too....

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Whatever the case, they were the most tender, best tasting steaks I have ever tasted, to this day.

That comes from aging and grade of beef...

 

[tx smoker]

The fact is that the closer to the sirloin a T-bone/Porterhouse is, the bigger/wider the fillet. That's a fact.

This is without a doubt 100% correct. You can see the taper in the roast that I posted.

and their standard was the fillet had to be at least 2" wide from the bone to the bottom of the fillet in order to be called a Porterhouse.

The way it was explained to me by a person who is very much in the know is that to be classified a Porterhouse there must be 1 1/4" of filet measuring perpendicular from the longer section of the bone to the outside of the filet. That would pretty much be the same as the way you noted it, just measuring from a different direction and using a different measurement due to the configuration of the meat.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

Robert, I'm still hanging on to two Porterhouses for that "special occasion"... Thank you, my friend...

And I'm still hanging in there waiting to see what you do with them

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

No shame at all using the sawzall. I butcher and cut a lot of my own meat, I also have a meat bandsaw but still find it expedient to use the sawzall and often on carcass.

I considered getting a band saw after breaking down the first short loin roast but what really stopped me was taking into account the time it'd take to clean the thing. Hardly worth is for a handful of steaks IMHO.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

I do not believe they based their cuts on the size of the filet but rather the location and number of Porterhouse steaks cut from the short-loin.

I'm just guessing here but I'd imagine this was noted because you'll only get a couple of true Porterhouse steaks before the roast tapers to the point that the filet side is no longer large enough to classify it as a Porterhouse. I know when I'm breaking down the roasts I pay very close attention to the point at which the filet side is not longer large enough for that classification and I set the steaks in different stacks.When I package them I make a note on the label as to the designation of Porterhouse or T-Bone.

Robert

 

[Retired Spook]

Gentlemen, I know there is always push-back when any contribution comes from "up North," but the fact is that what I posted was verbatim from Perter Luger Steak House - THE experts in Porterhouse Steaks. I only posted what I posted because I thought it might help with what was expressed as a slight disappointment with the OP's steak. I apologize.

I have tried at least a hundred (likely more like five hundred) commodity (Winn Dixie type and others) Porterhouse Steaks over the years, and not one of them came anywhere close to what a Porterhouse should be, regardless of filet dimensions. The Porterhouse Steaks sold at HEB (our local commodity steak seller) are horrible, and their T-bones are not much better.

It was not my intention to offend anyone or insult their family name...

 

[tx smoker]

I posted was verbatim from Perter Luger Steak House - THE experts in Porterhouse Steaks. I only posted what I posted because I thought it might help with what was expressed as a slight disappointment with the OP's steak. I apologize.

Please do not apologize!! None is needed. Honestly, your input is deeply appreciated and if I came across otherwise, please accept my apology. As you passed along info you got, we did also and that is how we all learn. I got my info from the guys at CPB where I buy the meat. I've noticed over the past few years researching stuff that meat/roast/steak designations are all over the charts. What we have discussed here is exactly the same as with Prime Rib. I've read at least a dozen different ways to classify it and that many more on how the name came to apply to the meat in the first place. This is an honest, open, and positive discussion and it's ALWAYS great to hear different perspectives on things. It is apparent that you're a very intelligent and well-versed person so somebody would be a fool not to pay attention to what you have to share....myself included

Robert

 

[Retired Spook]

Thank you, sir.

 

[tx smoker]

Thank you, sir.

It has been a pleasure and hopefully the air is cleared if I came across as being contradictory. The unfortunate part of written text is that voice inflection does not convey

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

Catching up on a couple things I missed here in my haste...and lack of coffee earlier

I do not see a short-loin roast on their website.

Their website only covers the options available retail. I do buy a few things from that site but the vast majority of what I get comes to me wholesale. You won't find that at all. There is no marketing for that side of the business and no web site. They only cater to a few high-end restaurants and butcher shops. My sales manager pulled off a miracle a few years ago and got me access to the wholesale side due to a large umber of retail purchases and somewhat being an ambassador for them here in the forum. Their products are the best we have ever had. Simply superb meat.

I wonder if it is a seasonal cut or maybe they are just out of stock?

No sir, not seasonal. About the only "seasonal" cuts are the full 103 sub primal rib sections. Starting early to mid November those are very difficult for me to get. All of them are allocated for Christmas meals to select business partners.

Interestingly enough, I do not see Porterhouse Steaks on their site either?

I know and honestly, find it kinda odd. They do offer a T-Bone I believe but not the Porterhouse. My guess would be, and your assessment that it is the best steak of all, that those cuts are reserved for the high-end restaurants.

I thought it might help with what was expressed as a slight disappointment with the OP's steak

Very much appreciated again but honestly, my only disappointment was that it got slightly over cooked. The quality, flavor, and tenderness of the steak was superb.

Robert

 

[schlotz]

According to our daughter who raises Wagyu, there is an animal age limit for processing a cow to sell Porterhouses and T-bone cuts. Believe she indicated 30 months. After that age they must instead be processed for NY strips and Tenderloins.

 

[Retired Spook]

Another piece of information which I got from our daughter who raises Wagyu is that there is an animal age limit for processing a cow to sell Porterhouses and T-bone cuts. Believe she indicated 30 months. After that age they must instead be processed for NY strips and Tenderloins.

I think I remember hearing something about that too - 30-months rings a bell!!! I'm old and what is left of my brain isn't the best so I sometimes fail to connect all the dots! Thank you!

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Gentleman, I know there is always push-back when any contribution comes from "up North,"

If I offended you, I do apologize as that was not my intention. I was relaying my experiences as a meat cutter from over 40 years ago at The Beef People - Winn Dixie. In those days, we actually broke down quarters, there was no box beef like most grocers use today. To get a ribeye, we had to order front quarters and to get sirloins and strips (T-bones and Porterhouses), hind quarters were ordered. Almost nothing was boneless and standard fat trim in those days was ½" fat left on all cuts...

 

[Retired Spook]

No worries, I just wanted to add, what I thought, would be good information.

Thank you.

 

[tx smoker]

I was relaying my experiences as a meat cutter from over 40 years ago

No worries, I just wanted to add, what I thought, would be good information.

And I sincerely thank both of you for your contributions. It's always enlightening to hear different perspectives on things to broaden one's horizons.

Robert