GrillinFools
The farther you are from St. Louis, the less likely you are to have heard of the regional delicacy that was popularized in the Lou. This post is dedicated to explaining what a pork steak is, how to order one from a butcher who may have never heard of it, and finally, how to grill a pork shoulder steak. Think of pork steaks as pulled pork but with much shorter cook times and a much higher bark-to-meat ratio. Thus, scroll down for the Ultimate Guide to Pork Steak.
What is a Pork Steak?
A pork steak is quite simply a steak carved off of a pork shoulder. And when I say, “carved,” I really mean sawed. Because a band saw is used since the pork shoulder has the large scapula bone running through the roast. So don’t think you can just buy a bone-in pork shoulder (or pork butt, or Boston butt – which are all the same thing) and can carve off pork steaks. Generally, a butcher has to do it with a band saw.
Also, I will be using, ‘pork shoulder steak,’ from time to time for SEO purposes. Or even just, ‘shoulder steak.’ They are all interchangeable terms.
If you are just here for pork steak recipes, tap one of these 👇👇
- Smoked Pork Steaks
- Santa Maria Pork Steaks
- Reverse Seared Pork Steaks with an Adobo BBQ Sauce
- Just-Keep-Flipping Method Pork Steaks
- Chipotle Pork Steak Tacos
Although if you are looking for more pork steak knowledge, keep scrolling.
How to Order Pork Steaks
Go to any full-service meat department or local butcher (they prefer the term ‘meat cutter’) and ask them to run a pork shoulder through the band saw to carve off 1″-2″ thick slabs.
Also, feel free to pull this ultimate guide up on your phone and show him/her these pictures and the short video at the bottom of this.
Here’s a frozen pork shoulder that the fine folks at Korte Meats in Highland, Illinois are going to demonstrate how to slice:
That shoulder was sliced into these 1.25 inch monsters:
And here’s another pork shoulder carved into .5 inch steaks:
The marbling on both of those sets of pork steaks is out of this world good. That kind of marbling was everywhere at Korte Meats. I also bought these tomahawk steaks while dad and I were there that I reverse seared and finished with clarified butter.
The fine folks at Korte Meats tell me that if the pork shoulder is run through the band saw while still frozen, the pork steak stays more compact. If sliced thawed, the pork steak stretches out, and when cooked, the main muscles separate at the heavier veins of fat and collagen. So tell the butcher to carve the shoulder frozen.
And if there’s still some confusion, pull up this video and hand your phone to the meat cutter:
And here are some pork steaks, thawed and ready to become something magical:
Why is Pork Steak Great?
Because pork steaks are made from pork shoulder, they’re high in fat and collagen. Thus, it is next to impossible to dry out and will always be loaded with juicy flavor. There are also dozens upon dozens upon dozens of ways to cook them on the grill. Did I also mention it is super inexpensive? Which means you can feed a crowd for not much money and have very little risk of messing them up.
So if you are on the fence about hosting your first cookout at your house, this might be the way to go: Feed a lot of people, in not a lot of time with an almost guarantee of raving success.
What is the Difference Between a Pork Chop and a Pork Steak
Pork chops come from the pork loin of the pig and pork steak comes from the pork shoulder. Chops are super lean and only need to be cooked to 145F (medium rare), while pork steaks have a ton of fat/marbling and collagen and have to be cooked to north of 180F. Meaning pork chops can be cooked in a fraction of the time, but also can dry out much more quickly. Further, pork chops are about a third of the size of a pork steak, on average.
Compare that pork steak above with this pork chop. Notice very little marbling:
Why is this the Ultimate Guide?
Because we will explain what the pork shoulder steak is, how to order it no matter where you reside, and how to cook it. Also, I’m from St. Louis and wrote this cover article for Feast Magazine some years ago:
The two pics above were taken by Jennifer Silverberg who does fabulous work.
How to Grill Pork Steaks
There are too many ways to cook a pork steak that we can’t possibly cover them all here, so I will just go over my favorite methods.
Smoked Pork Steaks
As the title of this section implies, we just smoke them. Nothing more than that.
Pro Tips ~ Pork steaks can be quite large for one person, so it might be a good idea to cut some of them in half for the lighter eaters. This will also speed up cooking time so put the half ones on after the whole ones have been on for a little while:
Smoking Instructions
Prepare the grill for two-zone or indirect grilling with coals/heat ton one side and no direct heat on the other. This can be done with a gas grill too. Turn one burner on one side and place the pork shoulder steaks on the side of the grill with no direct heat. Then place smoke wood over the direct heat, close the lid and, BOOM, instant smoker. Target temp inside the grill is 250F-300F.
Season the pork steaks on both sides and place on the smoker.
Here they are about an hour into the session:
Pork Steaks have to be Cooked Well past Medium
Smoke until the pork steaks reach an internal temperature between 180F-200F. Some are probably freaking out about cooking these to 180F. See, that collagen will not really break down until it hits 180F. So 180F will be tender but not fall off the bone. The closer you get to 200F, and higher, is where you get pillowy soft, fall off the bone, tender. Choose your doneness level. I actually like mine closer to the 180F mark with a little char on the fat so it’s a bit crispy.
Once they are close to the temp you want, then slather each pork steak in BBQ sauce.
I highly recommend pouring a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce into a disposable aluminum pan and dunking each pork shoulder steak in the sauce and returning to the grill.
Close the lid for about 10 minutes and that sauce will thicken up nicely. Once the sauce tacks up, serve.
The pan of sauce can serve double duty. The second duty is it can be used as a holding tray. Drop the pork steaks into the sauce once they are done, slap a sheet of aluminum foil on top and place on the side with no direct heat to stay warm until guests arrive:
Here is a more in-depth, step-by-step, pic-by-pic, foolproof recipe for smoked pork steak.
Pork Steaks over Open Fire/Coals
This one is a little more complicated and requires some fire management and, therefore, much more attention to the process. Remember when I said it is almost impossible to over cook or dry a pork steak out? Well, this is one of the ways it can happen. Again, we are going to go with either two-zone grilling or a Santa Maria type grill that allows the grill grate or firebox to be raised and lowered. I went with a Santa Maria style cooker:
Two-Zone Grilling also Works
Now, if you don’t have a Santa Maria grill, or any way to raise and lower the fire or the meat, simply place the coals to one side and place the pork steaks just off the edge. In the pic above, the pork steak is about 18 inches over the coals, but also, the coals are pushed toward the back of that cooker so the pork isn’t getting the brunt of that direct heat.
As the pork steaks cook, sneak them closer to the fire and keep flipping so the pork steaks brown, but don’t burn.
By flipping before any burning happens, you can just keep flipping until the pork steaks crest the 180F mark we mentioned earlier.
Traditionally, pork steak is served sauced. I’m a huge fan of not saucing most of my BBQ, but pork steaks are one of the few that I usually sauce. Although, the choice is yours. Try it both ways:
Here’s the step-by-step, pic-by-pic, foolproof recipe for the Santa Maria Pork Steaks.
Notice there isn’t much of a smoke ring on that slice above. This method will not have a heavy smoke flavor since it is over open fire. The sauce will take on the smoke and the meat does too a little, but there won’t be a profound smoke flavor. More subtle. Which leads me to the next method which is the best of both worlds.
Reverse Sear Pork Steak
And finally, no ultimate guide would be complete without my favorite method for cooking pork steaks. We will start by getting a good amount of smoke penetration on each shoulder steak and then finish off with a nice sear to get some good char before saucing. For this one, I’ll go in depth so you can find everything in this post. I’ll also use pics from a few different pork steak cooks, so we will be flipping back and forth between different grills.
Reverse Sear Pork Steak Ingredients
- Six pork steaks, at least an inch thick (1.5 inches would be better)
- Salt, optional, based on the amount of salt in the rub below
- Your favorite BBQ seasoning
- Your favorite BBQ sauce
Season the pork shoulder steaks with the salt and the BBQ seasoning only on the top and then go crank up the grill. More on this in a minute.
Two-zone grilling again, and this time we are using both zones. Hot coals and smoke wood on one side, pork steak, seasoned side down, on the other.
Target temp in the grill being 250F-300F:
Save some Seasoning
See, if you season both sides of the pork steaks, a bunch of the seasoning is going to stick to the cutting board when you put the seasoned side down to season the other side. So just season the top, and place the pork steaks seasoned side down on the grill and THEN season the other side:
Now toss in a little smoke wood on the coals and let the pork shoulder steaks smoke.
Ideally, don’t touch the pork steaks until they hit about 20 degrees short of your desired doneness. But those two closest to the fire may need to be rotated out with some that are farther away. Just keep an eye on it.
Here are my pork steaks about 170F:
Then crank up the heat on the hot side and slap those smoked pork steaks over that hot fire:
Once they get some char, slide each pork shoulder steak back to the side with no heat and hit each one with some sauce:
Close the lid for about 10 minutes to let the sauce soak up some smoke and thicken.
Then serve:
That’s my preferred method. But if you are short on time, and you have one of those flat top griddles, you can have some epic pork steaks in no time at all. And since this is the ULTIMATE guide, I give you:
Flat Top Griddle Pork Shoulder Steaks
I went with just a drizzle of a couple BBQ sauces on one of these. One was the Mantis BBQ Sauce, the Gold variety, which I absolutely LOVE, and the other was an Alabama white sauce, because I just couldn’t decide:
Here is the step-by-step, pic-by-pic, foolproof recipe for the griddle method.
The Ultimate Guide to Pork Steak Summary
Super tender, super juicy, loads of smoky flavor, that lovely flavor char and some thick, robust BBQ sauce. Honestly, it’s the epitome of great BBQ. Give the pork steak a chance. It won’t cost you much and it is almost impossible to mess up.
Scroll down below the recipe card to see some of my favorite pork steak pics that I haven’t used in this post yet.
If you have any questions or comments about the ultimate guide, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.
Also, if you could leave us a great review with lots of stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ that would be most appreciated!
Additionally, you can follow us on our GrillinFools Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter/X and YouTube feeds
Pork Steak Recipe Card
The Ultimate Guide to Pork Steak
Ingredients
- 6 Pork steaks, at least an inch thick
- Salt, optional
- Your favorite BBQ seasoning
- Your favorite BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Season the tops of the pork steaks with salt (optional) and the BBQ seasoning. Set aside and light the grill.
- Set up for two-zone grilling with coals on one side and nothing on the other. Place the pork steaks, seasoned side down on the side with no heat and a chunk of smoke wood on the hot coals. Target temp inside the grill is 250F-300F. Close the lid and smoke the pork steak.
- Once the pork steaks hit between 170F-180F, crank up the heat on the hot side and sear the pork steak on both sides. Once there's some char on both sides, move the shoulder steaks back to the side with no heat and slather them with that BBQ sauce and close the lid. Once the sauce tacks up and thickens, remove the pork steaks from the grill and serve.
Video
Bonus Pics for the Ultimate Guide to Pork Steak:
Related Posts
