The Perfect Porterhouse Steak Recipe

Perhaps the true king of the cuts of Steak is the Porterhouse. This wonderful cut of Beef is sometimes referred to as the T-Bone because of its unique ‘T’ shaped bone that is a hallmark characteristic of this delicious steak. On one side of the Bone is a NY Strip Steak, and on the other side a Filet. You get the best of both worlds with this cut of Steak; however, it can be very tricky to cook. In this recipe we’ll show you how to make The Perfect Porterhouse Steak that’s cooked evenly throughout and tastes amazing

Jump to Recipe

About 95% of The Perfect Porterhouse Steak comes down to the quality of the Beef

Like any Protein or Fresh Produce, quality makes a world of difference when it comes to the result in cooking. Steaks are absolutely no exception to that and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) there is such a huge range in quality when it comes to Steaks

The best way to get your hands on some good quality Steak will require a little bit of trial and error. There’s no other way around it. You’ll need to shop around a little bit in your local area and test a few different places. Price simply isn’t the determining factor on whether you’re getting your hands on a good quality piece of Steak or not. Test a few different places, from grocery stores to specialty butchers until you find a place that you like

The Perfect Porterhouse Steak with Quality Beef — The quality of the Beef will play a huge factor in making The Perfect Porterhouse Steak at home

How to tell if I’ve got a good Steak?

There are some visual queues you can follow to determine the quality of the Steak, but they’re not always guaranteed. The main thing to look for is some good marbling of fat that runs through the Steak. This is simply long, thin strands of white fatty parts that are spotted throughout the Steak. Marbling is good. It means the Fat will melt and turn into a beautiful tender flavor when cooked

If you want to get a good idea of what some ridiculously high quality steak looks like, just do a search from Japanese A5 Wagyu S t eak to see what we’re talking about. Now, buying something that fancy will probably cost you upwards of $150 a lb. so it’s not an everyday steak

For a great Porterhouse, you don’t need to spend that kind of cash. Just find a good local supplier and then ask them for some assistance to get you a good quality cut. Most Porterhouse Steaks are cut quite thick, which is what this recipe is working off. The Steak we cooked came in at 2.4lbs (1.1 kg) including the bone. It was more than enough to feed 2 hungry people along with a delicious side of Mac and Cheese

How to Cook The Perfect Porterhouse Steak

Once you’ve got your hands on the best steak you can find, it’s important to bring it up to room temperature before you cook it. Any Steak this large, especially one that’s attached to the bone should be cooked at room temperature

This will ensure that the entire steak cooks through at the same temperature, which is important for all proteins, but especially a Porterhouse Steak. With two separate cuts to consider when cooking (the NY Strip and the Tenderloin), it can be challenging to ensure a consistent cook across the board. Getting the Steak to room temperature allows an even playing field as you begin cooking

The Perfect Porterhouse Steak Recipe — Follow this recipe to make The Perfect Porterhouse Steak at home. It’s easy and tastes amazing

The next step is to Season the Steak generously with Salt and Pepper. Don’t be shy about applying a liberal coat of both to the Steak. Remember, we’re just seasoning the outside of the Steak, so the Steak needs a lot of seasoning so that every piece that is sliced will carry enough seasoning to flavor the whole piece

Once seasoned, you will need to heat a large oven proof pan (we recommend using a Cast Iron Skillet) over the highest heat possible. Cast Irons will take a little longer than other pans to heat up, but that is because they hold / conduct the heat better than any other type. So, give it a good 5 minutes until its scorching hot

Render the fat strip first

A little trick that goes a long way in terms of flavor is to ensure that you render the strip of fat along the NY Strip side first. To do so, simply place the Steak upright so that the strip of fat is directly contacting the hot pan. The Porterhouse Steak should be thick enough so it can stand there in its own. If not, just hold it carefully with a pair of tongs

You will want to render the fat well, so I recommend at least 3 minutes at this high temperature. What will happen is all that fat will render out onto the pan, and the fat will turn a delicious golden-brown color. The rendered fat carries so much flavor and will be used like how Oil is used to pan fry. You can turn the Steak onto its side now, ensuring as much of that wonderful, rendered fat is captured underneath the steak so help flavor and sear it

Porterhouse Steak Rendering Fat — Render the Fat by cooking the Steak on its side as the first step

Sear both sides of the Steak and then roast it in the Oven

There’s no better technique to cook a thick cut steak like Porterhouse than searing both sides, basting it in loads of Garlic Butter and then roasting it in the oven. This technique ensures all the quality hallmarks you expect from the Perfect Porterhouse Steak. A beautiful crust, perfectly cooked medium rare inside, and a buttery, garlicky roasted sauce to serve it up in

The technique is very easy. Simply sear the first side of the steak for 3 minutes on that high heat. The rendered fat from the NY Strip will help to get a beautiful golden-brown color on the meat. After 3 minutes, flip the Steak over and drop the heat to medium. At this point, add the Butter, Garlic, and some Rosemary to the pan

It’s important to drop the heat before the Butter is added. If the pan is scorching hot the Butter will simply burn, and you’ll end up with a bitter flavor. Allow the Butter to melt into the Garlic and Rosemary, which will infuse it with flavor. Then, scoop up the melted Butter with a large pan and pour it over the Steak. This technique is known as basting, and is a key component for getting more flavor and color into the Steak

Oven roast the Steak to finish it off

After 3 minutes, remove the Steak from the heat and place it in the Oven. You’ll want your oven pretty hot, so pre-heat it to 400F and have it up to temperature before you begin cooking. Oven roasting the steak will finish cooking the insides without burning the outside which is what will happen if we continue to cook it on the stovetop

Oven roasting this particularly cooked Steak doesn’t take too long. For a 2.4 lb. Porterhouse Steak it only took 5 minutes before the center of our Porterhouse was 105F. This is the perfect temperature to remove the Steak and allow it to rest

Cooked Porterhouse Steak ready for resting — Once the Steak is cooked, allow ample time for resting before you slice into it

Resting the Steak before slicing and serving, perhaps the most important step!

The final step for The Perfect Porterhouse Steak is allowing it to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Resting will continue to increase the internal temperature by about 10 degrees, bringing it up to a perfect medium rare. Resting also allows the internal juices to relax after being cooked. If you slice into a Steak right after it’s been cooked the juices will go everywhere. Allowing it to rest keeps those juices in the Steak, resulting in a more tender and flavorful result

After you’ve rested it, Place the Porterhouse upright and slice directly down the bone to remove both the NY Strip and Tenderloin cuts. For the ultimate presentation, lay the T-Bone onto a large serving plate and then slice each cut into pieces. Lay the Beef onto the plate next to the Bone, as if to interpret what it looked like before you sliced it

To finish the whole thing off, Spoon over a generous amount of that wonderful Butter and Rendered Beef Fat from the pan all over the Steak. The flavor in this sauce is truly amazing and is not to be missed as part of the perfect Porterhouse Steak dish. You can add some of the Garlic pieces and Rosemary to the plate for presentation purposes, then finish the whole thing with a generous sprinkling of Finishing Salt

What to serve with a delicious Porterhouse Steak

A beautiful Steak dinner isn’t complete without some delicious Sides. We enjoyed our Steak with our amazing homemade Mac and Cheese Recipe which I wholeheartedly recommend you try. French Fries or Mashed Potatoes are another good choice

If you want some greens, check out this delicious Green Bean Casserole, or for something lighter, try this amazing Broccoli and Bacon Salad which goes perfectly with a delicious Steak

Recipe Details

Servings

2 – 4 people

Prep time

30 minutes

Cooking time

14 minutes

Total time

44 minutes