A porterhouse steak offers up full portions and bold flavor. When cooked properly, a porterhouse holds its own and needs little to no garnishes or added flavor. With such a big cut of meat, it’s important to learn how to grill a porterhouse steak properly.
If it’s overcooked, you’ll sacrifice much of the meat’s natural flavor. Though you can cook a porterhouse in an oven, we recommend using a grill to get the best flavor and maintain the perfect texture for a porterhouse. Learn more below about the best tips for grilling a porterhouse steak.
Use a High-Quality Grill
One of the best grilling tips is investing in a high-quality grill. The best grills don’t have to break the bank. Instead of shelling out on extra features, look for a grill that offers plenty of space and temperature control.
Grills like the Weber Spirit II E-210 are designed to distribute heat evenly. This means your steak will cook properly instead of an uneven grill.
With thick cuts like a porterhouse, even and consistent heat is important to achieve the best piece of meat. Otherwise, you may have certain bites that are chewier than others, and the overall texture will vary too much.
Season Your Steak Properly
Seasoning is integral in understanding how to cook meat. Yet, with flavorful steak cuts like a porterhouse, you don’t need too much seasoning.
Before grilling your cut, season liberally with salt and pepper. You can brush the steak with butter or oil to add more texture and flavor, though that step isn’t necessary for grilling.
If you’d like to add some fresh flavors, you can grill your steak with fresh thyme or other herbs like parsley. To add some acidic flavors, you can also brush the steak with a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
Reverse Sear the Steak
Porterhouse steaks are thick because they’re a combination of tenderloin and top loin meat. Because it’s a large composite cut, there’s a proper method for barbecuing steak to seal in moisture and flavor.
For many cuts of meat, the most common method is searing first before cooking over heat. With a porterhouse, you’ll want to use a reverse sear method instead to create the Maillard reaction right before you’re ready to serve.
The Maillard reaction is what browns your food to create better flavors and more thick textures. It’s important to sear your porterhouse at the end of grilling so you’ll seal in the flavor. If you sear too early, you may end up over-cooking the steak.
Practice to Grill a Porterhouse Steak Well
Learning how to grill a porterhouse steak is all about practice and preferences. Some people enjoy well-done steaks while others like their cuts on the rare side. How you cook your porterhouse will rely heavily on these preferences.
Regardless of what you enjoy, our grilling tips can help you achieve a delicious steak that’s cooked cohesively all the way through.
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