BBQ question
 

My wife and I are going to have a grill party for 15 people or so and were considering de-boning 10 or so thick porterhouse steaks to break them into filets and strips to facilitate easier grilling. We have some reservations though as when we normally grill these steaks whole we find the meat near the bone to be one of our favorite parts. If we de-bone the steaks ahead of time will we be sacrificing quality?

Yes. Leave the bone on. I don't know the science behind this (I'm sure Alton Brown could tell you), but cooking with bone on will help the steak retain moisture and will lead to a more tender final result.

My suggestion - cook the steaks with the bone on, then bring them back into the kitchen and cover them with foil to retain heat. After allowing 20 minutes for juices to redistribute properly, then remove the bones before plating.

I vote for leaving them alone too. It really doesn't make them easier to grill, indeed you end up with twice as many things to flip.

It is because the meat near the bone cooks more slowly (bone conducts heat) becoming tenderer.

I also vote for leaving them alone. You can cut the meat away after they're cooked and get some really good meat from close to the bone.

"Grilling" is not barbecuing (except in Oz).

Boning Porterhouse steaks seems a terribly destructive method of turning a fine cut of beef into something potentially far less enjoyable. Cut thick enough to grill well, 2" or so, a Porterhouse is simply too big for most appetites, and at the high prices likely to be charged, hasa poor cost ratio of consumable end product, lots of bone, fat and "tail"

A couple of "boneless" alternatives which preserve moisture and flavor....Grilling a boneless tenderloin or even a well trimmed boneless rib roast ("Ribeye"). Grilling a boneless rib takes care and attention with controlled heat and requires time. "Butterflying" is tricky, since the "ribeye"'s center is a single muscle and splitting it impairs moisture retention. A "sirloin" roast, cut from the large side of what makes up "Porterhouse' steaks or a section from which NY/KC strip steaks aer cut, is hard to grill because the fat layer on the top side is thick and renders a lot of quick to ignite drippings.

Places like Sam's and Costco sell "Cry-o-Vac" tenderloin strips of decent for about $10 a pound, and they are greatly favored by caterers (who price shop fancy cuts from all sorts of purveyors). The problem with tenderloins? With no bone, little exterior fat and lightly fibered muscle, they will dry out, if left long on over the fire. That's why filets are less often grilled, more often "pan broiled' with substantial lathering/basting to prevent drying.

One "secret" calls for letting the beef stand for a few minutes after removal from the grill.

For the love of God leave the bone on!

Sounds like the best thing to do is leave them alone. We'll just stagger the grilling then, or else I'll go out and buy a bigger grill. Thanks for the replies.

Forgot to mention that in regards to the steaks being big, somehow they turn out so well that my wife and I inevitably end up eating a whole porterhouse each when we cook. I figure about 3/4 of our guests will do the same. With regards to the semantics of 'grilling' vs. 'barbequeing', we interchange both at our house anyway here in southern Germany. We are charcoal people and like to mix wood chips in for flavor.

Now you're talkin'! ^

That would still be just grillin' in Texas. ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

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I like to place steaks on pre-heated plates and then stick them in a 200 degree oven.

Beware of the generic ones. A friend bought a stainless steel monstrosity for a vacation home in Texas. When the wind was just right, the heat melted the plastic burner knobs. You can’t go wrong with a Weber! Link to their German site.

FWIW, the bigger part of a porterhouse (and most of a t bone) steak is simply the strip loin (a.k.a. NY strip/steak) and the smaller part is a tenderloin.

You could just buy these components if you don't want the bone.