Grill Nation

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Steaks Defined: T-Bone vs. Porterhouse

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Hey Roy, “Love Ya Meat” from up here in Buffalo! Need you to settle a bet: What’s the difference between a Porterhouse and a T-bone?

Devon
Buffalo, New York

Thanks Devon. Lets start with what they have in common (other than being delicious and ideal for grilling!!!). Both the T-bone and the Porterhouse consist of a ‘T’ shaped bone with meat on each side. The larger side contains meat from the striploin while the smaller side contains meat from the tenderloin.

Example of Porthouse Steaks

Example of Porthouse Steaks

The Porterhouse is a big beautiful steak – pushing 2 to 2 ½ pounds. It’s cut from the large end (rear) of the short loin and contains more of the tenderloin than the T-bone. Usually pretty pricey, but worth every penny when the mood strikes you.



The T-bone is cut from the narrow end, which is further forward in the short loin and also very tasty!

But in case you need numbers to settle this bet, the good old USDA is here to help. According to their Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications document, the tenderloin must be at least 1.25 inches (32 mm) thick to be classified a porterhouse, while the tenderloin must be at least ½ inch (13 mm) thick for the steak to be classified a T-bone.

Nice.

Devon, you gotta let us know who won the bet and what the ‘steaks’ were!!!

Until next time – like I always say…

Love Your Meat,

Roy

Making the Grade: Prime, Select, and Choice Beef

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Choosing Your Meat

Hello Roy, a great big “Love Ya Meat!” from the good people out here in Portland. My question concerns the grading of beef – what does it really mean?

Rich
Portland, Oregon

Thanks for your question Rich. It’s an important one and something that many of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about!

For the griller, grading is a standard way to assess the quality of meat you are buying. From the industry perspective, grading helps in the promotion and marketing of quality beef, while assisting producers in getting a fair price for their product. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been grading beef for more than 75 years and currently operates a voluntary beef grading program.

Whoa, that was heavy! So lets get down to the part that I like…

Grade depends on the so called ‘quality grade factors’ of age and marbling. Age refers to the estimated age of the animal at slaughter and marbling refers to the amount of intramuscular fat in the meat itself. There are actually eight USDA beef quality grades but only three that matter to us – Prime, Choice and Select.



  • Prime grade beef is of the highest quality and features the greatest amount of marbling. As you know from my previous ranting, marbling plays a key role in producing the tenderness, juiciness, flavor and the overall ‘palatability’ of a given cut of beef. (See my “Love Your Meat Post” post on Marbling for all the details). Only 2% of graded beef in the United States is considered Prime and this grade is typically be found in finer restaurants and select meat stores.
  • Choice grade beef is of high quality and falls between Prime and Select grades. This is the grade found widely in the retail and food service sectors.
  • Select grade beef is the lowest grade typically available at retailers. It is lower priced and leaner, but tends to be less tender and flavorful than Choice or Prime grades.

I often get asked whether the premium price tag on Prime grade beef cuts is worth the price. Well, this really depends on you, what you’re willing to spend, and ultimately what you like to eat. No doubt that if tenderness, juiciness and flavor are what you’re after, you’ll get better examples of these characteristics in the higher grade cuts.

Until next time – like I always say…

Love your meat,

Roy

What is Marbled Beef? Does it Taste Better?

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Marvelous Marbling

Question:
Hey Roy, loved your porterhouse post. Got a question for you concerning ‘marbled beef’. Does it really taste better and what do you look for?
Scott in Ann Arbor, MI

Answer:
Thanks Scott. I really like this question because ‘marbling’ is a term that gets tossed around a lot in cookbooks and on cooking shows, but I don’t think is really understood by a lot of people.

First let’s take a look at what we are talking about here:

Example of Perfectly Marbled Beef

Example of Perfectly Marbled Beef

So the ‘marbling effect’ pictured above is produced by the fine evenly distributed flecks of white intramuscular fat distributed throughout this steak – NOT the dense outer fat around the outside.



Compare this to the steak below:

Example of Poorly Marbled Beef

Example of Poorly Marbled Beef

Pretty obvious that there is no marbling in this cut.

Now that we are all on the same page, the next part of your question gets really interesting. Does marbling make for a juicier, more tender better tasting steak? There is no doubt in my mind about the answer here – YES – and if the years of experience aren’t enough for you, believe it or not there is data to support this!

In the May 31, 2007 issue of the well respected Journal of Food Quality, author G.C. Smith published “RELATIONSHIP OF USDA MARBLING GROUPS TO PALATABILITY OF COOKED BEEF”. Their conclusions – and I’ll just cut to the chase here, because you know I could go on for hours about this stuff – “as marbling increased from practically devoid to moderately abundant … steaks were more palatable about 2/3 of the time …”. Don’t you just love science?

Until next time – like I always say…

Love your meat,

Roy