Porterhouse Vs T Bone

Written in 2023
by Toni Costa

    Beginners often get these two cuts mixed up, its an easy thing to do, they both have that 'T' shape among lots of other similarities that we will get into as well. Over this article and we can cover the differences and what to look out for when buying too.

    Differences

    Both of these cuts are from the short loin and have the exact same shape bone that goes through the middle.

    This means they can look almost identical, with the difference being that the porterhouse is more towards the back of the loin and the T Bone is more towards the front. They both even have a New York strip and a Filet Mignon on either side respectively.

    The difference that separates the two is the size of the cut. The porterhouse is a thicker piece, but regardless of the thickness that's not how its classified, its actually the wideness. The tenderloin part of a porterhouse will be more than 1.25 inches, anything below that is technically classified as a T-Bone.

    There tends to be a lot of confusion and restaurants and butchers all around mislabel them all the time, (it is just a tiny difference after all)

    Price Difference

    If you were to look at it price per pound, then the porterhouse tends to be more expensive, mainly because the tenderloin is well-sought after, and a lovely, succulent piece of meat.

    Raw T-bone Steak for grill or BBQ on cutting board over aged wooden background, top view

    What's Better?

    This is an entirely personal opinion!

    Its pretty common to go for the larger porterhouse when grilling for two and maybe just a t bone when grilling for just yourself, but its an individual experience!

    Both are good options to grill and super easy to manage as its all together rather than managing 2 or more pieces of meat.

    Buying a Porterhouse

    Now you know the difference, now you need to know what you're looking for to get the perfect steak, and this can all be determined before you've even started lighting up your grill.

    The first thing to look for is the strip side, you don't want any of the connective tissue dividing up the steak ruining it. This is a side effect of the cut being done too close to the sirloin area, and it can ruin a good cut of meat., its chewy and lacks flavour, so avoid it!

    Look for a nice wide strip with lots of marbling!

    Secondly, look for a thick steak, they are easier to cook evenly than a thinner steak and tend to keep onto their moisture easier!

    Grilling Tips

    As with most steaks, a little pepper and salt for seasoning go a long way and are considered the minimum, but feel free to try something new too!

    If you can, cook the strip side on the hotter side of the grill as the filet side has less fat and so cooks a little quicker than the strip side.

    Always let your steaks rest for ten minutes before you tuck in!

    Final Thoughts

    Hopefully through the article you'll now know what your looking for and where to buy it, as well as how to cook it! You can get porterhouse and T-bones of pork, veal and lamb too, not just beef, so experiment!

    Written by Toni Costa

    I'm Antonio! I'm a university student based in Leeds, UK. My passions, are sports and food! The less said about the teams I support the better...

    Working on the SmokeGuys site has allowed me to improve my writing and of course, provide you with awesome reviews and guides!

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