How do you prepare your porterhouse or T-bone steak? There are various cooking methods for porterhouse or T-bone steak, including smoking.

Over the years, food smoking has become increasingly popular, evolving from just a food preservation technique to an essential cooking method. The advancements in technology have made the transition smooth, with lots of food smokers on the market that are now motivating many people to start food smoking, not to mention the numerous recipes available online. In this article, we’ll look at one of the ways to smoke your porterhouse or T-bone steak to bring out a finger-licking taste, but first, we’ll try to understand the differences between the two.

What is the difference between a porterhouse and T-bone steak?

You have probably heard the two names being thrown around in restaurants or recipes, but what is the difference between the two? T-bone and porterhouse are two almost similar steaks, with the main difference being that the porterhouse is a bigger version of the T-bone.

Just like its name, the T-bone has a T-shaped bone running through it and is cut from the short loin. The T-bone has two different steaks attached to the bone, with a strip on one side and a tenderloin on the other side. The T-bone steak also has a smaller portion of tenderloin meat than the porterhouse.

How to smoke porterhouse

Ingredients:

• 2 2-inch-thick porterhouse steaks (about 3 pounds each)
• 1 and a half teaspoons of sugar
• Flaky sea salt (for sprinkling after smoking)
• Kosher salt
• Ground pepper
• Food smoker
• Spatula or tongs
• Meat thermometer
• Wood chips – depending on your type of food smoker, there are preferred wood chips for each. For instance, when using a Bradley Smoker, we offer Bradley Bisquettes, especially compressed wood sawdust discs, available in 17 different flavors, including hickory, pecan, apple, and cherry.

Steps to follow

• If you had stored your meat in the refrigerator, take it out a few hours before and let it rest before you start preparing it.
• Season the porterhouse all over with the salt, pepper, and sugar, ensuring each end is covered with the mixture, and wait for around 30 minutes. For the pepper, it should be coarsely ground.
• Soak your hickory woods in water (in this recipe, we are using hickory wood chips).
• Add the wood chips and preheat your smoker to a temperature of 225 °F (107 °C).
• Using your spatula or tongs, carefully place your steak on the lower side of the grill, cover, and let it cook for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Remove your porterhouse from the grill and transfer it to a baking sheet covered with foil to keep warm.
• Increase the grill heat and prepare for direct cooking, then place your steak over direct heat and cook for an additional 10–15 minutes, checking on the temperature and readiness.
• Transfer to a cutting board and let it rest before serving.

How to smoke T-bone steaks

Ingredients:

• A food smoker
• T-bone steak (1 ½ to inches)
• Seasoning
• Chopped garlic
• Onions
• Goat cheese
• Butter
• Foil
• Temperature probe

Directions

• Set up your food smoker and preheat to a temperature of 225 °F (107 °C).
• Sprinkle salt and other seasonings on your steak. You can also add your preferred steak rub.
• Let it marinate for some time, then transfer your steak to the food smoker.
• Smoke until ready depending on how you like your meat done.
• Remove from the smoker and let it rest for 5–10 minutes.
• Prepare your goat cheese butter – mash your onions, garlic, cheese, and butter all together until it is well-mixed.
• Finish it up on the grill. Preheat it at 450 °F–500 ºF (232 °C–260 °C) to sear the steak.
• Cover your steak with a light coating of mayonnaise on all sides and place it back on the grill, letting each side of the steak grill for 30–45 seconds.
• Let it cool and serve with the goat cheese butter.

Points to note

You can use a grill or food smoker to smoke either T-bone steak or porterhouse.

In both, you first smoke in low heat, then increase the heat as you wind up.

The seasonings you use will depend on what you want to achieve, either more or less spicy.

Porterhouse or T-bone steaks can be paired with a variety of dishes, including mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, creamed spinach, and baked potatoes.

As we conclude

Cooking is a learning process, and it’s all about creativity. Additionally, there is no right way when it comes to cooking. It all depends on what you want to achieve and how you like your food smoked. The above are some recipes that you can use when preparing your T-bone steak and porterhouse on your food smoker.

Check out a few more steak articles here:
5 Steak Doneness Internal Temperatures & Times
The Way You Should Be Tenderizing Steak
How to Cook the Perfect New York Strip Steak

For more recipes like this, you can also check Bradley’s website.