I've been cooking pork steaks in St. Louis for around 40 years. The ones you have made in this video look delicious. The funny thing about pork steaks in St Louis is that a good number of people simply burn them on the grill--that's it. And then maybe sauce maybe not. These people wash it down with beer and don't seem to have particularly discriminating palates. That's OK. To each his own. However, many of us follow what is truly a St. Louis ritual: burn them on the grill, then place them in beer and BBQ sauce in a tin foil pan sealed with foil. Set the oven at 250 and go for three hours. Some say two hours, but two hours is not enough (nor is 2.5 hours). Once you hit the three hour mark the steaks become tender, and by 3.5 hours you've got the real McCoy!
After growing up in St. Louis I was treated by blank stares when I went to the grocery store after moving to the Bay Area 30 years ago. Pork Steaks? Gooey Butter Cake? Luckily the local butcher was happy to cut me some steaks from a pork shoulder. The way you cooked them looked good to me, I’d definitely use rub and some Cherry or Hickory chunks for the first part of the cook. Drizzle some beer on them after the first turn. Maybe another coat of bbq sauce. I just moved back to the St. Louis area last year and have been building my dream shop. Looking forward to having a party to celebrate completing the shop with some bbq on my home made smoker soon.
A couple things, for the guy wondering if they sell pork steak in Mi. your in luck, pork steak is pork shoulder. Buy a whole shoulder/butt and have your butcher slice it for half the price. Also, I have my pork steaks cut 1" thick, one hour on the smoker 250ish then let 'em rest in a vat of warm bbq sauce, then on to medium low grill , flipping often until the sauce becomes one with the meat.
So glad you're keeping this channel alive. I've seen pork steaks in the market out here in Southern California but only thought about trying them. Now I know I've been stupid for not giving them a go sooner. Thanks for the confidence booster.
I have lived in St Louis for all but the first 2 years of my life (so 38 years), and this seems to be exactly how my dad makes them. I know the flavor she is talking about so well, and yep, it's a classic St Louis taste to me. Looks like you did well!
Love it Marc. My family’s variation includes high heat for a few minutes to charr the outside of the pork steaks. Then in a aluminum pan have SBR sauce, onion and a few beers heating. So after charr move steaks to sauce tray to tenderize and fully cook without drying out (and fully infuse with the sauce). Then to finish, move over to heat to caramelize the sauce but most of the time i don’t even worry about caramelizing bc the steaks can start to fall apart at this point. But some friends dads did what you just did.
You sound just like this guy I was listening to on a woodworking podcast this morning. I have never had a pork steak I am going to have to try and find them here in Michigan.
Hi Marc, My Dad and his brothers used to marinate the pork steaks in apple juice the night before and let them sit in the juice all night. After grilling, they would put them in a BBQ sauce bath on low heat until time to serve. Don’t know if this makes a difference; just thought I’d share.
My wife is from StL and I'm from eastern NC, home of real barbecue... But she introduced me to pork steaks via her dad, much like you guys... only her dad's were always cooked to shoe sole hardness... so a friend of my wife's showed her a way of boiling them in vinegar first. This gets them super tender and starts to break down the fat. Then she gives them to me to finish on the grill to get the char and the caramelized sauce. Something to try! They turn out so tender this way. Also, try to get thick cut ones at Costco (probably can only find in StL region) or a butcher. Great vid!
Nice job, rookie. I've lived in and around St. Louis for all of my 63 years . Here's how I, and my family, have always done it. Temp around 225-250, cooked indirect heat. We sear the meat at the beginning to seal in the juices and then set it off the fire. It generally takes around 4-5 hours to cook pork steaks. When the meat is falling off the bone it's done. It will be very similar to a pulled pork texture with just a little more chewiness. And get rid of that fake BBQ sauce and get some Maull's. If you're going to do pork steaks you need to use the mother sauce. Of course, you'll be required to doctor that sauce up a bit to suit your taste. And don't forget that cooler of beer. One must stay hydrated in the St. Louis summers!
@@TWWBBQ Another thing some of us do is use yellow mustard as a binder to hold on the rub. It adds a nice base flavor to the pork. By the way, when you get here to St. Louis, and if you ever want to start an impassioned debate, forget politics and religion....bring up pork steaks! Everyone of us knows that exact best way to do 'em. And then start talking pizza. By the way, go down to the Hill when you get here. It's the Italian neighborhood. St. Louis is known for really good Italian food, believe it or not. Go to Lou Boccardi's to get a real St. Louis style pizza. Imo's isn't the real thing anymore.
@@TomKD0QKK lol pizza... I'm not from StL, but I live here, and I absolutely HATE provel. Nothing is grosser than having that crap stuck in your throat...
And we don't baste our bbq we gotta maul it. Basically the maul commercial show a guy pouring from the bottle right onto the pork steaks. He throws the mop over his shoulder.
I’ve always seasoned my pork steaks with bbq seasoning and cooked then hot and fast. Add the bbq sauce the last few minutes. I take them off the grill at about medium to medium well.
As a St. Louie man, looks like you nailed it. Maybe a bit more BBQ sauce, turn and cook in to a sticky caramel glaze. One each side is just the start. Needs 3 rotations to hit that sweet spot. Also, sweet corn. Summer pork steaks are just not the same without fresh cut sweet corn. Where I grew up (just west of St. Louis), there was a lot of farms before the suburb expansions took them all out. One farmer use to have a load of fresh cut sweet corn in a truck bed at the end of his gravel driveway with a tip jar. $5 for a full grocery bag was a steal! Still the best corn I've ever had. Sure miss those days with Pop on the grill and Mom nailing the sides and such on a Sunday evening, all while listening to the very distant roar of the old St. Charles Speedway from our back patio. (*tears and fond memories). ... How's the move coming?
going on a bit of a rabbit chase, but we live in St Charles County now, and attend Harvester Christian Church, just across 94 from the old race track grounds... I just recently learned about the track's existence - it's a subdivision now, of course...
Chud has the best video of pork steaks. I cooked mine on my PBC and I had thicker cut steaks from the butcher. I also made a mop sauce that was fantastic!
Here in central TX there are a few BBQ places that have pork steaks on the menu. I almost always get it because it is so good and gives me an alternative from the typical TX bbq offerings. I've never tried cooking them but i'm going to give it a shot now. Thanks!
Welcome to Missouri! I was told pork steaks were invented to be the poor man's steak. Having grown up on a hog farm - have eaten them all my life. Couple of tips I will share with you. On charcoal I like to sear them directly over the coals first. This seals them, then set them on the indirect side and add hickory wood chips. let them smoke for an hour or so. So good. Also if you can find it, try Blues Hog BBQ sauce on them. Put it on while smoking and it will carmelize (brown sugar and honey based sauce. Anyway - welcome - hope to see you on the other channel and meetup you have talked about.
Looks amazing! I didn’t know anything a bout pork steak until trying some at a local bbq place here in Waco TX that specializes in them. I don’t know how it compares with Missouri style, but they do a citrus marinade and smoke on post oak (I think hit the grill at the end for char), and it’s magical.
my roommate in college would use that method for cooking everything....pork, chicken, steaks, shrimp...didn't matter, grilled then bbq sauced/charred at the end....not exactly how I like my meals now, but dang that brings back from fun memories
I dig it. The charred on bbq sauce was the same thing my dad did with chicken. It’s a memory, but not one I care to replicate :). Congrats on the inpending move.
try a tomahawk pork chop, when the rib bone is loaded with meat and fat. Just salt and pepper cooked on a grill is delicious but, with the right seasons takes it a step up. Rendering the fat on the bone is next level heaven.
I make these for the family fairly often just because they're so cheap and tasty. I put on Baron Soul Food Seasoning as a rub before putting them on the grill. I go with direct heat to keep the cooking time to a minimum. I get them on the grill, sauce the top with some Sweet Baby Ray's, then flip them so that side can start cooking and carmelizing. Give the other side a good slather and flip them to get that side cooking. I probably only leave them on for 10-12 minutes, only flipping a couple times and they always get good reviews.
As a native STL’ian of 41 years, you did a good job representing what our pork steaks are about working with your wife’s memories of what her father used to do. Don’t tell her next time or maybe you’ve already figured this out but season all the pork steaks with seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. That’s the ticket and puts that razzle dazzle in the meat. I personally like to use about 50% sweet baby rays with about 25 to 30% yellow mustard about 10 to 15% honey that’s the key for that crispiness on that fat that gives you that pork candy brother. Then lastly Frank or whatever hot sauce you like to your own taste you’re not trying to make a spicy sauce, but it just adds a little pizzazz to the whole affair. Also, if you would have used Weber briquettes (which I get ripping the sane way you do your lump, no fluid in a chimney with whatever paper I have laying around) you would’ve been able to keep that heat up as long as you wanted it to be kept up at the end there when you were trying to get that char char. 👌🏼 And let’s just be honest here a pork steak is kind of like pizza. I’ve never really had a bad one, but maybe I’m just lucky.
The way I do it here in IL (not sure if it's a my family thing or all of us in IL) is similar. Lots of salt and pepper, and DIRECTLY over screaming hot coals with no lid. Then just flip it a lot. Build the char. You take them off when they look done. Definitely well done. Then I just cut it into almost pork bites. They never get dried out and always taste amazing. I personally skip sauce entirely as a personal preference.
Hey Marc, I think There are a lot of different ways to cook pork steaks. One way that my wife uses is to do a quick sear on the meat (both sides) to get the grill marks and right color. Then you put it in a shallow pan… Cover in barbecue sauce… top with foil and cook at 275 degrees for 3 hours (for a thick cut pork steak). The meat will have that “infused” flavor that Nichole talked about and be incredibly tender. I know… I know…. Not true grilling (called barbecuing in St Louis) but it’s delicious!!
I'm going to try that next time. Not sure the reverse sear style adds much. I guess maybe a little extra smoke flavor but the difference is probably pretty minor.
I have my butcher cut them extra thick, rub them with "Head Country Dry Rub", sit for a few hours in the fridge, let come to room temp for about a half hour before grilling and grill them like a steak. When about halfway done, coat them with a homemade fresh peach/habanero sauce (No, not really hot). The fat is rendered out nicely, sauce caramelized and grilled to about medium. The beer must be definitely ice cold or it doesn't turn out for some reason... But that's Wisconsin for ya!
You can try the following: season your steak with salt and put it away for 3 hours in the fridge. After that than your favorite rub and put it on the Bbq.
Sweet Baby Ray's? Sweet Baby Jesus NO! I grew up in West St. Louis County. I now live in the BBQ capital of the world (KC for you folks that are mislead about TX). A true St. Louis resident would use Mauls Original (now called Classic), preferably made with sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you want it thinner, you pour a half a bottle of Budweiser in it. Cook until the meat starts to pull off the bone, then turn. Cook for a few minutes more, then start your sauce. To add a KC taste to it, put hickory chunks in at the beginning of the cook phase. Put the sauce in a metal container over the fire, or off to the side when you do the turn of the meat. Apply sauce with brush on one side, then flip. Repeat until you have a nice coating or you're out of sauce, whichever comes first. I also prefer briquets, as its easier to control temperature, but I have used both.
This guy’s my favorite!
you're a wood worker, he is a BBQ'r what do you know?
I've been cooking pork steaks in St. Louis for around 40 years. The ones you have made in this video look delicious. The funny thing about pork steaks in St Louis is that a good number of people simply burn them on the grill--that's it. And then maybe sauce maybe not. These people wash it down with beer and don't seem to have particularly discriminating palates. That's OK. To each his own. However, many of us follow what is truly a St. Louis ritual: burn them on the grill, then place them in beer and BBQ sauce in a tin foil pan sealed with foil. Set the oven at 250 and go for three hours. Some say two hours, but two hours is not enough (nor is 2.5 hours). Once you hit the three hour mark the steaks become tender, and by 3.5 hours you've got the real McCoy!
Actually don't burn'em but 10 to 12 hours is the sweet spot
After growing up in St. Louis I was treated by blank stares when I went to the grocery store after moving to the Bay Area 30 years ago. Pork Steaks? Gooey Butter Cake? Luckily the local butcher was happy to cut me some steaks from a pork shoulder. The way you cooked them looked good to me, I’d definitely use rub and some Cherry or Hickory chunks for the first part of the cook. Drizzle some beer on them after the first turn. Maybe another coat of bbq sauce. I just moved back to the St. Louis area last year and have been building my dream shop. Looking forward to having a party to celebrate completing the shop with some bbq on my home made smoker soon.
A couple things, for the guy wondering if they sell pork steak in Mi. your in luck, pork steak is pork shoulder. Buy a whole shoulder/butt and have your butcher slice it for half the price.
Also, I have my pork steaks cut 1" thick, one hour on the smoker 250ish then let 'em rest in a vat of warm bbq sauce, then on to medium low grill , flipping often until the sauce becomes one with the meat.
So glad you're keeping this channel alive. I've seen pork steaks in the market out here in Southern California but only thought about trying them. Now I know I've been stupid for not giving them a go sooner. Thanks for the confidence booster.
Great Video, dude! Keep em comin’!!!
If you really want to do closest to St Louis pork steaks you can you got to use Maull's barbecue sauce... And have a Budweiser close by.
I have lived in St Louis for all but the first 2 years of my life (so 38 years), and this seems to be exactly how my dad makes them. I know the flavor she is talking about so well, and yep, it's a classic St Louis taste to me. Looks like you did well!
Love it Marc. My family’s variation includes high heat for a few minutes to charr the outside of the pork steaks. Then in a aluminum pan have SBR sauce, onion and a few beers heating. So after charr move steaks to sauce tray to tenderize and fully cook without drying out (and fully infuse with the sauce). Then to finish, move over to heat to caramelize the sauce but most of the time i don’t even worry about caramelizing bc the steaks can start to fall apart at this point. But some friends dads did what you just did.
You sound just like this guy I was listening to on a woodworking podcast this morning. I have never had a pork steak I am going to have to try and find them here in Michigan.
Hi Marc,
My Dad and his brothers used to marinate the pork steaks in apple juice the night before and let them sit in the juice all night. After grilling, they would put them in a BBQ sauce bath on low heat until time to serve. Don’t know if this makes a difference; just thought I’d share.
Missed these Marc! Good luck with the move.
My wife is from StL and I'm from eastern NC, home of real barbecue...
But she introduced me to pork steaks via her dad, much like you guys... only her dad's were always cooked to shoe sole hardness... so a friend of my wife's showed her a way of boiling them in vinegar first. This gets them super tender and starts to break down the fat. Then she gives them to me to finish on the grill to get the char and the caramelized sauce. Something to try! They turn out so tender this way. Also, try to get thick cut ones at Costco (probably can only find in StL region) or a butcher. Great vid!
Nailed it! Looks amazing!
Nice job, rookie. I've lived in and around St. Louis for all of my 63 years . Here's how I, and my family, have always done it. Temp around 225-250, cooked indirect heat. We sear the meat at the beginning to seal in the juices and then set it off the fire. It generally takes around 4-5 hours to cook pork steaks. When the meat is falling off the bone it's done. It will be very similar to a pulled pork texture with just a little more chewiness. And get rid of that fake BBQ sauce and get some Maull's. If you're going to do pork steaks you need to use the mother sauce. Of course, you'll be required to doctor that sauce up a bit to suit your taste. And don't forget that cooler of beer. One must stay hydrated in the St. Louis summers!
Nicole mentioned Maull’s in that interview but I cut it for time lol. I’ll definitely do it right in St Louis. 👍
@@TWWBBQ Another thing some of us do is use yellow mustard as a binder to hold on the rub. It adds a nice base flavor to the pork. By the way, when you get here to St. Louis, and if you ever want to start an impassioned debate, forget politics and religion....bring up pork steaks! Everyone of us knows that exact best way to do 'em. And then start talking pizza. By the way, go down to the Hill when you get here. It's the Italian neighborhood. St. Louis is known for really good Italian food, believe it or not. Go to Lou Boccardi's to get a real St. Louis style pizza. Imo's isn't the real thing anymore.
@@TomKD0QKK lol pizza... I'm not from StL, but I live here, and I absolutely HATE provel. Nothing is grosser than having that crap stuck in your throat...
And we don't baste our bbq we gotta maul it. Basically the maul commercial show a guy pouring from the bottle right onto the pork steaks. He throws the mop over his shoulder.
I’ve always seasoned my pork steaks with bbq seasoning and cooked then hot and fast. Add the bbq sauce the last few minutes. I take them off the grill at about medium to medium well.
As a St. Louie man, looks like you nailed it. Maybe a bit more BBQ sauce, turn and cook in to a sticky caramel glaze. One each side is just the start. Needs 3 rotations to hit that sweet spot. Also, sweet corn. Summer pork steaks are just not the same without fresh cut sweet corn. Where I grew up (just west of St. Louis), there was a lot of farms before the suburb expansions took them all out. One farmer use to have a load of fresh cut sweet corn in a truck bed at the end of his gravel driveway with a tip jar. $5 for a full grocery bag was a steal! Still the best corn I've ever had. Sure miss those days with Pop on the grill and Mom nailing the sides and such on a Sunday evening, all while listening to the very distant roar of the old St. Charles Speedway from our back patio. (*tears and fond memories). ... How's the move coming?
going on a bit of a rabbit chase, but we live in St Charles County now, and attend Harvester Christian Church, just across 94 from the old race track grounds... I just recently learned about the track's existence - it's a subdivision now, of course...
I said the same about 3 layer. 😂
Chud has the best video of pork steaks. I cooked mine on my PBC and I had thicker cut steaks from the butcher. I also made a mop sauce that was fantastic!
So glad to have a bbq video
Here in central TX there are a few BBQ places that have pork steaks on the menu. I almost always get it because it is so good and gives me an alternative from the typical TX bbq offerings. I've never tried cooking them but i'm going to give it a shot now. Thanks!
Welcome to Missouri! I was told pork steaks were invented to be the poor man's steak. Having grown up on a hog farm - have eaten them all my life. Couple of tips I will share with you. On charcoal I like to sear them directly over the coals first. This seals them, then set them on the indirect side and add hickory wood chips. let them smoke for an hour or so. So good. Also if you can find it, try Blues Hog BBQ sauce on them. Put it on while smoking and it will carmelize (brown sugar and honey based sauce. Anyway - welcome - hope to see you on the other channel and meetup you have talked about.
Looks amazing! I didn’t know anything a bout pork steak until trying some at a local bbq place here in Waco TX that specializes in them. I don’t know how it compares with Missouri style, but they do a citrus marinade and smoke on post oak (I think hit the grill at the end for char), and it’s magical.
Woohoo finally a new video on this channel :-) you should move cross country more often :-P
Oh yeah, thanks for the video.
my roommate in college would use that method for cooking everything....pork, chicken, steaks, shrimp...didn't matter, grilled then bbq sauced/charred at the end....not exactly how I like my meals now, but dang that brings back from fun memories
I dig it. The charred on bbq sauce was the same thing my dad did with chicken. It’s a memory, but not one I care to replicate :). Congrats on the inpending move.
try a tomahawk pork chop, when the rib bone is loaded with meat and fat. Just salt and pepper cooked on a grill is delicious but, with the right seasons takes it a step up. Rendering the fat on the bone is next level heaven.
You did it right Marc. If pork steak isn’t Missouri’s state meat, it should be.
I make these for the family fairly often just because they're so cheap and tasty. I put on Baron Soul Food Seasoning as a rub before putting them on the grill. I go with direct heat to keep the cooking time to a minimum. I get them on the grill, sauce the top with some Sweet Baby Ray's, then flip them so that side can start cooking and carmelizing. Give the other side a good slather and flip them to get that side cooking. I probably only leave them on for 10-12 minutes, only flipping a couple times and they always get good reviews.
Yay. More bbq.
Me thinks you will get much more instruction if and when you ever get to MO.
FYI, I will try it your way with the rub. Yum.
Dude...Marc you f*cking rock!! Your my favorite wood-man!
As a native STL’ian of 41 years, you did a good job representing what our pork steaks are about working with your wife’s memories of what her father used to do.
Don’t tell her next time or maybe you’ve already figured this out but season all the pork steaks with seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. That’s the ticket and puts that razzle dazzle in the meat.
I personally like to use about 50% sweet baby rays with about 25 to 30% yellow mustard about 10 to 15% honey that’s the key for that crispiness on that fat that gives you that pork candy brother. Then lastly Frank or whatever hot sauce you like to your own taste you’re not trying to make a spicy sauce, but it just adds a little pizzazz to the whole affair.
Also, if you would have used Weber briquettes (which I get ripping the sane way you do your lump, no fluid in a chimney with whatever paper I have laying around) you would’ve been able to keep that heat up as long as you wanted it to be kept up at the end there when you were trying to get that char char. 👌🏼
And let’s just be honest here a pork steak is kind of like pizza. I’ve never really had a bad one, but maybe I’m just lucky.
Looks delicious! 🤤👍🏻👊🏻
The way I do it here in IL (not sure if it's a my family thing or all of us in IL) is similar. Lots of salt and pepper, and DIRECTLY over screaming hot coals with no lid. Then just flip it a lot. Build the char. You take them off when they look done. Definitely well done. Then I just cut it into almost pork bites. They never get dried out and always taste amazing. I personally skip sauce entirely as a personal preference.
Nice to see.
Hey Marc, I think There are a lot of different ways to cook pork steaks. One way that my wife uses is to do a quick sear on the meat (both sides) to get the grill marks and right color. Then you put it in a shallow pan… Cover in barbecue sauce… top with foil and cook at 275 degrees for 3 hours (for a thick cut pork steak). The meat will have that “infused” flavor that Nichole talked about and be incredibly tender. I know… I know…. Not true grilling (called barbecuing in St Louis) but it’s delicious!!
I love pork steak. Very underrated. I always just go high heat until they're done.
I'm going to try that next time. Not sure the reverse sear style adds much. I guess maybe a little extra smoke flavor but the difference is probably pretty minor.
Love me some pork steak. Good job Marc.
Michael Symon just made these on his cook out show with a cherry BBQ sauce
my grandpa used tex-joy steak seasoning
I have my butcher cut them extra thick, rub them with "Head Country Dry Rub", sit for a few hours in the fridge, let come to room temp for about a half hour before grilling and grill them like a steak. When about halfway done, coat them with a homemade fresh peach/habanero sauce (No, not really hot). The fat is rendered out nicely, sauce caramelized and grilled to about medium. The beer must be definitely ice cold or it doesn't turn out for some reason... But that's Wisconsin for ya!
Next time use Maul's Barbeque Sauce and add a can of Beer. Trust me.. It makes a difference.
Also pretty good with mustard as the sauce.
You can try the following: season your steak with salt and put it away for 3 hours in the fridge. After that than your favorite rub and put it on the Bbq.
Those 4 pork steaks need at least a 24oz bottle of sauce. Mauls is OG sauce it is much thinner than sweet baby ray.
Sweet Baby Ray's? Sweet Baby Jesus NO!
I grew up in West St. Louis County. I now live in the BBQ capital of the world (KC for you folks that are mislead about TX). A true St. Louis resident would use Mauls Original (now called Classic), preferably made with sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you want it thinner, you pour a half a bottle of Budweiser in it. Cook until the meat starts to pull off the bone, then turn. Cook for a few minutes more, then start your sauce.
To add a KC taste to it, put hickory chunks in at the beginning of the cook phase. Put the sauce in a metal container over the fire, or off to the side when you do the turn of the meat. Apply sauce with brush on one side, then flip. Repeat until you have a nice coating or you're out of sauce, whichever comes first. I also prefer briquets, as its easier to control temperature, but I have used both.
👍👍👍👍👍👍hmmmmm, didnt know about this channel
You got robbed! $4.49 a pound is too much to pay! I got mine from Schnucks at $1.59 a pound. This is gourmet pleb food!
I airfry them until the fat is rendered. I mean it drys out sometimes but it's cheap😊
Use 3 parts Maull's Original mixed with 1 part Fanta Orange soda instead of Sweet Baby Ray's. You'll thank me later.
Let me know when you get moved and my wife and I will gladly host you and your family for some STL style pork steaks.
That's exactly what dad did..
Bro needs 3 sauce layers
uh. where is the MAULLS
Making these tonight for the first time. Going to hit them with pure fire on both sides. Maybe 10 minutes total. Those looked dry and way overdone.
I would like to officially request TWWBBQGuild. First project would be "Beginners guide to gas grills". Take my money please!