Barbecue Pork Steaks - What They Are and How to Cook Them

If you are a native of Saint Louis, Missouri, or the surrounding area, you are lucky enough to know what a Barbecue Pork Steak is. The rest of the country is saying, "huh, what is he talking about?" Well, real quickly, a barbecued Pork Steak really isn't barbecued. Now, before you St. Louis people get crazy, let me explain. Real barbecue is done with barbecue smokers, indirect heat, hickory or oak or another type of hardwood, takes a long time, hours, and turns out great pork shoulder, ribs, beef briskets and chickens. A Pork Steak could be cooked in this fashion on a barbecue smoker, but need not be. Most people here in St. Louis, will use either a Weber Kettle Grill with direct heat, or a Propane Gas Grill. So, Barbecue Pork Steaks, really, are technically speaking, Grilled Pork with Barbecue Sauce Applied.

How To Cook A Pork Steak: Five easy steps.

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1. Get The Meat. In St. Louis, that's easy. Go to your grocery store, or neighborhood butcher go to the meat department, pick up the ones that are on sale, pay for them and take them home. If you don't live in St. Louis or the surrounding areas, this could be a little more difficult. Most other areas of the country do not have pork steaks pre-cut and packaged waiting to be picked up in the meat cooler. They will have plenty of pork chops, pork shoulder, pork roast, pork ribs, etc. You may be tempted to substitute pork chops. You could, if you want to grill pork chops, which are great by the way, but it is not the same. You must ask the butcher to custom cut them for you. You may have to tell him how to do it. Tell him to take a Boston Butt (he'll know what you're talking about. If he doesn't, get a different butcher), and slice it into half inch to three quarter inch steaks. If he won't do this for you, get a better butcher. You will need about one steak per person, and one or two extra for the big guys.

2. Rub Your Meat. You should spice up the steaks prior to cooking with a spice mixture known as a barbecue rub. Many books and e-books will have recipes for spice rubs. If you don't want to use a barbecue spice rub, use salt and pepper. Be generous. Rub it all over the steaks.

3. Grill The Meat. Grill the meat over direct heat, either charcoal, gas, wood, whatever you have available. Keep the flame low, a cool grill works best. Cover with the lid, and flip every ten minutes or so. Cook for about 35-40 minutes.

4. Put Barbecue Sauce on Meat. The last ten minutes or so, liberally spread barbecue sauce on the pork steaks. Use whichever sauce you prefer. In Saint Louis, most people prefer a local favorite, Mauls. Many people also thin the sauce a little with beer. they use the local favorite, Budweiser of course for this step. The beer is not necessary, but some people swear it makes their pork steaks taste better.

5. Serve the Pork Steaks. Pork Steaks are served with whatever side dishes you want to serve them with. St. Louis favorites are yellow potato salad, cole slaw, corn on the cob, baked beans. At least, that's my favorites, and I'm from St. Louis, so that must be the favorite of everyone. Generally, one pork steak per person, eaten with knife and fork. However, they also make fine sandwiches.

There you have it, Pork Steaks, what they are and how to cook them.

Barbecue Pork Steaks - What They Are and How to Cook Them

Free information on how to cook fantastic real barbecue click here: http://www.bbq-jim.com. Jim Hess is an expert author who loves to cook, eat and write about real barbecue (and meat grilling). Click here to see much more about barbecue and grilling: http://www.bbq-jim.com

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