Grilled Texas Beef Porterhouse with Garlic-Herb Maître d’Hôtel Butter
The next time you want to impress a few friends around the grill, drop a couple of thick porterhouse steaks over hot coals. There are few cuts of beef that make quite the same statement. You get the rich, beefy strip steak on one side of the bone and tender filet on the other, all in one massive steak.
For a porterhouse like this, marbling matters. Look for a well-marbled USDA Prime cut or Certified Angus Beef with enough intramuscular fat to keep the meat rich and juicy through a hard sear and indirect finish. A two-inch-thick steak gives you enough room to develop a dark, well-browned crust while still controlling the center.
Revolution Barbecue Texas Beef BBQ Rub gives the beef the salt, black pepper, garlic, onion, and pepper-forward seasoning it needs without covering up what makes a good porterhouse worth buying. Garlic-herb Maître d’Hôtel butter melts across the hot surface during the rest, bringing richness, fresh herbs, garlic, and lemon zest. What lands on the table is a big steak with plenty of crust, rendered fat, and unmistakable beef flavor.
Charcoal-Grilled Porterhouse with Texas Beef BBQ Rub and Herb Butter
Glenn Connaughton
8
15 minutes
27 minutes
950
American
Main Dish
A thick porterhouse needs enough heat to build a serious crust, but it also needs some restraint. With a strip steak and filet sharing the same bone, the goal is to brown the exterior hard without driving the more delicate tenderloin side too far. Starting directly over the coals gives the beef the color and crust you want, while finishing away from the direct heat gives the center time to come along more gradually.
Revolution Barbecue Texas Beef BBQ Rub is well suited to a cut like this because the seasoning works with the natural character of the beef rather than burying it. On a two-pound steak, there is enough surface area and enough meat to handle a full tablespoon of seasoning.
The finishing butter is deliberately unsalted. Garlic, parsley, rosemary or thyme, and lemon zest bring plenty of character without adding another layer of salt. As that butter melts over the hot porterhouse during the rest, it mixes with the rendered beef fat and seasoning already on the surface. Slice the steak after the rest and you get browned edges, juicy beef, melted herb butter, and plenty of flavor around the bone.
Ingredients
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4 porterhouse steaks, about 2 pounds each and 2 inches thick, preferably USDA Prime or Certified Angus Beef
4 tablespoons beef tallow, avocado oil, or canola oil
4 tablespoons Revolution Barbecue Texas Beef BBQ Rub, divided
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1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary or thyme, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Directions
- Heat The Coals: Fill and light a charcoal chimney and allow the charcoal to heat for about 15 minutes. Once the coals are ready, arrange the grill for two-zone cooking with a hot direct-heat side and a cooler indirect-heat side.
- Make The Compound Butter: While the charcoal chimney is heating, combine the softened butter, parsley, rosemary or thyme, garlic, and lemon zest. Mix until the herbs, garlic, and lemon zest are evenly distributed throughout the butter. Set aside until the steaks are finished cooking.
- Prepare The Steaks: Coat each porterhouse with 1 tablespoon of beef tallow, avocado oil, or canola oil. Season each steak evenly with 1 tablespoon of Revolution Barbecue Texas Beef BBQ Rub.
- Sear The Steaks: Place the porterhouse steaks over direct heat and cook for 6 minutes without moving them. Flip and cook for another 6 minutes over direct heat.
- Finish Over Indirect Heat: Move the porterhouse steaks to the indirect side of the grill. Cover and continue cooking for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on your preferred doneness.
- Add The Compound Butter: Remove the porterhouse steaks from the grill and immediately divide the garlic-herb Maître d’Hôtel butter evenly over the hot steaks. Allow the butter to begin melting across the browned surface.
- Rest The Steaks: Let the porterhouse steaks rest for 10 minutes. Slice the strip and filet portions from the bone, cut across the grain, and serve with the melted compound butter and juices from the cutting board.
