Elevate your grilling game with our foolproof porterhouse steak recipe, ensuring perfect results every time. Follow our expert tips to achieve a succulent, tender, and flavorful steak that'll be the talk of your next cookout.
Start by prepping your steak. Remove it from the packaging and pat it dry.
Season it liberally with salt and let it rest on a wire rack over a baking sheet in the fridge overnight.
Rub the steak with a sprinkle of pepper and ancho powder and let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes before you're ready to grill it.
Prep the grill
Prep your charcoal grill for a 2-zone fire by lighting charcoal in a charcoal chimney until they are about 70% ashed over.
Then carefully pour the coals, stacking them on one side of your grill.
Clean the grill grates, add wood chips, cover the lid and adjust the air vents to get the temperature to around 400 degrees.
Grill the steak
When the grill has preheated and the smoke is burning blue and clear, add the porterhouse to the cooler side of the grill.
Grill the porterhouse with the lid on the grill and without touching it for about 2-3 minutes before rotating it 45 degrees F.
Add a small cast iron or heatproof pan to the cooler side of the grill and add the smashed garlic and butter to melt.
Cover the lid and let it cook over indirect heat for another minute or two.
Meanwhile, make your herb brush by tying the fresh rosemary to long tongs or a thick skewer.
Flip the steak when good grill marks have formed, about 5 to 6 minutes in total, and start basting it with the melted garlic-infused butter using the herb brush.
Allow the porterhouse to cook to about 115 degrees F.
When it's reached 115F, carefully transfer the steak to the hottest part of the grill using long tongs, directly over the coals.
Sear the steak, getting a great crust on both sides. The melted butter and fat will cause flareups, so use long tongs and gloves.
Grill the steak until it reaches 120-125 degrees F, for rare to medium rare, at the thickest part of the tenderloin with an instant read thermometer.
Rest and Serve
Remove the steak from the grill, transfer it to a clean cutting board and top it with the herbs and a dollop of compound butter to rest for 5 to 10 minutes tented with foil.
As the juices redistribute, the butter will melt over the steak for a more mouthwatering beefy flavor.
To serve, use a sharp knife to slice the juicy steaks from the bone and carve them into thin strips.
Nestle the perfectly grilled porterhouse steak back on either side of the bone for presentation and garnish with minced parsley and flakey salt.
Notes
A fresh herb brush is a great way to infuse flavors into the meat while it grills. You can use a variety of fresh herbs or mix and match what you have on hand. We love rosemary, thyme, and marjoram when grilling steaks.Using your tongs, steak with the outer fat cap on the strip side facing the fire to char it as well for a minute.When it comes to grilling this massive cut of beef, we highly recommend using a meat thermometer as the best way to tell when the steak has cooked to your liking. Remember, the tenderloin is a leaner cut and will dry out at anything past medium. We use Cowboy Charcoal All-Natural hardwood briquets and Jack Daniel's wood chips for this recipe, but hickory or post oak wood chips would also taste great.For a gas grill:
Prep the steak as instructed in the recipe card.
To prep a gas grill for indirect heat, ignite 2 of the 3 burners to create a cool side and a hotter side. Close the lid and allow the grill to preheat for 10-15 minutes until it's around 400 degrees F. Consider using our favorite trick for smoking on a gas grill with wood chips for added flavor.
Cook the steak as directed to your desired internal temp, watching for flare-ups and moving the steak with long tongs as needed for even cooking.
For a pellet grill:
Prep the porterhouse steak as directed and allow your pellet smoker to preheat on its sear setting, usually between 400 to 500 degrees F. Because Traeger grills don't have a cooler and hotter side, you can grill porterhouse on them, but you want to be more watchful and maneuver it more for even cooking.