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Type | Short loin and tenderloin cut of beef |
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The T-bone and porterhouse are steaks of beef cut from the short loin (called the sirloin in Commonwealth countries and Ireland). Both steaks include a T-shaped lumbar vertebra with sections of abdominal internal oblique muscle on each side. Porterhouse steaks are cut from the rear end of the short loin and thus include more tenderloin steak, along with (on the other side of the bone) a large strip steak. T-bone steaks are cut closer to the front, and contain a smaller section of tenderloin. The smaller portion of a T-bone, when sold alone, is known as a filet mignon (called fillet steak in Commonwealth countries and Ireland), especially if cut from the small forward end of the tenderloin.
Experts differ about how large the tenderloin must be to differentiate T-bone steak from porterhouse. The United States Department of Agriculture's Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications state that the tenderloin of a porterhouse must be at least 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide at its widest, while that of a T-bone must be at least 0.5 inches (13 mm) wide. [1]
Owing to their large size, and as they contain meat from two of the most prized cuts of beef (the short loin and the tenderloin), T-bone steaks are generally considered one of the highest quality steaks, and prices at steakhouses are accordingly high. Porterhouse steaks are even more highly valued owing to their larger tenderloin.
In British usage, followed in the Commonwealth countries, "porterhouse" often means a British sirloin steak (i.e. US strip steak) on the bone, i.e. without the tenderloin on the other side of T-bone. Some British on-line butchers also offer American style porterhouse steaks.
In New Zealand and Australia, a porterhouse is sirloin steak (strip steak in USA) off the bone.
The earliest mention of the term "porterhouse steak" in a newspaper appears to have been in a letter written by Thurlow Weed that appeared in the Hartford Courant on August 9, 1843, but the following year (August 24, 1844) it also appeared in a list of food prices in The New York Herald , and it appeared regularly in newspapers after that.
To cut a T-bone from butchered cattle, a lumbar vertebra is sawn in half through the vertebral column. The downward prong of the 'T' is a transverse process of the vertebra, and the flesh surrounding it is the spinal muscles. The small semicircle at the top of the 'T' is half of the vertebral foramen.
T-bone and porterhouse steaks are suited to fast, dry heat cooking methods, such as grilling or broiling. Since they contain a small amount of collagen relative to other cuts, longer cooking times are not necessary to tenderize the meat. There is some contention as to whether the bone conducts heat within the meat so that it cooks more evenly and prevents meat drying out and shrinking during cooking, [2] [3] or the meat near the bone will cook more slowly than the rest of the steak, [4] and the tenderloin will tend to reach the desired temperature before the strip. [5] [6]
Bistecca alla fiorentina (lit. 'beefsteak Florentine style'), consists of a T-bone traditionally sourced from either the Chianina or Maremmana breeds of cattle. A favorite of Tuscan cuisine, the steak is grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, seasoned with salt, sometimes with black pepper, and olive oil, applied immediately after the meat is retired from the heat. Thickly cut and very large, "Bistecca" are often shared between two or more people, and traditionally served very rare, sometimes garnished with lemon wedges, if not accompanied by red wine, and accompanied by Tuscan beans as a side dish. [7]
The same cut of meat, but from a calf, is used for cotoletta alla milanese , which consists of 1.5 cm-thick cuts which are battered in breadcrumbs and fried in clarified butter with salt.
A beefsteak, often called just steak, is a flat cut of beef with parallel faces, usually cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers. In common restaurant service a single serving has a raw mass ranging from 120 to 600 grams. Beef steaks are usually grilled, pan-fried, or broiled. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole. Less tender cuts from the chuck or round are cooked with moist heat or are mechanically tenderized.
Chateaubriand is a dish that traditionally consists of a large front cut fillet of tenderloin grilled between two lesser pieces of meat that are discarded after cooking. While the term originally referred to the preparation of the dish, Auguste Escoffier named the specific front cut of the tenderloin the Chateaubriand.
A beef tenderloin, known as an eye fillet in Australasia, filet in France, filet mignon in Brazil, and fillet in the United Kingdom and South Africa, is cut from the loin of beef.
Filet mignon is a cut of meat taken from the smaller end of the tenderloin, or psoas major of a cow. In French, it mostly refers to cuts of pork tenderloin.
In American butchery, the sirloin steak is cut from the sirloin, the subprimal posterior to the short loin where the T-bone, porterhouse, and club steaks are cut. The sirloin is divided into several types of steak. The top sirloin is the most prized of these and is specifically marked for sale under that name. The bottom sirloin, which is less tender and much larger, is typically marked for sale simply as "sirloin steak". The bottom sirloin, in turn, connects to the sirloin tip roast.
The strip steak is a cut of beef steaks from the short loin of a steer. It consists of a muscle that does little work, the longissimus, making the meat particularly tender, although not as tender as the nearby psoas major or tenderloin. Unlike the tenderloin, the longissimus is a sizable muscle, allowing it to be cut into larger portions.
A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual portion, and can be accompanied with applesauce, vegetables, and other sides. Pork is one of the most commonly consumed meats in the world. In the United States, pork chops are the most commonly consumed meat cut from the pork loin and account for 10% of total pork consumption.
Pork ribs are a cut of pork popular in Western and Asian cuisines. The ribcage of a domestic pig, meat and bones together, is cut into usable pieces, prepared by smoking, grilling, or baking – usually with a sauce, often barbecue – and then served.
A round steak is a beef steak from the "round", the rear end of the cow. The round is divided into cuts including the eye (of) round, bottom round, and top round, with or without the "round" bone (femur), and may include the knuckle, depending on how the round is separated from the loin. This is a lean cut and it is moderately tough. Lack of fat and marbling makes round dry out when cooked with dry-heat cooking methods like roasting or grilling. Round steak is commonly marinated when grilled, and prepared with slow moist-heat methods indoors such as braising, to tenderize the meat and maintain moisture. The cut is typically sliced thin for serving, and is popular as jerky.
During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.
Bistecca alla fiorentina is an Italian steak dish made of young steer (vitellone) or heifer (scottona) that is one of the most famous dishes in Tuscan cuisine. It is loin steak on the bone cooked on a grill until rare (50 °C).
Short loin is the American name for a cut of beef that comes from the back of the cattle. It contains part of the spine and includes the top loin and the tenderloin. This cut yields types of steak including porterhouse, strip steak, and T-bone. The T-bone is a cut that contains less of the tenderloin than does the porterhouse. Webster's Dictionary defines it as "a portion of the hindquarter of beef immediately behind the ribs that is usually cut into steaks." The short loin is considered a tender beef.
Top sirloin is a cut of beef from the primal loin or subprimal sirloin. Top sirloin steaks differ from sirloin steaks in that the bone and the tenderloin and bottom round muscles have been removed; the remaining major muscles are the gluteus medius and biceps femoris.
A primal cut or cut of meat is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass of an animal during butchering. Examples of primals include the round, loin, rib, and chuck for beef or the ham, loin, Boston butt, and picnic for pork.
A meat chop is a cut of meat cut perpendicular to the spine, and usually containing a rib or riblet part of a vertebra and served as an individual portion. The most common kinds of meat chops are pork and lamb. A thin boneless chop, or one with only the rib bone, may be called a cutlet, though the difference is not always clear. The term "chop" is not usually used for beef, but a T-bone steak is essentially a loin chop, a rib steak and a rib cutlet.
Rump steak is a cut of beef. The rump is the division between the leg and the chine cut right through the aitch bone. It may refer to:
Loin chops can refer to either a commercial cut of pork, or lamb.
A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patties, such as hamburgers.
Baseball steak is a center cut of beef taken from the top sirloin cap steak. Baseball steaks differ from sirloin steaks in that the bone and the tenderloin and bottom round muscles have been removed; and the cut is taken from biceps femoris. A baseball steak is essentially a center cut top sirloin cap steak. This cut of beef is very lean, and is considered very flavorful.