First pork steaks; garlic-lime marinade

[Chris in Louisiana]

Pork steaks went on the kettle last night after marinating for an hour plus in a marinade from a Cook's Illustrated recipe for Garlic-Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin Steaks. The tenderloin results are delicious, so I decided to try it on the pork steaks.

The marinade

lime zest plus 1/4 cup juice (2 limes)
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons fish sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Whisk lime zest and juice, garlic, honey, fish sauce, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle oil into the mixture until fully incorporated.

CI transfers 1/2 cup of the mixture to another bowl and whisks in 4 teaspoons mayonnaise for a sauce. To me, the sauce is just okay. The marinade is great.

Toss the steaks in the bowl of marinade, then put the marinade and steaks in a zipper bag to relax for an hour or so at room temperature.

Lit a small chimney of Stubb's and dumped behind firebricks. Cooked the five steaks (they barely fit) on indirect side for almost 3 hours at fairly low temps. Put them over the coals at the end for just a little browning up.

They were falling apart, tender, and tasty at the end. Pork steaks are hard to find around here, so I'll be scouting for more. This is definitely worth a repeat.

The last two, before coming off the grill. It was getting dark.


All five on platter


Served with fordhooks beans and fresh corn.

 

[Jeff F]

Chris,

Pork steaks are pork shoulder cut into steaks, instead of left as a whole shoulder. A butcher can cut you pork steaks if they have Boston Butts in the case.

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

Chris,

Pork steaks are pork shoulder cut into steaks, instead of left as a whole shoulder. A butcher can cut you pork steaks if they have Boston Butts in the case.

True, but butchers are also scarce around here. I've thought about trying to slice a butt myself and freezing the steaks in 3-packs, but bone may be an issue. I'd hate to end up mangling one.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

Thanks for sharing! I'll try it.

 

[Jason Noble]

Great looking steaks. Love the corn this time of year.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Interesting post, Chris. That pork and sides look delicious. Never heard the term Fordhook. We've just always called them Lima Beans, which I love. Learn something every day, especially on this site.

 

[Nate Frost]

Man, those look great!

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

Never heard the term Fordhook. We've just always called them Lima Beans, which I love. Learn something every day, especially on this site.

Fordhook is a variety of lima bean. Like a Better Boy tomato or Jubilee watermelon.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Thanks Chris. I googled it and read up.

 

[John Solak]

Some good looking pork steaks!!!

 

[Paulie O]

Thanks for sharing Chris! Beautiful cook! http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Atlee_Burpee interesting read

 

[Brian Dahl]

That's a great lookin' plate of chow, Chris - thanks for sharing!

 

[Tony R]

Looks good!

 

[Tom Henderson]

How do you think this marinade would work for boneless pork chops? I bought a tray of ~1-1/2" thick boneless chops. Look good in the package, now wondering how I should prepare them.

Also... is fish sauce fish sauce? Or a particular kind.. (Japanese, Thai, etc)

I'm a noob to charcoal... but presume about a 2-min sear on each side followed by indirect until center is done...

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

For boneless pork chops, I think it would work fine. Your cook time sounds reasonable.

What I cooked was slices of shoulder, a fatty cut. Your chops are probably lean and will dry out if cooked too long. So keep an eye on that center temp and pull when done to your liking.

I just used whatever fish sauce I had on hand from an Asian market. I never know if I am getting a good one. Can't even read the label.

 

[Tom Henderson]

Thanks Chris!

 

[Wolgast]

Sounds and looks really tasty!