Cooking the perfect porter house steak is both an art and a science. This substantial cut, with its combination of tenderloin and strip steak, requires careful attention to achieve restaurant-quality results at home. Whether you prefer a cast iron pan, outdoor grill, or the precision of reverse searing, this guide will walk you through the techniques that professionals use to deliver exceptional steaks every time.
Preparation: The Foundation of Great Steak
Before any heat touches your porter house, proper preparation is essential. The steps you take before cooking can make or break your final result, so pay close attention to these fundamentals.
Bring Your Steak to Room Temperature
Remove your porter house from the refrigerator 45-60 minutes before cooking. This allows the internal temperature to equalise, ensuring more even cooking throughout. A cold steak will contract when it hits the hot pan, resulting in tougher meat and uneven cooking—the outside will overcook before the inside reaches your desired doneness.
Pat Dry and Season
Use paper towels to thoroughly pat your steak dry on all surfaces. Surface moisture is the enemy of a good sear—it creates steam instead of allowing the meat to brown properly through the Maillard reaction. Once dry, season generously with fine salt on all sides. For a porter house, you'll want about 3/4 teaspoon of salt per 500 grams of meat.
For even better results, season your steak with salt and leave it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. This dry-brining technique allows the salt to penetrate deeper into the meat, seasoning it throughout and improving its ability to retain moisture during cooking. Pat dry before cooking.
Method 1: Pan-Searing with Butter Basting
Pan-searing is the classic steakhouse method and arguably the best way to cook a porter house at home. The combination of high heat searing and aromatic butter basting creates incredible flavour and texture.
What You'll Need
- Heavy cast iron or carbon steel pan
- High smoke-point oil (avocado, grapeseed, or vegetable)
- Butter (about 2 tablespoons)
- Fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs
- Garlic cloves (crushed)
- Instant-read meat thermometer
The Process
Heat your pan over high heat until it's smoking hot—this takes about 3-4 minutes for cast iron. Add a thin layer of oil and carefully place your steak in the pan. You should hear an aggressive sizzle; if not, the pan isn't hot enough.
Sear the first side without moving the steak for 3-4 minutes until a dark brown crust forms. Flip the steak and immediately add the butter, herbs, and crushed garlic to the pan. As the butter melts and foams, tilt the pan and use a spoon to continuously baste the steak with the aromatic butter. Continue for another 3-4 minutes.
For a 3cm thick porter house, this method will produce approximately medium-rare. Check the internal temperature: 52-54°C for rare, 57-60°C for medium-rare, 63-65°C for medium. Remember that the temperature will rise 3-5 degrees during resting.
- Rare: 52-54°C (cool red centre)
- Medium-Rare: 57-60°C (warm red centre)
- Medium: 63-65°C (pink centre)
- Medium-Well: 68-70°C (slightly pink)
- Well Done: 73°C+ (no pink)
Method 2: Grilling Over Open Flame
Nothing quite matches the primal satisfaction of cooking a porter house over live fire. Whether using charcoal or gas, grilling imparts a distinctive smoky flavour that pan-searing cannot replicate.
Setting Up Your Grill
Create two heat zones on your grill: a hot zone directly over the coals or burners for searing, and a cooler zone to the side for gentler cooking. For charcoal, pile the coals on one side. For gas, turn one burner to high and the other to medium-low.
The Two-Zone Cooking Method
Start your porter house over the hot zone, searing each side for 2-3 minutes to develop a good crust. Then move the steak to the cooler zone, close the lid, and continue cooking until it reaches your desired internal temperature. This two-zone approach prevents burning while ensuring the steak cooks evenly.
The bone in a porter house acts as an insulator, meaning the meat near the bone cooks slower than the edges. Position the bone side toward the hotter part of the grill to compensate for this effect.
Method 3: The Reverse Sear
For thick-cut porter house steaks (4cm or more), the reverse sear method produces exceptionally even results. This technique starts with low, indirect heat and finishes with a high-heat sear.
How It Works
Preheat your oven to 120°C. Place your seasoned steak on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and cook until the internal temperature reaches about 10 degrees below your target doneness. For medium-rare, remove at 47-50°C. This typically takes 30-45 minutes depending on thickness.
While the steak rests briefly, heat a cast iron pan until it's smoking. Sear the steak for 60-90 seconds per side to develop a beautiful crust. The reverse sear produces an incredibly even cook from edge to edge with a perfect crust—the holy grail for steak enthusiasts.
The low oven temperature gently brings the steak to temperature without creating the grey band of overcooked meat common in traditional methods. The final sear happens so quickly that it only affects the surface, leaving you with edge-to-edge perfection.
The Crucial Resting Period
Perhaps the most overlooked step in cooking steak is resting. After cooking, transfer your porter house to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 5 minutes for every 2.5cm of thickness. During cooking, the muscle fibres contract and push moisture toward the centre. Resting allows these fibres to relax and reabsorb the juices, resulting in a more succulent steak.
Tent the steak loosely with foil to keep it warm, but don't wrap it tightly or you'll steam the crust you worked so hard to achieve. The internal temperature will continue to rise by 3-5 degrees during this time, so account for carryover cooking when determining when to remove from heat.
Slicing and Serving
A porter house is best served in two ways: either as a whole steak for a dramatic presentation, or sliced for sharing. If slicing, cut the meat away from the bone in two pieces—the tenderloin and the strip—then slice each against the grain into 1cm thick pieces. Fan the slices on a warm plate and drizzle with any accumulated juices.
Keep accompaniments simple to let the steak shine. A compound butter, quality sea salt, or a simple pan sauce made from the drippings all complement without overwhelming. Serve immediately—a great steak waits for no one.
With practice and attention to these techniques, you'll consistently produce porter house steaks that rival the finest steakhouses. Remember that every steak is slightly different, so use temperature rather than time as your guide, and don't be afraid to experiment to find your perfect method.