Tootsie Tomanetz’s (Snows Bbq) Pork Steaks

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 4

I think I have seen these on here a few times but I have never done them. Was in HEB earlier this week and they had a case full of pork steaks already cut for the holiday weekend. Figured that was the perfect time to give them a try. It’s basically a 2” thick steak cut from the shoulder. These were boneless which I liked.

Rub is 60/40 16 mesh black pepper/salt. Standard Texas stuff there.

She makes a mop sauce which is referenced in the article link below. It does add a little kick and butter flavor so make the mop!

Setup was raised direct at 275 with post oak chunks found on the ranch and cut down to size.

Cook took 4 hours 30 minutes. I flipped halfway, she flips much later but she cooks on a much different rig (live fire under a grate sitting at 30”’off the ground).

These are incredible and so easy. I literally
mopped once an hour, flipped once and that’s it. Hard to describe how good they are. Like ribs, burnt ends, and steak all in one bite. Daniel Vaughan (the BBQ editor of Texas Monthly magazine who gives out all the rankings) said it’s one of, if not his favorite bites of BBQ in the state. I have to agree. Not sure what took me so long but this is definitely in the rotation now. The best thing about it is you can cook them for 2 people or 20 and have amazing BBQ in 4-5 hours. Highly recommended.

Link: https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/tootsie-tomanetzs-pork-steak/

I don’t think that one is paywalled but if it is I’ll add the recipe here.

The only change I made was I glazed them with Franklin vinegar sauce right at the end. I love it on pork and it did not disappoint this time either. You can basically take any sauce you like that is not syrupy sweet and cut it 50/50 with ACV to make something similar.

That little chef snack up front got snagged about an hour in. I knew then we were in for a treat.

We just ate the steaks off the board with no sides so no hero plates shot today

Hope you guys and gals are having a great 4th!

Edit to add: I didn’t check for internal temp. When they darkened up I just poked them to see how tender they were. When they felt like ribs throughout, I pulled them. I’m guessing they were 180-190 based on the texture. It’s not pulled pork but it’s very tender to slice.

lousubcap · July 4

Great excuse for another road trip to Lexington.
Thanks for the above-always a great thread when you roll in.
Gonna have to give this a go.
Happy birthday USA🇺🇸

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 4

One note on the mop: I cooked 3 steaks so I made a 1/4 recipe of the mop from the article and I still had 90% of it left over. You don’t need much

Legume · July 5

This is going to be like GameStop for pork steaks, the price will open at a new high tomorrow.

I'm in, next chance I get for a lazy weekend cook.

Stormbringer · July 5

Thanks, another classic @The Cen-Tex Smoker recipe to try! I wondered why they took so much longer than the classic double cut pork chops but I guess as it's from the shoulder it just takes longer to cook so the interconnective tissue breaks down. I assume these are pork shoulder steaks? I'll see if I can get some here. I can get Franklin's sauce here, although I did find a deconstruction recipe for how to make it.

I assume that's raised direct in the large? I'm wondering if the MMX would give enough clearance, even when raised.

johnmitchell · July 5

Looks and sounds great 😋

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 5

Legume said:

This is going to be like GameStop for pork steaks, the price will open at a new high tomorrow.

I'm in, next chance I get for a lazy weekend cook.

Meme steaks

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 5

Stormbringer said:

Thanks, another classic @The Cen-Tex Smoker recipe to try! I wondered why they took so much longer than the classic double cut pork chops but I guess as it's from the shoulder it just takes longer to cook so the interconnective tissue breaks down. I assume these are pork shoulder steaks? I'll see if I can get some here. I can get Franklin's sauce here, although I did find a deconstruction recipe for how to make it.

I assume that's raised direct in the large? I'm wondering if the MMX would give enough clearance, even when raised.

you are correct. These are shoulder steaks. Just takes longer to get to temp and convert the collagen in the connective tissue to gelatin. This was raised direct on a large. I’m sure you could do the on a MiniMax if you have a raised direct setup. Might need to keep the temps a little lower and flip a few times as opposed to once like Imdid on this cook. Just keep an eye on them and keep them mopped well and you should be fine.

Aaron Franklin has his “sweet sauce” recipe (that’s the “Texas” sauce in the stores/online) on YouTube. He cuts that 50/50 with acv to make the vinegar sauce.

Cant wait to hear what you think. We loved them. Ate them right off the board with nothing else. We just dipped them in more vinegar sauce and ate them with our hands like savages.

JohnInCarolina · July 5

Excellent. I may try this on Sunday funday.

booksw · July 5

@JohnInCarolina where do you think you will find them?

Legume · July 5

A quick search showed plenty of guides and videos online for how to cut a shoulder into steaks. I may have to go that route, not sure I'll be able to find them pre cut in a store near me.

Stormbringer · July 5

Legume said:

A quick search showed plenty of guides and videos online for how to cut a shoulder into steaks. I may have to go that route, not sure I'll be able to find them pre cut in a store near me.

I went to a butcher and asked if they could cut pork steaks from a rolled boned pork shoulder and he did. And really wanted to know how the result turned out.

Stormbringer · July 5

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Stormbringer said:

Thanks, another classic @The Cen-Tex Smoker recipe to try! I wondered why they took so much longer than the classic double cut pork chops but I guess as it's from the shoulder it just takes longer to cook so the interconnective tissue breaks down. I assume these are pork shoulder steaks? I'll see if I can get some here. I can get Franklin's sauce here, although I did find a deconstruction recipe for how to make it.

I assume that's raised direct in the large? I'm wondering if the MMX would give enough clearance, even when raised.

you are correct. These are shoulder steaks. Just takes longer to get to temp and convert the collagen in the connective tissue to gelatin. This was raised direct on a large. I’m sure you could do the on a MiniMax if you have a raised direct setup. Might need to keep the temps a little lower and flip a few times as opposed to once like Imdid on this cook. Just keep an eye on them and keep them mopped well and you should be fine.

Aaron Franklin has his “sweet sauce” recipe (that’s the “Texas” sauce in the stores/online) on YouTube. He cuts that 50/50 with acv to make the vinegar sauce.

Cant wait to hear what you think. We loved them. Ate them right off the board with nothing else. We just dipped them in more vinegar sauce and ate them with our hands like savages.

Thanks. I'll try on the MMX, I can do raised direct with the custom rig I made. I'll keep it at 225F as well. I found the BBQ sauce recipe as well. I'll cook this next week.

I wonder if this thread will be going in 13 years time.

JohnInCarolina · July 5

booksw said:

@JohnInCarolina where do you think you will find them?

I’ll probably just ask my butcher to cut some for me.

lkapigian · July 6

Solid and appreciate the narrative @The Cen-Tex Smoker

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 6

Stormbringer said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Stormbringer said:

Thanks, another classic @The Cen-Tex Smoker recipe to try! I wondered why they took so much longer than the classic double cut pork chops but I guess as it's from the shoulder it just takes longer to cook so the interconnective tissue breaks down. I assume these are pork shoulder steaks? I'll see if I can get some here. I can get Franklin's sauce here, although I did find a deconstruction recipe for how to make it.

I assume that's raised direct in the large? I'm wondering if the MMX would give enough clearance, even when raised.

you are correct. These are shoulder steaks. Just takes longer to get to temp and convert the collagen in the connective tissue to gelatin. This was raised direct on a large. I’m sure you could do the on a MiniMax if you have a raised direct setup. Might need to keep the temps a little lower and flip a few times as opposed to once like Imdid on this cook. Just keep an eye on them and keep them mopped well and you should be fine.

Aaron Franklin has his “sweet sauce” recipe (that’s the “Texas” sauce in the stores/online) on YouTube. He cuts that 50/50 with acv to make the vinegar sauce.

Cant wait to hear what you think. We loved them. Ate them right off the board with nothing else. We just dipped them in more vinegar sauce and ate them with our hands like savages.

Thanks. I'll try on the MMX, I can do raised direct with the custom rig I made. I'll keep it at 225F as well. I found the BBQ sauce recipe as well. I'll cook this next week.

I wonder if this thread will be going in 13 years time.

Haha- I certainly didn’t expect the other one too.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 6

I just had a thought- this would make an amazing Char Siu recipe with the right glaze.

BigGreenKev · July 7

I've done this so many times and I agree it's a fantastic cook! I will have to try the Franklin sauce at the end to mix it up!

booksw · July 7

JohnInCarolina said:

booksw said:

@JohnInCarolina where do you think you will find them?

I’ll probably just ask my butcher to cut some for me.

Let me know how that works out. I don't know if you ever use Wishbone Heritage Farms in St George but I have gotten a fair amount of pork from David. I saw him yesterday and asked him about this and he said he used to do it but no longer does because he can't sell it.

JohnInCarolina · July 7

For some reason my butcher already had these bad boys cut:

It must be something in the water! Smoked them in the BGE for about 5 hrs, with mopping every hour.

I may have pulled them off a bit too soon. My IT was around 175 in some spots, much higher in others. So some parts were a bit tougher than others.

But these are very good. The flavor is pretty smoky and the sauce I used to finish (an Eastern Carolina vinegar) added a solid kick. The bark is the action for sure.

Definitely recommend trying these. Cooks don’t get much easier.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 7

Nice! Those are Thicc!

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 7

I didn’t temp mine but poked them until they were tender all over. Some parts did take longer than others.

JohnInCarolina · July 7

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I didn’t temp mine but poked them until they were tender all over.

What kind of poker did you use?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 8

JohnInCarolina said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I didn’t temp mine but poked them until they were tender all over.

What kind of poker did you use?

Thermometer

JohnInCarolina · July 8

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

JohnInCarolina said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I didn’t temp mine but poked them until they were tender all over.

What kind of poker did you use?

Thermometer

Total pro move.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 8

JohnInCarolina said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

JohnInCarolina said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I didn’t temp mine but poked them until they were tender all over.

What kind of poker did you use?

Thermometer

Total pro move.

That’s why mine was soft throughout and yours was not. Google me, I’m kind of a big deal. I have many leather bound books and my home smells of rich mahogany.

booksw · July 8

OK I am going to find these 2" pork steaks. Help me understand why pork chops would be dry and tough above a certain temp but these can go low and slow to a higher temp and get softer. I am thinking it is a similar thing with beef but I am having a hard time putting my head around the space between 'dry' and 'fall off the bone'

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 8

booksw said:

OK I am going to find these 2" pork steaks. Help me understand why pork chops would be dry and tough above a certain temp but these can go low and slow to a higher temp and get softer. I am thinking it is a similar thing with beef but I am having a hard time putting my head around the space between 'dry' and 'fall off the bone'

Loin chops are very lean and don’t have any fat or connective tissue to speak of. These steaks come from the shoulder, which is loaded with fat and connective tissue. In the same process of cooking a whole pork shoulder, you push the internal temp well above where you would for a chop. This pushes all the water out (which would murder a lean chop) and then it turns all the connective tissue (collagen) into gelatin. This “rehydrates” the meat replacing water with gelatin. Thats the magic that makes pulled pork so unctuous and delicious. Same for brisket, ribs, chuck (beef shoulder) and short ribs.

DoubleEgger · July 8

Today’s vocabulary word is unctuous.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unctuous

Foghorn · July 8

I'll have to try these soon as I definitely am in the "pro unctuousness" crowd.

When one gets served "pork tips" - is that just one of the these pork steaks cut into smaller pieces?

dbCooper · July 8

I'll be giving these a go this week. Looking for advice when I visit the butcher, should I request they be cut from the shoulder or butt?

Tootsie Tomanetz’s (Snows Bbq) Pork Steaks

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