The T-bone and porterhouse are

steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

s of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

cut from the

short loin Short loin is the American name for a cut of beef that comes from the back of the Cattle#Terminology, cattle. It contains part of the spine and includes the top loin and the Beef tenderloin, tenderloin. This cut yields types of steak including T ...

(called the

sirloin In American butchery, the sirloin steak (called the ''rump steak'' in British butchery) 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 int ...

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which i ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

). Both steaks include a T-shaped lumbar vertebra with sections of

abdominal internal oblique muscle The abdominal internal oblique muscle, also internal oblique muscle or interior oblique, is an abdominal muscle in the abdominal wall that lies below the external oblique muscle and just above the transverse abdominal muscle. Structure Its fib ...

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 The strip steak (also known as sirloin steak in Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, also porterhouse steak in Australia and New Zealand) is a cut of beef steaks from the short loin of a steer. It consists of a muscle that d ...

. 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 Filet mignon (; ; ) in North America, especially the United States refers solely to a cut of meat taken from the smaller end of a beef tenderloin, or psoas major of a cow. In France, ''filet mignon'' usually refers to cuts of pork tenderloin o ...

(called

fillet steak Filet mignon (; ; ) in North America, especially the United States refers solely to a cut of meat taken from the smaller end of a beef tenderloin, or psoas major of a cow. In France, ''filet mignon'' usually refers to cuts of pork tenderloin or ...

and

), 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 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

's ''Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications'' state that the tenderloin of a porterhouse must be at least wide at its widest, while that of a T-bone must be at least wide. 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

steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse is a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as fish and other seafood. History Choph ...

s 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 Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was an American printer, newspaper publisher, and Whig Party (United States), Whig and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor t ...

that appeared in the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

'' 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 The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'', and it appeared regularly in newspapers after that. In 2025 the

Oregon Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

voted unanimously to make the T-bone the state steak of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. The legislation is still pending.

Anatomy of the T-bone

To cut a T-bone from

butchered A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

, a

lumbar vertebra The lumbar vertebrae are located between the thoracic vertebrae and pelvis. They form the lower part of the back in humans, and the tail end of the back in quadrupeds. In humans, there are five lumbar vertebrae. The term is used to describe the ...

is sawn in half through the

vertebral column The spinal column, also known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrates. The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate. The spinal column is a segmente ...

. The downward prong of the 'T' is a

transverse process Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

of the

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

, and the flesh surrounding it is the spinal

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

s. The small semicircle at the top of the 'T' is half of the

vertebral foramen In a typical vertebra, the vertebral foramen is the foramen (opening) of a vertebra bounded ventrally/anteriorly by the body of the vertebra, and the dorsally/posteriorly by the vertebral arch. In the articulated spine, the successive vertebral ...

Preparation

T-bone and porterhouse steaks are suited to fast, dry heat

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

methods, such as

grilling Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and v ...

or broiling. Since they contain a small amount of

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the connective tissues of many animals. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of protein content. Amino acids are bound together to form a trip ...

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,

Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to bec ...

br>Lamb

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

br>Cooking in the credit crunch
or the meat near the bone will cook more slowly than the rest of the steak, and the tenderloin will tend to reach the desired temperature before the strip.

''Bistecca alla fiorentina''

Bistecca alla fiorentina ''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 ...

'' (), consists of a T-bone traditionally sourced from either the

Chianina The Chianina () is an Italian breed of large white cattle. It was formerly principally a draught breed; it is now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. The '' bistecca alla fiorentina'' is ...

Maremmana The Maremmana is a breed of cattle reared in the Maremma, a former marshland region in southern Tuscany and northern Lazio in central Italy. It is raised principally in the provinces of Grosseto, Rome and Viterbo.Tuscan cuisine Tuscan cuisine refers to the culinary traditions of the Tuscan region in Italy celebrated for its simplicity and focus on fresh, high-quality ingredients like olive oil, legumes, and meats. Rooted in , it emphasizes seasonal ingredients and s ...

, the steak is grilled over a wood or

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

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.Waverly Root, ''The Food of Italy'', 1971, .

''Cotoletta alla milanese''

The same cut of meat, but from a calf, is used for ''

cotoletta alla milanese Veal Milanese (, ) is a popular variety of ( veal cutlet preparation) from the city of Milan, Italy. It is traditionally prepared with a veal rib chop or sirloin bone-in and made into a breaded cutlet, fried in butter. A common variation ...

'', which consists of 1.5 cm-thick cuts which are battered in breadcrumbs and fried in

clarified butter Clarified butter is butter from which all milk solids have been removed. The result is a clear, yellow butter that can be heated to higher temperatures before burning. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to ...

with salt.

References

External links