This recipe for Smoked Pork Steaks came about somewhat accidentally when my plans for dinner one night went awry. Here’s the story: Menu planning for the week doesn’t work for me. It’s not my style. I find that keeping a well-stocked pantry, a good supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, regular dairy items and a few meat options in the freezer, provides a base from which I can decide on each day.
Sometimes I plan a few days in advance. But even the best plans can go awry, like they did last summer when I had a pork loin in the refrigerator. I had planned to season it with salt, pepper and garlic and let it smoke on the grill most of the afternoon…from 1pm until we were ready to eat around 6pm. The only problem was, I was busy working and the day got away from me. It was well after 5pm when I suddenly remembered what was for dinner and lamented that nothing was started!
Tom came to the rescue. While I felt sick with despair and was chastising myself for failing to accomplish all I had planned, he suggested we cut the pork loin into individual steaks, season and grill them. I wouldn’t be so easily cheered and numbly handed it over to him while turning my attention to making side dishes. Tom busied himself as a shining knight with knife in hand and presided over the grill with an eager cheerfulness.
The steaks were soon ready, and we sat down to dinner. To our amazement, these steaks turned out to be far better than any smoked pork loin we had ever served! We would have pork steaks again…and soon.
Sometimes when things don’t turn out the way we planned, it turns out to be a blessing in disguise. It certainly was in this case. A little imagination and enthusiasm went a long way to save our dinner. With further adjustments to the seasoning and grilling method, including using the smoker, Tom has turned this into a “company best” recipe, and it is worthy to share with you.
We like the sweet spiciness of this combination of seasonings. Of course, you can adjust the seasoning to fit your own tastes. I like to serve these pork steaks with Rice Pilaf. Some other great options would be Green Rice, Roasted Root Vegetables or these fresh Marinated Tomatoes
Pork Steaks
Equipment
- smoker BBQ
Ingredients
- 4-5 pork steaks, cut to 1½" thick
- 4 tsp black peppercorns
- 3 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
Instructions
- Grind peppercorns, salt, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and dark brown sugar together using either a mortar and pestle or blender. (A blender is our favorite!)
- Rub seasonings into both sides of steaks and transfer to a BBQ smoker grill set on "smoke".
- Smoke steaks for 1½ hours. Flip steaks over, turn heat up to 425°F and grill for another 15 minutes or until internal temperature of steaks reaches 145°F.
