St. Louis Pork Steaks with Homemade BBQ Sauce

If you have never had a St. Louis pork steak, the easiest way to explain it is this: imagine taking all the richness of pork shoulder and turning it into something you can throw on a grill like a steak.

That is basically what we are working with here.

Pork steaks are cut from the shoulder of the hog, usually a Boston butt, which means they have plenty of fat, connective tissue and big pork flavor. They are not as naturally tender as a pork chop, but when they are cooked properly, they become tender, juicy and incredibly rich.

In St. Louis, pork steaks have become one of the city’s signature barbecue foods, right alongside ribs and rib tips. They are inexpensive, filling, hard to screw up and perfect for cooking over charcoal.

And that is exactly why I like them.

What Is a Pork Steak?

A pork steak is simply a pork shoulder cut crosswise into thick slices.

Because it comes from the shoulder, each steak contains several different muscles along with plenty of marbling and connective tissue. You will also usually find part of the shoulder blade running through the center.

That makes pork steaks very different from pork chops.

Pork chops come from the loin and cook relatively quickly. Pork shoulder steaks need more time for the fat and connective tissue to soften, but they also have a lot more flavor.

If you already like pulled pork, pork steaks are basically another way to enjoy the same cut.

Why Are Pork Steaks Associated With St. Louis?

St. Louis did not invent the pork shoulder steak, even though there is a popular story online claiming the cut was created in Florissant, Missouri, in 1956.

Pork shoulder steaks were being sold decades before that.

What St. Louis really did was make them famous.

The city had a long connection to the meatpacking industry, and pork shoulder was inexpensive and widely available. Over time, local families started grilling thick pork steaks over charcoal and serving them at backyard cookouts, fundraisers and community events.

Eventually, they became part of St. Louis barbecue culture.

Sometimes the best regional foods are not invented in one dramatic moment. People just keep cooking something until eventually the rest of the country realizes they have been missing out.

What Makes St. Louis Pork Steaks Different?

The big difference is how the pork is treated.

This is not a lean cut of pork that you want to cook quickly and pull from the grill.

Pork shoulder needs time.

A good St. Louis pork steak should have plenty of browned, slightly charred flavor on the outside while still being tender enough to eat easily.

The final texture should land somewhere between a grilled steak and barbecue.

You want the pork tender, but you do not want it so soft that it falls apart the second you pick it up.

That is one of the biggest mistakes people make with shoulder steaks. If you cook them all the way to pulled-pork tenderness, you lose the entire point of having a steak.

Why Pork Shoulder Works So Well for This

Pork shoulder is one of my favorite cuts because it has almost everything working in its favor.

It has fat.

It has connective tissue.

It has a ton of pork flavor.

And compared with a lot of barbecue cuts, it is usually relatively inexpensive.

That combination makes pork steaks perfect for high-heat grilling followed by a longer cook. The outside can take plenty of color while the inside slowly becomes tender.

You also do not have to be nearly as delicate with pork shoulder as you would with something like pork loin.

It wants to be cooked.

The Maull’s Connection

If you are talking about St. Louis pork steaks, Maull’s barbecue sauce is going to come up eventually.

Maull’s has been associated with St. Louis barbecue for generations, and its sauce is noticeably different from the thick, extremely sweet barbecue sauces you find in a lot of other regions.

St. Louis-style sauce tends to be thinner, tangier and a little sharper.

That works especially well with pork shoulder.

The acidity helps cut through all that rich pork fat instead of burying it under a layer of sugar.

For this recipe, I use a homemade Maull’s-style sauce that keeps that same general balance of tomato, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and warm spice.

Do Pork Steaks Have to Be Cooked on a Smoker?

Absolutely not.

I cook mine on a Weber Smokey Mountain because I like the way it lets me work directly over charcoal and then transition into a slower cook.

But pork steaks are not smoker-dependent.

A kettle grill, charcoal grill, drum smoker or just about any cooker that lets you manage direct and indirect heat can work.

What matters most is being able to build good color early and then give the pork enough time to become tender.

You can even adapt the recipe for an oven if that is what you have available.

What Thickness Is Best for Pork Steaks?

I like pork steaks around 1 inch thick.

Anything much thinner can dry out before the connective tissue has enough time to soften.

Thicker steaks give you more room to develop a dark exterior while keeping the inside juicy.

If your butcher does not have pork steaks already cut, ask them to slice a bone-in Boston butt crosswise into steaks.

Just be warned: once you start looking for pork steaks, you are probably going to notice that half the country has no idea what you are talking about.

What Should Pork Steaks Taste Like?

A good pork steak should taste like pork first.

That sounds obvious, but barbecue sauce can easily take over.

You want rich pork flavor, smoke, char, seasoning and sauce all working together.

The exterior should be dark and sticky with a little caramelization around the edges. The inside should be juicy and tender without turning soft or mushy.

That balance is what makes this cut so good.

What to Serve With St. Louis Pork Steaks

Pork steaks are backyard barbecue food, so I would keep the sides simple.

Potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, grilled corn, macaroni salad and white bread all make sense.

Pickles and sliced onions are also a good move because the acidity helps cut through the richness of the pork.

You do not need anything fancy.

This is the kind of food that belongs on a paper plate next to a pile of sides with a cold beer sitting nearby.

Why This Cut Deserves More Attention

St. Louis pork steaks are one of those regional foods that somehow stayed regional for a long time.

That is a shame because they check just about every box I want from backyard barbecue.

They are affordable.

They are forgiving.

They have a ton of flavor.

And they give you a reason to cook directly over charcoal instead of treating every piece of pork like it needs twelve hours of smoke.

St. Louis may not have invented the pork steak.

But they definitely figured out what to do with it.