The main differences between the porterhouse and ribeye comes down to fat and bone content. The porterhouse contains a “T” shaped bone, while the ribeye can come in bone-in or boneless varieties. Ribeye steaks have a distinctive “meaty” flavor given the high fat content.
If you're a ravenous meat monger, the porterhouse definitely wins out, but if you're looking to savor a delicious yet manageable meal for one, the ribeye may be a more suitable cut. All in all, both the porterhouse steak and ribeye steak are two fantastically flavorful, high-quality cuts of meat.
A porterhouse steak includes strip steak on one side of the bone and a tenderloin filet on the other side of the bone. These are the same meats that a T-bone steak has, but the filet on a porterhouse is generally larger and thicker than that of a T-bone.
The Porterhouse Steak
It's a cut from the rear end of the short loin, where the tenderloin and strip portion are larger, and because of this the Porterhouse includes more tenderloin steak than T-bone, along with a larger New York strip steak.
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. T-bone steaks are cut closer to the front, and contain a smaller section of tenderloin.
What defines a porterhouse? “[In Australia] porterhouse bone-in is the sirloin on the bone,” says Aaron Smith, chef and owner of The Glenelg Public House on the Gold Coast. “A lot of this stuff is also regional like in America they call it cilantro, here we call it coriander.
On average, a porterhouse will cost you a bit less than a ribeye steak, but not by a lot – expect to pay in the neighborhood of $12/lb. So in summary: Ribeye is $14 to $20 per-pound on average. Porterhouse is around $12 per-pound on average.
Sirloin steak a.k.a. porterhouse steak or New York steak
The steak lovers' choice, this cut is lean, notably tender, rich in flavour and extremely juicy.
Porterhouse steak is expensive because it requires a large portion of the cow to be dedicated to a single steak, thus you typically only have one porterhouse steak per animal.
The T-Bone and the Porterhouse: Two very different names for two very similar steaks. If you remember nothing else about these two cuts of steak, remember this: The porterhouse is a bigger version of the T-Bone. The T-Bone is one of the most easily-identifiable steaks.
The Porterhouse Steak. The Oxford English Dictionary listed the origin as Manhattan's Pearl Street around 1814 when the owner of a particular porter house, Martin Morrison, started serving rather large T-bones. A porter house was a bar and steak house that became popular back in the mid to late 1800's.
The ribeye, with its marbling, is tender right off the grill. It is not as soft as the tender cut of a porterhouse steak, and its tenderness is less like that of a filet mignon.
The Porterhouse is a bigger loin cut (serving 2-3) and includes both a filet mignon and a strip steak. A little edgier than the loin cuts, the Porterhouse can actually be less expensive to buy than a portioned filet and offers a more striking presentation than a portioned strip steak.
Steak has quite a bit of saturated fat, especially in fattier pieces, like the ribeye. Because sirloin steaks have less fat content than a ribeye, it's safe to say that the sirloin is the better option if you're following a low-fat diet.
The fillet steak, also known as Filet Mignon, is widely regarded as the premium cut. It is from the lower back of the cow which is rarely used meaning the fillet steak is the most tender cut. It is also very lean, with minimal marbling which means that it is not as flavoursome as other cuts.
Ribeye. For the ultimate juicy, beefy flavor, a ribeye is a great choice. These ultra-flavorful steaks are essentially individually cut prime rib roasts, and they come from the cow's upper rib area. Ribeyes are super fatty, which allows them to retain their juiciness even when cooked over very high heat.
The most expensive cuts of beef are always from the center of the steer, which is the loin and rib section. The reason for this is because beef gets more tender as the distance from horn and hoof increases.
The scotch fillet and sirloin (aka porterhouse), coming from the region near the backbone, fit the bill here perfectly. Even more tender is the eye fillet (or tenderloin). The rump, from the inside of the leg, is more active, but while it might not be quite as tender, it is often well priced.
A Tomahawk has the same large cut of meat as a Porterhouse, without the filet, but the rib bone stays attached. This gives the steak a different flavor when properly cooked. Since most of the meat on a Tomahawk and Porterhouse are the same, the flavor and texture is also the same.
The rib eye or ribeye (known as Scotch fillet in Australia and New Zealand) is a boneless rib steak from the rib section.
The rib eye steak is one of the most beloved, flavourful, and tender cuts of beef both here in Australia and around the world. It is also known as the rib fillet or the scotch fillet steak, depending on where you go.
If the bone was left in would be sold as a Rib-Eye or Cowboy cutlet. With the bone out it becomes a Scotch Fillet or Boneless rib-Eye. The Eye Fillet comes from the hind quarter of the animal. It is the strip of muscle tucked in against the backbone.
Chuck Eye. A chuck eye steak looks and tastes similar to a ribeye, but it's one of the cheaper ones to find in the supermarket.
The porterhouse gives you a taste of both the filet and the loin, with the less flavorful filet racking up points for tenderness and the strip steak scoring with its beefy flavor. When you start with a high-quality cut, this steak needs little in the way of adornment.
WHAT IS A TOMAHAWK RIBEYE STEAK? The tomahawk steak is essentially a ribeye beef steak specifically cut with at least five inches of rib bone left intact. The extra-long, french trimmed bone utilizes the same culinary technique that shapes a rack of lamb.