T-bones, porterhouses, cowboy ribeyes — all classic steakhouse fare found in some of those “old school,” dimly lit carnivore havens of yore. But the popularity of bone-in beef cuts has waned a great deal over the decades to the point that many restaurants offering beef steak items offer them in only the boneless form. As a result, a new spin on the steak dining experience is in fact making the older style of bone-in beef cuts a cool new movement.
Let’s take a look at what has become a very common theme in the meat community, boneless cuts. Rarely will one find a bone-in chuck roast anymore, but let’s be honest: the bone-in beef steak, with the minor exception of the T-bone and porterhouse, have become somewhat of a novelty. It simply makes sense to break the beef carcass at the packing plant into boneless cuts of beef. By boning out the side, the packer can then ship only the edible portion of the carcass and therefore more efficiently process the bones in the on-site or nearby rendering operation. As a result, the meat counters and restaurants we see today have very nicely trimmed beef (and other species as well) cuts that are ready to consume. What might be overlooked is the potentially cool look of that bone in the beef cut and the subsequent cooked presentation on the plate.