Pork steaks are awesome.

Smoked pork steaks are even better.

Pork steaks come from the shoulder of the hog. They are basically a pork roast cut into 1 inch slices of deliciousness. They work very well for a smoker since “low and slow” is the name of the game when it comes to pork shoulders.

However, when I made mine recently, I made a crazy (rather large) mistake. 🤦‍♀️

But first…what DID go well?

I started with a great apple based brine for my steaks.

The meat sat in the goodness overnight.

Then I sprinkled liberal amounts of a new seasoning I had recently purchased, and put them on the smoker.

Don’t those look good?

After they were finished, I brought them in and snitched a small piece off one (because I was hungry…and didn’t want to wait for the rest of the family. 😉)

And then…oh the flames of fire on my tongue.

Now, I like a little spice to my food.

But the new seasoning I had so generously covered 8 pork steaks in was beyond something I, or anyone else in the family, could tolerate.

👉 Obviously an important thing to think about when making any meat……..make sure to TRY the new seasoning before covering your meat in it! 🤦‍♀️

I was a bit absentminded when I made these….this is what I get for attempting to multi-task…

Oh the disappointment! 8 inedible pork steaks….what am I going to do with them?

I’m thrifty. There’s no way I was feeding 8 pork steaks to the cats and dogs. (As fabulous and lovey as they are…)

So, the next day, I had a plan.

I took them to the sink and washed off as much seasoning as I could.

(Not nearly as beautiful anymore…)

Then I chopped the meat into smaller pieces and added them to a kettle on the stove.

Then added some homemade tomato sauce from fresh garden tomatoes and simmered for a bit.

A little pasta…and *voila*…repurposed pork steaks!

It tasted amazing! The smoked meat shared its flavors with the tomato sauce and there was only a little of the insane spiciness left…just enough to give it great taste without being overwhelming.

So there’s some encouragement for you….when you think your dinner failed, get creative and make it better the second time around. 😊

(Want to try smoking your own with the RIGHT seasoning? 👉 https://www.piggeryrunfarm.com/how-to-smoke-pork-steaks/ )