A perfect porterhouse is the holy grail of the steak world, so they can be pretty expensive. Here are some tips on picking a good one so you don’t end up paying porterhouse prices for sub-par beef.

In this video from the America’s Test Kitchen YouTube channel, Dan Souza explains what makes the porterhouse steak special, as well as the most common mistake people make when they pick one out. As with most cuts of meat size matters, but for porterhouses, bigger does not mean better. A larger-than-usual porterhouse often has what’s known as a “vein-end,” where a line of tough sinew separates the buttery tenderloin portion of the steak with a small section of top sirloin (a heavily used muscle). That section is chewy and tough, so while it may make the porterhouse look bigger, you’ll end up paying porterhouse prices for a large chunk of meat you won’t enjoy eating very much. If you want your porterhouse to be as perfect a steak as possible, look for cuts that don’t have any vein-ends or streaks of sinew.

This article was written by Patrick Allan from Lifehacker and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.