How Long To Cook Flank Steak On Grill

Choosing The Right Cut

Youll find lots of different options for flank steak when you buy it. The most common choice is USDA Prime, Choice, or Select. USDA Prime denotes the best marbling of these options, which leads to the most tender steaks when cooked properly.

You might also find dry-aged and wet-aged flank steaks. While either is an excellent option, dry-aging takes a bit more time to break down tough steak tissue, which is beneficial for flank steak youll put on the grill.

An Introduction To Flank Steak

Flank steak comes from the lower abdominal area or the flank of the cow. This is a less expensive version of the pricier cuts of beef. Our beef flank steak recipes will show you how to cook this type of meat to be flavorful and tender. You will need to use a dry rub or marinade. You will be cooking your steaks on your grill. If you do not have one, the best way to cook flank steak indoors is with a cast-iron skillet.

To achieve the best results, your marinade needs to include salt, acidity, seasonings, oil and sugar. This is what will affect the general flavor of your meat. If you overcook flank steak or do not use a marinade or a rub, your meat may be tough.

Which Cut Of Steak Is Best For Grilling

When I first started working on this recipe, my top contenders for the steak were the ribeye , the rib steak , the porterhouse, and the T-bone.

Any of those cuts will taste great grilled due to the significant marbling of fat, which leaves the meat tender, and flavorful. Let’s take a closer look at each:

• Ribeyes vs. Rib steaks: A ribeye has the bone taken out a rib steak, also known as a bone-in ribeye, is a ribeye with the bone in. Due to its extensive marbling, this cut cooks beautifully on the grill, bone in or out. Trim the thick fat from the outside edgeleaving it on will cause flame flare-ups that can give your steak an unpleasant burnt flavor. Don’t worry, trimming it off won’t result in lost flavor!
• T-Bones vs. Porterhouses: People often confuse these two cuts, which is understandable because both cuts come from the loin and both have a T-shaped bone with meat on both sides. But porterhouses are larger and actually have more of the tenderloin than the T-bone. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications say the tenderloin of a porterhouse must be at least 1 1/4 inches thick at its widest, while that of a T-bone must be at least 1/2-inch.

Ultimately, I chose to use ribeye steak for its flavor, size, and the lack of bone — I wanted to slice and serve this steak family-style, and the fact that it doesn’t have a bone makes that easier.

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Tips For Best Results

Choose a good piece of beef Flank by nature is very lean, and because of that, I recommend choosing conventional over grass fed beef. Also ask the butcher for the most evenly thick piece of meat, so it cooks more consistently.

Do not rest the beef at room temperaturebefore cooking One of the biggest secrets to a great Grilled Ribeye or steak is to rest it at room temperature at least an hour ahead of time. However, because flank is so thin, here I actually do not recommend it. A colder piece of meat to start will allow us to caramelize the outside more thoroughly on the grill without overcooking the interior.

Dont marinate too little or too long Flank is plenty tender without marinade. The marinade here is more for flavor, so youll want to marinate the meat for at least 4 hours for good results. However, do not marinade for longer than one day, or the beef will taste too acidic from the balsamic.

Im going to share step-by-step photos of exactly how I grill this piece of beef, and if you follow it, you will have a gorgeously caramelized exterior and a wonderfully pink interior, like this:

Reverse Sear Method For Flank Steak

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking tray with foil, and brush with oil.
• Transfer steaks to the tray and season them as desired.
• Bake on the middle oven rack for 20-25 minutes, until the steaks reach an internal temperature of 120 degrees for medium-rare. Cook a little longer for higher levels of doneness.
• Preheat a cast-iron skillet to medium-high with one tablespoon of oil.
• Transfer the steaks to the skillet, searing for 1-2 minutes on each side.
• Move steaks to a clean plate. Tent it with foil, and rest for 5-10 minutes.

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Use A Meat Tenderizer

This is one of the easiest, no-fail ways to tenderize flank steak. Simply put the meat between plastic wrap or wax paper on a cutting board and pound using a weighted mallet that can be purchased at any multi-purpose store or grocery store. If you do not have a weighted mallet, a rolling pin or anything with some weight like a skillet works great as well. Pounding the meat softens it by flattening the muscle and helping blend the muscle, collagen and fat prior to grilling.

How Long Do You Grill A Thick Flank Steak

To grill the steak, grill it for 4-5 minutes each side, or until an internal thermometer registers 130-135 degrees F for medium rare or approximately 145 degrees F for medium well done. Remove the steak from the grill and place it on a cutting board, allowing it to rest for approximately 10-15 minutes.

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Keys To Juicy And Tender Flank Steak

• Handle the steak as little as possible. In some ways, grilling a flank steak is like barbecuing a hamburger. They should only be flipped once on the grill and handled as little as possible
• Never cut open on the grill to check for doneness. With flank steak, you can’t afford to release the juices until it’s served.

Medium-rare flank steak

How Should Flank Steak Be Cooked

Because flank steak is very thin, its preferable to cook it at a high heat for a short period of time so that it may acquire a tasty crust on the outside before it becomes overdone on the interior, as is the case with most steaks. Overall, this indicates that rapid, high-heat cooking methods such as grilling, broiling, and pan-searing will yield the best results for preparing flank steak.

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Enhancing Your Flank Steak

My flank steak recipe below keeps it simple, just seasoning with salt and pepper. But you could absolutely add whatever additional herbs and spices you like. Garlic powder and onion powder would be great. Or chili powder and cumin that would especially make sense if youre using it for steak fajitas, which is common.

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Cooking Your Beef Flank Steak Recipe

Once your grill is hot enough, brush the metal bars of your grill with vegetable or olive oil using a grill brush. You are now ready to place your flank steaks on your grill. As soon as your steaks come in contact with the surface of your grill, they should start to sizzle. Pro Tip: If you do not have a grill brush available, you can use bunched up paper towels dipped in oil. Make certain your hand does not come into contact with the surface of your grill.

During the first few minutes, you will be searing your flank steaks. This will require between three and four minutes. Use a pair of tongs to turn over your steaks. Provided your grill was nice and hot, you should see blackened or dark brown areas of your steak with a crispy appearance. If your meat is not well seared, turn it back over immediately and let your meat continue to cook.

Once your flank steaks are well seared, cook them on the other side over high heat for another three to four minutes. This will ensure you have a crispy layer on both sides for a great taste and the ideal texture. You will enjoy the caramelized exterior of your steaks. Once both sides of your flank steaks have been seared, you will need to move them to a cooler section of your grill. You can do this using your tongs.

• Rare: 120 degrees Fahrenheit
• Medium-Well: 150 degrees Fahrenheit
• Well done: 160 degrees Fahrenheit

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Discover To See What The Meats Grain Is

The grain is a description of the manner of modifying muscle filaments. The grain in flank steaks typically runs lengthy along with the meat. In this cut, the grain is usually easy to see. Long queues will appear along the length of the meat, and if you tug on the flesh, it should isolate slightly.

Contrary to popular belief, cutting meat is the least time-consuming method of softening a challenging piece of flesh. It lessens the muscular strands, which means you dont have to perform all the work and effort when chewing.

Is Flank Steak A Good Cut

The flank is the more slender of the two. Grilling, roasting, broiling, or sautéing this beef cut is a fantastic all-around option for a variety of dishes. In spite of its leanness, flank can become dry and harsh if overdone or sliced too thickly. It is crucial to cook flank no more than medium and slice it extremely thinly against the grain to avoid this problem.

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Helpful Tools For This Flank Steak Recipe:

• Instant-read thermometer: you need an instant-read thermometer for the juiciest steak, chicken and pork AND for perfectly fried everything! It allows you to cook any protein to the exact temperature every time and allows you to heat oil to the correct temperature for frying.
• Grill brush: is essential for keeping your grill clean! This grill brush with scrapers cleans stubborn stains deeply and efficiently.
• Quality Knives: a chefs knife will be your most used kitchen tool by far! Quality knives make prep time much quicker, are important for safety and essential for finely slicing flank steak. If youre concerned about moola, please remember that your best chef knives, depending on how hard you use them and how well you take care of them, can easily last 25 years or more. I love my Wusthof but there are hundreds of less expensive knives with great reviews such as this one.
• Cutting Board: I use my big solid cutting board daily so its worth the investment. This extra-large cutting board allows you to prep all your veggies on one surface and the bamboo is easier on knives than plastic

How To Make A Tender Flank Steak

Preparing a marinade is the first step in preparing a tender flank steak. Place the steaks in a container with a lid and marinate for 60 minutes at room temperature. Replace the saran wrap every few hours or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the refrigerator for one day. Remove the steaks from the marinade and arrange them on a platter so that they are not touching.

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Allrecipes Community Tips And Praise

“I’ve made this twice and it was wonderful both times,” says gertrong. “Each time I marinated the meat for 24 hours and ended up with a wonderful flavor and very tender meat.”

“Easy to prepare and pretty tender,” according to one Allrecipes community member. “As another reviewer suggested, I boiled the remaining marinade until it thickened into a nice sauce and drizzled a little over the meat and added some butter sauteed mushrooms. Looked fancy and tasted wonderful!”

“This recipe was so easy and tasted FANTASTIC,” raves DUBYANGE. “I always love to marinade meat in Italian dressing but this takes the cake. Luckily we ate it all because if there was any left, I would have kept eating it. Way to go on this easy, great tasting recipe. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Editorial contributions by Corey Williams

Tips For Grilling The Perfect Steak

• Season, then chill: I apply the same technique I use for getting crispy chicken and turkey skin to grilling this steak: season, then let it chill in the fridge uncovered for up to 48 hours. This essentially dry brines the steak while also letting it air-dry. This approach allows the surface moisture to evaporate while the seasoning has time to penetrate the meat resulting in deeply flavored steak that sears beautifully and develops a nice crust on the grill.
• Start with clean grates: Just like you use a clean skillet with a little oil to cook dinner on the stovetop, you want to start with clean and oiled grill grates.
• To flip or not to flip? Flip your steak to your hearts content. Harold McGee, food science writer and author of On Food and Cooking, discovered that frequent flipping creates a steak that cooks more evenly and quickly than those flipped only once.
• Grilling directly on coals: Raichlen seemingly knows an infinite number of ways to grill meat, and theres one in his new book, Project Fire , that I particularly like: he cooks steak directly on hot coalsno grill grates necessary. I love the idea, and its on my list of things to try in the near future.

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How Long Does It Take To Cook A Steak On Each Side

Using a higher temperature, up to 425 degrees, and a shorter cooking time, between 6-7 minutes, you may achieve a perfectly finished medium-rare slice of beef. Always turn the meat over to the other side while cooking to ensure that it is evenly heated. When it comes to cooking a steak, the most common mistake is to cut it too quickly and in the incorrect direction.

Easy Cast Iron Teriyaki Flank Steak With Veggies

Teriyaki flank steak boasts sweet, spicy and savoury flavours in every mouthful. Some of the ingredients in the sauce help tenderize the meat. This means you can expect the flank steak on a cast iron skillet to come out juicy and delicious. This is a favourite quick steak dinner made in a cast iron grill pan.

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A pan seared flank steak recipe like this is simple to prepare. Expect plenty of incredible flavours from this quick steak dinner. Flank steak is an economically priced cut of beef which is ideal for recipe like this one.

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How Long Do You Cook Steaks On A Charcoal Grill

Place the steaks on the grill and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until they are golden brown and slightly scorched.Turn the steaks over and continue to grill for 3 to 5 minutes longer for medium-rare , 5 to 7 minutes longer for medium , or 8 to 10 minutes longer for medium-well .

How Do You Keep Flank Steak Moist

Flank steak is a fairly tough cut of meat due to its leanness. Our simple marinade has just four ingredients and is the perfect way to prepare flank steak for the grill. While acidic citrus juice and salty soy sauce act to both season and tenderize the steak, olive oil helps to keep the meat supple and juicy.

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The Best Way To Cook Flank Steak

Flank steak is like the Rodney Dangerfield of beef cuts it gets no respect. And yet its reputation is truly unfounded. It isnt quite as simple to throw on a grill as some more expensive cuts, but when handled properly, it can be one of the most flavorful, cost-effective steaks around. And luckily, that proper handling is not as complicated as some people might think.

Flank steak is a long, lean slab from the belly of the cow. Because of its location, the muscles that make up the flank are well-worked it makes the meat chewier and tougher, but because of that action and blood flow, it also makes the meat more flavorful. It is easy to counteract a flanks tough nature if you know what you are doing. With a bit of salting, quick cooking and the proper cutting, you can have a tender, delectable steak at a much better price point.

Flank Steak Recipe Variations

• Swap citrus. Swap the lemon juice for lime juice or orange juice.
• Swap vinegar. Swap the balsamic for red wine vinegar.
• Swap seasonings. Mix up the flavor profile and swap the seasonings in the recipe for Cajun seasonings, Fajita seasonings, or Asian inspired seasonings such as Chinese 5 Spice, ginger and garlic.
• Make it spicy. Add additional red pepper flakes or swap the red pepper flakes for some cayenne or chipotle chili powder.
• Add chimichurri. Chimichurri is AMAZING with steak! I highly recommend my tangy, fresh Cilantro Jalapeno Chimichurri Sauce used in my grilled pork recipe. It is the perfect complement to the earthy, smoky grilled steak.

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Amp Up The Flavor With Butter Sauce

When I first began work on this recipe, I tried dry rubs, oil, and simple salt and pepper. All of these are wonderful things to put on steaks, but I felt like it needed more.

I settled on basting the steak with an herbed butter sauce. First, because butter. Second, because I have an extensive herb garden and it didnt require a trip to the store. I was worried that the butter might burn on the grill, and leave an acrid flavor, but it didnt.

It was pure deliciousness. The herbs added complexity without masking the meatiness of the steak.