Take advantage of the warmer weather and get outside to cook a flank steak on your pellet grill. Flank steak is popular due to its short grilling time and affordability. In addition, the flank steak is worth noting for its strong beefy flavor and ability to absorb marinades well, making this a wonderfully versatile cut that can suit many styles of cooking and recipes. This steak, when cooked right, can be excellent in simple stir-fries, spicy fajitas, or even in a beef Panang curry with shiitake mushrooms, but equally well works on its own with a side of grilled vegetables.
Here is everything you need to know about cooking a flank steak in your garden on your Z Grills Pellet Grill.
Table of Contents
What is a Flank Steak?
This particular cut of steak comes from the animal’s abdominal muscles. A flank steak is somewhat chewier than some other cuts because it comes from a muscular area and holds a low-fat content. Contrary to popular belief, this cut can be a tender steak due to the high volume of blood the muscles receive during growth. A flank cut is also more powerful in flavor than other steaks. Flank steak is also known by the name London broil and can often be confused with a skirt steak.
Flank Steak vs. Skirt Steak
Although many people use the terms interchangeably, there are some subtle distinguishing factors between a flank and a skirt steak. The latter tends to hold a stronger huskier flavor as it is a tougher cut from a cow’s diaphragm. However, both cuts fair well with a good marinade and short cooking time on high heat.
How to Ensure a Tender Flank Steak
Typically a tender steak is one with high-fat content. As the breakdown of fat naturally leads to a tender mouthful. As a flank steak is a lean cut with less fat content, you will need to ensure you manually aid the tenderizing process. You can do this in two ways.
Firstly, you can use a meat tenderizer. All you need to do is place the steak in a plastic food bag and use your meat tenderizer to pound the beef evenly on a chopping board. The second way to ensure a tender steak at your BBQ is to marinate the meat for several hours before grilling.
How to Marinade a Flank Steak
The main rule with marinading is not to leave your marinating to the last minute. Good marinades need a minimum of 2 hours to do the job, and the best marinades can also do with being left to soak into the steak for 12+ hours.
Consult our recommended recipes at the end of this article for some marinade ideas for your flank steak. Other ideas that work well are teriyaki or barbecue-based marinades.
Do You Have To Marinade?
You do not have to marinate your steak. However, it is strongly advised to enjoy your cut to the fullest.
How to Grill Flank Steak on a Pellet Grill
A flank steak isn’t hard to cook. However, to achieve the best results, we recommend you marinate the meat beforehand and cook it on high heat on your pellet grill. We also recommend not cook this steak cut to rare, medium-rare, or medium to avoid the beef drying out and losing flavor if overcooked.
If you wish to smoke your steak before cooking, please refer to our comprehensive guide on how to smoke your steak.
- Preheat your Pellet Grill to its highest heat setting for at least 10 minutes after smoking. On our Z Grills, you will want to aim to reach heat of 450°F.
- Flank steak is a thin cut, and it only needs a few minutes of heat per side to cook. Therefore, 3 minutes per side should suffice, although cooking time will depend on how well done you wish your steak to be. Do not exceed 5 minutes per side when grilling.
How to Cut Flank Steak
Ensure you have the right tools to achieve the best cut on your flank steak. Use a carving fork to hold the steak to the board while using a serrated knife to cut against the grain. Using a diagonal cut with the knife at a 45° angle will help avoid a chewy steak.
How To Know Which Direction The Grain Runs
The muscle fibers will run down the meat as parallel thin white lines. Cut perpendicular to these fibers to cut against the grain.
Recipe Ideas for Grilled Flank Steak
No-Fuss Flank Steak
A goof flank steak can speak for itself. Therefore you may wish to stick to a simple 4 ingredient marinade to enhance the flavor of your meat. The lemon juice and soy sauce allow for a tender result, while the olive oil will keep your steak juicy on the inside, while the sugar provides a caramelized crust and a sweet end to your mouthful.
Garlic and Rosemary Flank Steak
The summer recipe is ideal for a late afternoon Sunday lunch as the meat will taste best when spending at least half a day soaking up the flavors. Serve your garlic and rosemary steak medium rare with grilled baby potatoes and asparagus.
Smoky Flank Steak
Left things a bit last minute but still want to achieve a smoky taste? Not to worry, this recipe capitalizes on paprika and chipotle’s natural smoky undertones to achieve an easy smoked flank steak recipe for a quick mid-week meal.
Summary
We have discovered how to cook a delicious flank steak on your Z Grills Pellet Grill!
In a few easy steps. It couldn’t be easier to serve a tasty BBQ for the family this summer. Not only can you impress your guests with a perfectly cooked flank steak, but you can enhance the tender flavor of your flank steak with a marinade to suit the occasion.
