In August 2018, I had a few issues grilling a flat iron steak and wrote about it in one of my posts. Two years passed and I completely forgot about that experience. I’m standing at the butcher counter in 2020, I see a flat iron steak, and I think I should try grilling one and posting about it here. Not until I started writing this post did I discover I’d cooked and posted about flat iron steak before!

Well, I’m happy to report that I had a better experience with flat iron steak this time.

If you don’t know much about flat iron steak, you can read about the origins of this cut of meat in my previous post.

First, I upped the grilling temperature…preheated for 15 minutes, two burners on MEDIUM-HIGH, one burner on LOW, and one burner OFF to create a hot direct zone and a cooler indirect zone in case I needed it. Turned out I didn’t need it. I seasoned the meat with Susie Q’s Santa Maria Style Seasoning and let it rest at room temp for 1 hour.

Second, I cut the 1.25 lb flat iron steak into two portions. This helped each portion cook a bit faster.

Third, I grilled the two pieces for a total of 8 minutes…2 minutes on one side, 2 minutes on the other side, then repeat, changing directions each time to create the usual diamond pattern grill marks.

Fourth, I used my Thermapen Mk4 to check the internal temp after 8 minutes and it registered 128-130°F in the thickest part of the meat. Moved the meat off the grill to a rimmed baking sheet pan, covered with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkled with a touch of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes and enjoyed!

As I said in my previous post about flat iron steak, it’s a cut you should try if you can find it. Some describe it as super tender. To me it’s a complex cut of meat…tender but with a little chew, and great beefy flavor as you’d expect from a shoulder cut. This particular flat iron was really well marbled, so it had plenty of internal fat that made for a really juicy steak. And the crunch of the sea salt flakes added an explosion of salt that took this steak over the top! I’m already looking forward to my next flat iron!