Flank steak?

[PorkBones]

My wife just picked up some flank steaks. I was thinking of grilling them for fajitas. But, me being me, I wanted to know if I can smoke them as a stand alone piece of meat. Is this worth doing? Or should I stick with a hot grill and make fajitas?

 

[uncle eddie]

I have always grilled mine, with a little smoke added.

Please post pictures if you decide to smoke them. Would like to see how they turn out.

 

[chopsaw]

I always grill hot and fast . Come out good for me just medium rare .
Alton Brown does an interesting fajita show . Throws the flank steak right on the coals , no grill . I do peppers like that , char the skin , then into a paper bag . Steams for a bit , peel the skin of .

 

[markh024]

I just made Carne Asada tacos last night with Flank. Cooked it hot on my weber. It's so good. Put in a blender mix up well and marinade over night. Corn tortillas, minced cilantro, diced onion, and some habanero street taco sauce. YUM!

Marinade-
Ingredients

• 2 limes juiced
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 jalapeno minced
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 pounds flank or skirt steak

 

[PorkBones]

It looks like hot and fast is the way to go. The carne asada tacos sound awesome! I'll have to run it by the wife and kids and see what the consensus is; fajitas or tacos.

 

[markh024]

If you try the Carne recipe, let me know how you like it? I seriously could eat this straight up with fork and knife, it's that good. It would be best to marinade overnight if you can but if it's for tonight, I'd get it whipped together asap.

 

[PorkBones]

Thanks for the marinade recipe. I'll be marinating overnight. I'm going to try to convince them to go for the carne asada tacos!

 

[Omnivore]

I wasted a perfectly good flank steak throwing it on the smoker once. Cooked it to 135, sliced thin, but still ended up super tough and rubbery. Lesson learned! Now I cook it over screaming hot charcoal with a scattering of soaked hickory chips. It doesn't take much time to take on a nice smoke flavor.

Sometimes when I do steak tacos I like to keep the beef simple with just SPG and then do a couple interesting salsas. Might be a safer bet if the family is on the fence. Having said that, @markh024 's marinade sounds awesome too.

 

[zwiller]

Add me to the list especially to rare only part. Skirt you can get into medium if the family requires. I have tried a lot of marinades and have not found one that I love yet. As of late, I dry brine with a Tex Mex rub. Jeff's is what got me started.

 

[tallbm]

You could cold smoke for a couple of hours (if able to cold smoke) and then grill them hot and fast. This is known as a reverse sear when you smoke it first and then cook/sear it after.

This would give you the best of both worlds and flank steak is awesome when grilled rare to med-rare so this would be even better! :)

 

[chef jimmyj]

All above, plus, Slice as thin as possible on heavy bias! I shoot for a 30° angle up from the board, across the grain. Perfect slices are the Width of the Steak, around an 1/8" thick and 2-3" wide. You will see the muscle fibers. I find it easier to start at the thickest end. This will be the most Rare getting more done toward the thin end. Everybody's taste is covered. Good Luck.
BTW...For Reverse Sear, Smoke at 200-225 until the IT reaches 95 to 100°. Then finish to an IT of 125°on the Hottest grill you can get. Rest 15 minutes and slice. Will be rare to medium, end to end...JJ

 

[PorkBones]

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone. I'm thinking I'll throw them on the grill over some raging coals and hickory. We all like our steaks rare to medium rare. So this seems like a good option to try. I do worry about it coming out rubbery if smoked. I might play it safe this time and forego the smoker. I'll report back with the results. I'll still get my smoker fix this weekend. I've got a pork butt ready to go!

 

[markh024]

So where did these Flanks end up?

 

[PorkBones]

So where did these Flanks end up?

I ended up making fajitas. I was outvoted. The flank turned out amazing, though. It was the most tender one I've ever had. The next flank I pick up is going into your carne asada marinade.

 

[texomakid]

So I just ran across this thread while searching - yep, got a flank in the Yoder taking smoke now (Never cooked no flank steak before.) Fixing to pull & set up for a quick reverse sear on this thing. Was a last minute idea - 45 minute marinate in Dale's - remove from marinate, dry, & coat with Weber Jalapeno & Garlic seasoning, and in the Yoder set @ 150 for full smoke mode loaded with Lumberjack 100% Hickory pellets (My first run on Lumberjack pellets) pics to follow.

 

[texomakid]

Well this turned out better than expected. I let it smoke for about 1 hour in the Yoder @ 150. Was getting a real nice smoke in that time but the IT was @ 104 when I pulled it. Didn't get enough sear due to IT getting to the 140 range. Next time, less smoke & more sear but it turned out very tender, juicy, and full of flavor. It's now in the weekly rotation for a while

 

[tx smoker]

I ended up making fajitas. I was outvoted. The flank turned out amazing, though. It was the most tender one I've ever had. The next flank I pick up is going into your carne asada marinade.

Your fajitas look like they were perfectly cooked. Nice job. The wife and I love fajitas and I tend to season mine in advance, vac seal, let sit in fridge for a couple days, then into the freezer for when we are ready to cook them. I'll do 6 to 8 packages at a time so we always have them on hand. I have every intention of doing the Carne Asada that MarkH posted above. I'll most likely get the steak into the marinade today and cook tomorrow. If you'd like to try something that I came up with a couple years ago as a fajita seasoning, here is the recipe that I use to season mine before vac sealing.

2 T corn starch
4 t chili powder
2 t salt
2 t paprika (smoked is best)
2 t sugar
2 t garlic powder
1 ½ t beef bouillon
1 t onion powder
1 t meat tenderizer
1 t black pepper
½ t cayenne
½ t cumin

It's not overly involved but gives a nice subtle and rich flavor to the meat. Of course any of the ingredients can be adjuste to taste and I'm thinking of adding a bit of Chipolte to it just for giggles. We are down to 2 packs of seasoned fajita meat in the freezer but I have 10 pounds of flank steak that's ready to get prepped and into the freezer.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

Here are a couple pic of the first fajitas I did on the Santa Maria grill right after I got it. They were done over mesquite wood and were simply incredible!! The mesquite really adds a ton of flavor.

These were done on a Friday, Saturday we had friends over, and these were so good that Tracy asked for them again on Sunday. That's the first time ever she has asked for the same dinner 2 nights out of 3

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

The next flank I pick up is going into your carne asada marinade.

I did some carne asada with a marinade that is very close to what markh024 posted above. My carne asada went on a salad (which will be posted very soon) at the wife's request, and it was outstanding. It was sort of a combination of his, one that Chilerelleno posted, and a twist or two of my own. Got it all written down and WILL be doing them again!! Glad yours came out well. Ain't this a great place?

Wife happy, I'm happy,
Robert

 

[Ricout]

I just made Carne Asada tacos last night with Flank. Cooked it hot on my weber. It's so good. Put in a blender mix up well and marinade over night. Corn tortillas, minced cilantro, diced onion, and some habanero street taco sauce. YUM!

Marinade-
Ingredients

• 2 limes juiced
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 jalapeno minced
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 pounds flank or skirt steak

It has to be really delicious! I haven't tried this recipe yet. To be honest, I don't follow any steps when cooking meat. I just try to do it in my way, because good cooking is more about technique rather than following proportions. Anyway, my wife is a real fan of steaks, so I should certainly try your recipe, to surprise her. She's not very good at cooking, that's why I am the one who deals with it most of the time. I think it will go well with some beetroot risotto inspired from https://www.lolacovington.com/ or a chickpea salad. Yummy. Can't wait to go home and cook for dinner!