Flat Iron Steaks

Most of you have probably never heard of a Flat Iron steak. You've been missing out. This is a particularly flavorful and tender cut of meat. In fact, this is the second most tender cut of meat in the beef animal, second only to the tenderloin. It also happens to be fairly new, and is therefore hard to find.

The Flat Iron steak was developed by the University of Nebraska and the University of Florida. It comes from a tender, tubular muscle in the shoulder of the animal. Formerly, this muscle was used to make a Top Blade steak. In this cut the muscle is cut vertically, yeilding a nice round steak with one major problem- there is a very heavy seam of connective tissue that runs all of the way through the middle of it. Heat will not break it down, and it is fairly inedible. You'll see in the picture below this seam. Many people will insist a Top Blade and Flat Iron are the same thing. This is not true. They are derived from the same muscle, however, the Flat Iron is far superior to the Top Blade.

Researchers were characterizing tenderness of muscles in beef animals, when they realized how tender themuscle could be if the connective tissue were removed. They used a process very similar to fileting to cut out steaks on either side of the connective tissue. This left them with a flat, rectangular steak of uniform thickness. Thus, the Flat Iron was born.

Due to the shape and uniformity of this steak, it is perfect for grilling. It does well in a marinade, but it is not necessary. I wwould not recommend cooking it beyond medium (and as you'll learn, I would never recommend cooking any steak beyond medium), although even past that it stays relatively very juicy and tender. As with anything cooked on the grill, I would stay away from high heat unless it is very thin to avoid charring the outside while waiting on it to cook through. I cook mine on a medium-high heat and, depending on the thickness of the steak, I typically cook it for about 5-6 minutes on each side for medium-rare. This steak will typically shrink up some on the grill.

Go find yourself some Flat Irons.. you may even find you're new favorite steak!

There's my daily dose of meat science for you!