Flank steak is lean, beefy, and unforgiving of two mistakes: overcooking it, and slicing it wrong. Get it hot and fast, pull it at medium-rare, and slice thin across the grain, and it eats tender and rich. Set your dinner time below and the calculator plans the whole thing backward.
How long to grill or smoke a flank steak
Flank is thin, so it cooks fast over direct heat. At a hot 350°F grill it runs about 10 minutes total for medium-rare, a couple minutes longer per doneness step. Because it is lean, the window between perfect and dry is narrow, so lead with the thermometer.
| Doneness | Pull temp | Hot grill (350°F) |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | ~120°F | ~8 min |
| Medium-Rare | ~130°F | ~10 min |
| Medium | ~140°F | ~12 min |
| Medium-Well | ~150°F | ~14 min |
| Well | ~160°F | ~16 min |
Slice across the grain, always
This is the whole game with flank. The muscle fibers run long and obvious down the steak. Cut WITH them and every bite is a chew; cut ACROSS them, into thin slices at a slight angle, and the same steak turns tender. Rest it about 10 minutes first so the juices settle, then slice thin.
Marinade makes flank
Lean flank drinks up a marinade, and a few hours in one with acid (citrus or vinegar), oil, garlic, and salt both flavors and tenderizes it. Do not push much past 8 hours or the acid starts to mush the surface. Pat it dry before it hits the grate so it chars instead of steaming.
Best wood for flank steak
Oak and hickory carry the beef, mesquite adds a bold Tex-Mex edge that suits flank’s use in fajitas, and pecan rounds it out. It is a quick cook, so a little smoke goes a long way.
FAQ
What temperature is flank steak done? Medium-rare, around 130°F, is the sweet spot. Past medium it turns tough and dry because there is little fat to protect it.
Flank steak or skirt steak? Similar cuts and cooked the same way. Skirt is a touch fattier and more tender, flank is leaner and larger. Both must be sliced across the grain.
Can you smoke flank steak low and slow? It is not the natural method: flank is thin and lean, so it shines hot and fast. If you want smoke, keep it brief, then finish over high heat.
Flank steak prices: retail vs wholesale
Flank Steak costs about $9.99 a pound at the grocery store this week and $6.23 a pound wholesale. The lowest advertised price is in the Northeast at $9.99 (313 stores). USDA data: grocery ads running Oct 3-9, wholesale trades through Oct 9.
$9.99/lb national grocery ad average for Flank Steak (ads running Oct 3-9, 313 stores)
$6.23/lb wholesale, Choice flank steak (IMPS 193) – USDA boxed-cut trades, Oct 5-Oct 9, 226,783 lb traded. The shelf price also covers cutting, packaging, labor, shrink and the store’s margin, and a supplier quotes above this for their margin, spec and delivery.
Dashed line: national average $9.99
See prices for every cut → · How much should you buy? · Cooking for money? Price the whole job
Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (Market News + LMPRS mandatory reporting), tracked daily by MeatSmokingCalculator. Retail = advertised grocery feature prices; wholesale = national boxed primal values. Not a quote – your store and supplier will vary.
Where flank steak finishes. Pull temperature on one thermometer, against the safety floors; the faint ticks are every other cut on the chart.
📊 See the full smoking times & temps chart for every cut →
Keep these numbers. Save a card with flank steak’s pit temp, time and pull temp, or put them on your own site.
Paste this on your site. The times stay current and the credit link stays attached.
Written by John Kirker, who built the first meat smoking calculator in 2011. Times come from cooks we have actually run and logged; temperature and feel decide the finish, never the clock alone.
Rated 5by 500+ users
Tagline
Other Options
The MeatSmokingCalculator will help you plan the timeline for any meal.
Planning, ingredients, preparation, and timing are the most critical elements to making and serving great food.
Having enough time is the most important part when it comes to slow and low!
Meat Smoking Calculator takes the thinking out of the process.
It makes cooking and serving amazing tasting smoked meats every time, on time.
SOME OF OUR FAVORITE SITES
Smoking a Turkey for Thanksgiving!
BBQ Brethren
Smoking Meat Forums
Deejay’s Smoke Pit
USDA’s Food Safety Guidelines
Smoking Pit
Virtual Weber Bullet
Smoking Times and Temps
* To help support this free site, posts contain affiliate links. If you use one of the affiliate links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.