How to Cook Flat Iron Steak on Stove & in Oven Medium-Rare

Last Updated on September 10, 2015 by SteakEat

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This manual explains how to cook flat iron steak on stove and in oven to medium-rare level of doneness.

The main issue with this preparing this steak is that it is quite tough to begin with.

It means it’s easy to mess up and you are in the world of chewy, dried-out steak with no flavor! 🙁

This guide will help you feel as relaxed as you can during the cooking process by providing exact steps of what you need to do. 🙂

The stove-oven method is great for tougher cuts like flat iron.

The idea is that we quickly sear the surface and then finish the steak at lower, gentler temperature (inside the oven), so it ends up preserving more flavor and tenderness.

Contents:

• Part 1: Ingredients & Tools You Need
• Part 2: Cooking Flat Iron on Stove & in Oven in 8 Steps

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Part 1: Ingredients & Tools You Need

My goal here is just to explain the METHOD, so I’m using a very simple salt-n-pepper recipe to demonstrate it.

Once you nail it, I definitely recommend trying some marinade with this cut…

Anyway, here are all the ingredients we need:

• 230g / 8oz flat iron steak
• 1 tbsp ghee/coconut oil
• Kosher/flaked salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Plus the tools:

• Thick-walled heavy skillet (forged aluminum is great for its non-stickiness)
• Paper towel
• Tongs
• Instant-read meat probe (or an oven-safe meat thermometer)
• Oven tray (optional, if you have an oven-safe frying pan)
• Tin foil (optional)

Ready-ready? Let’s SteakEat!

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Part 2: Cooking Flat Iron on Stove & in Oven in 8 Steps

Now is the time to dive into the details and see how to cook flat iron steak on stove and in oven closely, but…I must warn you first.

The process is tricky as you need to handle quite a lot of things at the same time, that’s why it is FINE if it doesn’t work out the first or even the second time (I was pretty bad when I first started).

Practice makes perfect, so let’s get going! 😉

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1. Flat Iron Room Temperature

Cooking starts with preparations and we need to take care of the steak itself.

Take it out from the fridge at least 40 minutes before you start cooking – it will make it go to the room temperature.

Cold steak, when you try searing it in a frying pan, will reduce its surface temperature to the level that’s not high enough for the actual searing.

That makes surface browning impossible.

Ever seen steak boiling in skillet? That’s what happened…

That’s why the 40 minutes!

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SteakEat Tip:

If you have no 40 minutes, here is the trick.

Place the steak in the microwave (use a ceramic plate or another microwave-safe dish) and set the power to the lowest setting (not defrost though).

Press the start button and run the microwave for 3-5 seconds.

Stop it and flip the steak.

You will notice that the side that touches the dish warms up quicker, that’s why we flip the steak every 3 seconds.

Run for 4-6 cycles until the flat iron is warm enough (don’t cook it there though).

Ready in a minute! 🙂

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2. Pat Dry Flat Iron

Now we need to remove the excess moisture from the steak’s surface – use paper towels to do that.

Light tapping motions is all you need.

By the way, do not try using toilet paper as a substitute, because it WILL stick.

Got no paper towels? Try using single layer tissues or even oven baking paper.

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3. Get the Oven Running

Now is the time to preheat the oven, which will be like stage 2 in our cooking process.

Set it to 130C / 265F with the fan option (or 150C / 300F without the fan).

The temperature setting might seem lowish, but…that’s how we are going to maximize our flat iron’s tenderness and juiciness.

‘Low & slow’ cooking in oven preserves a lot more flavor and moisture inside the cut, leaving it awesomely tasty (when compared to high heat oven treatment).

If you don’t have an oven-proof frying skillet (e.g. if it has a plastic handle), you should also the oven tray with tin foil on it.

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This is Page 2 of the ‘How to Cook Flat Iron on Stove & in Oven’ guide. Click here for Page 1.

4. Flat Iron Seasoning

Once your flat iron is at room temperature and its surface is dry, it’s time to season it!

Add 2-3 pinches of Kosher/flaked salt on each side of the cut.

We are not adding any pepper now, because it will burn at high heat, producing a charred flavor.

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5. Heat the Frying Skillet

Now add the tablespoon of coconut oil (or ghee) inside the frying pan you will be using.

Get the stove top at maximum power and place the pan on it to heat up.

Heat it until you see gentle smoke lifting off the skillet’s surface.

Wait for another 20 seconds and put the flat iron inside.

You should hear gentle sizzling sound.

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6. Sear Both Sides

We only need to brown both sides, so 1 minute per side should be enough to do that.

Use the meat tongs to flip the steak and avoid getting burned.

We try to sear as fast as possible, because high intensity heat dries out the steak and we don’t want that to happen.

This is why our goal is just to get the surface browning.

Total searing time is then 2 minutes.

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7. Finishing in the Oven

Now put the steak inside the oven, either leaving it in the same pan (if it’s oven-safe) or transferring it on to the oven tray you have prepared.

Use the temperature probe to check the doneness level. This is how you get an idea of how much time you need to finish the flat iron inside the oven.

We are aiming for 55C / 130F medium-rare, so you might need another 20-30 minutes in the oven.

It really depends, so don’t take my word for it and use meat probe for a perfect flat iron every time.

Oven-safe thermometer would really help to check the temperature without opening the oven, so it’s also a good investment.

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8. Pepper, Rest & Cut

Once the reading reaches 55C / 130F, you are good to go.

Take the steak out and transfer it on a plate.

Now is the time to season it with freshly ground black pepper – the aroma is amazing!

Cover the flat iron with tin foil and give it 3-5 minutes to rest.

This is important, because if you cut right into it, the juices (read – tenderness and flavor) will flow out.

The final things – cut, serve & enjoy! 😉

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How to cook flat iron steak on stove and in oven to medium-rare level of doneness?

This was the method.

Happy Steaks!

SteakEat

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