The IE Industrial Blast furnace seems to be very much slower even with powered preheaters. No idea what's changed. It used to be very good, but not so much any more.
Right-click to make the output face of a block face towards you, shift-right-click to face it away, using a wrench. Right-clicking on an output, or shift-right-clicking on an opposite face will pickup the blocks.
You can make steel with Thermal Expansion, using four coal and an iron. It's a bit expensive, but if you need just one or two ingots, it's a great way to get them quickly. (Just needs an Induction Smelter)