Cooking · The method
How to cook steak
To cook a steak, dry and salt it, sear it in a very hot heavy pan turning it every minute, and take it off the heat a few degrees before the target: a 2.5 cm / 1 in steak needs 6–8 minutes for medium-rare, pulled at 51 °C / 124 °F and rested 5 minutes.
At a glance
- Thickness
- 2.5–4 cm / 1–1½ in
- Pan, 2.5 cm
- 6–8 min for medium-rare
- Pull at
- 51 °C / 124 °F (2.5 cm)
- Medium-rare
- 52–56 °C / 126–133 °F after rest
- Rest
- 5 min (2.5–4 cm)
Your steak: time and temperature
Set the thickness, the doneness and the method: the minutes, the temperature to pull it at and the rest change with them. The same numbers as the tables of Steakpedia.
Estimates to plan with, not a guarantee: every piece, butcher and grill is different. Nothing you type leaves this page. The full calculator, with a timer and a start-time planner →
Four decisions
Every steak, in a pan, on a grill or in an oven, comes down to four decisions: which cut, how thick, how much heat, and at what internal temperature to stop. The cut sets how tender and how fatty the steak is; the thickness sets the time; the heat sets the crust; and the temperature in the centre, read with a thermometer, sets the doneness. Time is only an estimate of that temperature.
Thickness matters more than weight. A 300 g / 11 oz steak cut 1.5 cm / ½ in thick cooks in about 4 minutes, the same weight cut 4 cm / 1½ in thick in about 10. For most home kitchens 2.5–4 cm / 1–1½ in is the easiest range: thick enough to build a crust before the centre overcooks, thin enough to finish in the pan. Thicker steaks are better cooked by reverse sear.
Choose the cut
| Cut | Thickness to buy | Suits | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ribeye | 2.5–4 cm / 1–1½ in | Pan, grill | Marbled; forgiving if slightly overcooked |
| Striploin (New York strip) | 2.5–3.5 cm / 1–1¼ in | Pan, grill | Render the fat cap on its edge first |
| Tenderloin (filet mignon) | 4–5 cm / 1½–2 in | Pan and oven, reverse sear | Lean: best rare to medium-rare |
| Rump (US top sirloin) | 2.5–3 cm / 1–1¼ in | Pan, grill | Firmer; slice thinly across the grain |
| Skirt, flank | 1–2 cm / ½–¾ in | Very hot grill or pan | Minutes only; slice across the grain |
| Picanha | 3–4 cm / 1¼–1½ in | Grill, skewer | Keep the fat cap |
| Tomahawk, T-bone | 5 cm / 2 in and more | Reverse sear, two-zone grill | The bone slows the meat next to it |
Step by step in a pan
- Take the steak out of its packaging, dry it with paper towels and salt it with about 1 % of its weight in salt (3 g for a 300 g steak), ideally 40 minutes to a day ahead, uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator; see salting steak.
- Heat a heavy pan, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat for 5–10 minutes, until a drop of oil smokes faintly.
- Add 1–2 tablespoons of a refined oil with a high smoke point and lay the steak in, away from you. Do not crowd the pan: two steaks in a 25–30 cm / 10–12 in pan at most.
- Leave it until it releases on its own, 45–60 seconds, then turn it, and keep turning every 30–60 seconds. Frequent turning cooks the centre more evenly and builds the crust on both faces.
- Hold fatty cuts on their edge with tongs for 30–60 seconds to render the fat.
- When the centre is about 8–10 °C / 15–18 °F below the target, lower the heat, add 30–50 g / 1–2 oz of butter, a crushed garlic clove and thyme, tilt the pan and spoon the foaming butter over the steak for a minute.
- Check the centre with an instant-read thermometer from the side and take the steak off at the pull temperature for its thickness (table below).
- Rest it on a rack for 5 minutes for a 2.5–4 cm steak (why), then slice across the grain and season with flaky salt and pepper.
Times by thickness
| Thickness | Pan, total | Grill, direct high heat | Pull at (medium-rare) | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 cm / ½–¾ in | 3–5 min | 3–5 min | 53 °C 127 °F | 2–3 min |
| 2.5 cm / 1 in | 6–8 min | 6–10 min | 51 °C 124 °F | 5 min |
| 4 cm / 1½ in | 9–12 min | 10–14 min | 49 °C 120 °F | 5 min |
| 5 cm / 2 in | 12–16 min, or reverse sear | 14–18 min, finished on indirect heat | 48 °C 118 °F | 8–10 min |
Doneness: the temperature in the centre
The pull temperatures above are for medium-rare; for other doneness levels, take the steak off a few degrees before the final temperature in this table, more for thick steaks, because the centre keeps rising while it rests. The full chart, with blue and the carryover by thickness, is in steak temperatures; what each level looks and feels like is in doneness.
| Doneness | Final, after rest | Centre |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 48–52 °C 118–126 °F | Red, warm, very soft |
| Medium-rare | 52–56 °C 126–133 °F | Pink-red, warm through, juicy |
| Medium | 57–62 °C 135–144 °F | Pink, firmer |
| Medium-well | 63–67 °C 145–153 °F | A trace of pink |
| Well done | 70 °C 158 °F and above | Grey-brown throughout |
Pan, grill, oven, reverse sear or sous vide
| Method | Best for | How |
|---|---|---|
| Pan | Steaks 1.5–4 cm / ½–1½ in | Cast-iron steak |
| Grill | Any steak; two zones above 4 cm | Grilling over fire · grilling times |
| Oven | Several steaks at once, no grill | Steak in the oven |
| Reverse sear | Steaks 4 cm / 1½ in and thicker | Reverse sear |
| Sous vide | Exact doneness, edge to edge | Sous vide steak |
Common mistakes
A wet steak in a cool pan. Moisture on the surface has to boil off before browning starts, and a pan that is not hot enough stews the steak grey; see the Maillard reaction. A crowded pan drops the temperature the same way.
Cooking by the clock. The times are estimates: the starting temperature of the steak, the pan and the burner change them by minutes. A thermometer removes the guesswork. Cutting straight away loses juice to the board; slicing with the grain makes even a tender cut chewy. If the steak still comes out hard, the causes are in why steak is tough.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you cook a steak?
It depends on thickness. In a very hot pan, for medium-rare: 3–5 minutes in total for 1.5 cm / ½ in, 6–8 minutes for 2.5 cm / 1 in and 9–12 minutes for 4 cm / 1½ in, turned every minute. Check with a thermometer.
How long do you cook a steak on each side?
For a 2.5 cm / 1 in steak, about 3–4 minutes per side if turned once, or the same 6–8 minutes in total turned every 30–60 seconds, which cooks it more evenly.
What temperature should a steak be?
For medium-rare, 52–56 °C / 126–133 °F in the centre after resting; take a 2.5 cm steak off the heat at about 51 °C / 124 °F, because it keeps rising while it rests.
Is it better to flip a steak once or many times?
Turning every 30–60 seconds cooks the centre more evenly and slightly faster, with a thinner grey band under the crust; turning once also works, but the outer layer overcooks more.
Do you need to rest a steak?
A short rest lets the temperature even out and keeps more juice on the plate: about 5 minutes for a 2.5–4 cm steak, 2–3 minutes for a thin one.
Sources
4
- McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
- Myhrvold, Nathan; Young, Chris; Bilet, Maxime. Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Bellevue: The Cooking Lab, 2011.
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart. 2023. www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart
- Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (UK). Beef Meat Purchasing Guide. Kenilworth, 2016. ahdb.org.uk
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