Cooking · Pull early, then rest

Steak temperatures

Steak doneness is defined by the temperature at the centre of the meat: about 50 °C / 122 °F for rare, 54 °C / 129 °F for medium-rare, 60 °C / 140 °F for medium and 70 °C / 158 °F for well done, measured after resting. A steak keeps cooking off the heat, 1–2 °C / 2–4 °F when thin and up to 5–8 °C / 9–14 °F when thick, so it is taken off a few degrees earlier.

Also known as: Steak temperature chart · Tabla de temperaturas de la carne · Bảng nhiệt độ bít tếtLast reviewed 22 Oct 20267 sources

Pull temperature, final temperature

A steak temperature chart translates the words cooks use for doneness (rare, medium-rare, medium, well done) into a core temperature that can be measured with a probe thermometer. It is the only objective way to describe doneness: colour, firmness and time all vary with the cut, its thickness, its fat, the heat source and the light in the room, while a temperature reading at the centre does not.

Two numbers matter for every level. The pull temperature is the reading at which the steak comes off the heat. The final temperature is the highest reading the centre reaches during the rest, a few minutes later. The difference between them is carryover. Charts that give a single figure without saying which of the two it is are the most common cause of overcooked steak.

The chart

visual guide

Six levels of doneness, cut open

Each steak is drawn at its final temperature, after resting: watch the grey band grow from the crust inward while the centre goes from red to pink to grey.

°C

BlueRareMedium-rareMediumMedium-wellWell done

1/6

Blue

Bleu in France; vuelta y vuelta in Argentina and Spain

Pull from heat≈ 104 °F≈ 40 °C

After restbelow 113 °Fbelow 45 °C

Centre

Deep purple-red, cool, almost translucent

Texture

Soft and slippery, close to raw

When sliced

A hairline of grey under a hard sear; barely any juice

Best for

TenderloinRump

Avoid with Ribeye

A thick, lean steak and a very hot pan: seconds per side, edges seared too.

2/6

Rare

Saignant in France; muy jugoso in Argentina

Pull from heat113–118 °F45–48 °C

After rest118–126 °F48–52 °C

Centre

Bright red, warm in the middle

Texture

Very soft; yields under a finger

When sliced

A thin grey ring; red juice on the board

Best for

TenderloinStriploinHanger steakSkirt steakRump

Avoid with Ribeye, Tomahawk

Lean cuts are at their best here. Slice skirt and hanger thin, across the grain.

3/6

Medium-rare

Jugoso in Argentina; the steakhouse default

Pull from heat120–126 °F49–52 °C

After rest126–133 °F52–56 °C

Centre

Rose-red core fading to pink, warm throughout

Texture

Tender and springy; the fat starts to melt

When sliced

A narrow grey band; pink juice

Best for

StriploinT-boneTomahawkFlat iron steakDenver steakTri-tipPicanhaEntrañaFlank steak

The safe choice when in doubt: almost every steak cut works here.

4/6

Medium

À point in France; a punto in Argentina; término medio in Mexico

Pull from heat129–136 °F54–58 °C

After rest135–144 °F57–62 °C

Centre

Pink centre inside a wide grey-brown ring

Texture

Firmer; the marbling has melted

When sliced

Less juice, clear and pinkish

Best for

RibeyeChuck eye steakPicanha

Avoid with Flank steak, Skirt steak

Marbled cuts shine here: the melted fat lubricates every bite.

5/6

Medium-well

Tres cuartos in Spanish-speaking countries

Pull from heat140–145 °F60–63 °C

After rest145–153 °F63–67 °C

Centre

Grey-brown with a last trace of pink

Texture

Firm and noticeably drier

When sliced

Little juice, almost clear

Best for

RibeyeChuck eye steak

Avoid with Tenderloin, Flank steak, Skirt steak, Hanger steak

Choose marbling: it is what keeps the meat moist this far.

6/6

Well done

Bien cuit in France; bien cocido in Spanish

Pull from heat151–154 °F66–68 °C

After rest158 °F and above70 °C and above

Centre

Grey-brown from edge to edge

Texture

Firm and dense; more chew

When sliced

Almost no juice

Best for

RibeyeShort ribs

Far past well done, for hours

BrisketBeef cheekShankOxtail

Avoid with Tenderloin, Flank steak, Skirt steak

Cook gently (reverse sear) so the outside does not burn. Ground beef always goes to 71 °C / 160 °F.

Temperatures at the thickest point. A thick steak over high heat keeps rising 5–8 °C / 9–14 °F while it rests: pull it at the first number.

Carryover by thickness

Carryover happens because, at the moment a steak leaves the pan or grill, its outer layers are far hotter than its centre, and heat keeps flowing inward until the gradient evens out. The thicker the steak and the hotter the cooking, the bigger the reservoir of heat in the outer layers and the bigger the rise. Gentle methods that bring the whole steak close to its target, such as reverse searing and sous vide, leave almost no carryover.

How to measure

1. Use an instant-read digital probe; dial thermometers are slow and hard to read in the centre of a thin steak.
2. Insert the probe horizontally from the side, so that the tip sits in the geometric centre of the thickest part, not touching bone or a seam of fat.
3. Read several points on large or uneven steaks and trust the lowest reading.
4. Pull the steak at the pull temperature for its thickness, rest it, then read again to learn how much carryover the method and cut produce.
5. On bone-in steaks (T-bone, tomahawk), keep the tip at least 2 cm / ¾ in from the bone: bone conducts heat differently and the meat beside it lags behind the rest of the steak.
6. On thin steaks under 2 cm / ¾ in, a probe from the top cannot find the centre; slide it in from the edge along the length of the steak, and read early, because the temperature rises several degrees a minute over high heat.
7. Check the thermometer from time to time in a glass of crushed ice and water, which should read 0 °C / 32 °F. A probe that is off by 2–3 °C / 4–5 °F shifts every steak by half a doneness level.

Resting and the second reading

A steak is rested so that carryover can finish and the temperature evens out from the surface to the centre. Most of the rise happens in the first three to five minutes; a thick steak cooked over strong heat may still be climbing after eight. The useful habit is a second reading after the rest: the difference from the pull temperature is the carryover of that cut, that thickness and that fire, and it tells the cook where to pull next time. Resting does not make a steak juicier by itself; what it changes is the doneness at the centre. Details are in Resting steak.

Temperatures by cut

The chart describes doneness, not preference. In practice, cooks aim at different points of the medium-rare and medium ranges depending on how much fat the cut carries and how its muscle fibres behave: a lean tenderloin is usually taken off lower than a marbled ribeye. The figures below are common kitchen targets for the final temperature after resting, not rules.

The touch test, and why it fails

The touch test compares the firmness of the steak with the fleshy base of the thumb as the thumb touches each finger in turn: relaxed for rare, thumb to index finger for medium-rare, and so on. It survives because it costs nothing, but it fails in practice. Hands differ in firmness from person to person; cuts differ even more, so a well-done tenderloin can feel softer than a rare flank; marbling, thickness and resting all change the feel. Experienced grill cooks do judge by touch, but only after thousands of steaks of the same cut on the same grill, and they still check with a probe when it matters.

The USDA's 63 °C / 145 °F, in context

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service sets 63 °C / 145 °F with a three-minute rest as the safe minimum for whole cuts of beef, which corresponds to medium-rare turning medium. Restaurants worldwide routinely serve steaks below that figure, and the practice rests on sound microbiology: in an intact muscle, bacteria are on the surface, and a seared surface passes 70 °C / 158 °F within seconds while the interior is essentially sterile. The official figure is conservative and is the right one for people who are pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised.

The reasoning does not hold when the surface has been moved inside. Ground or minced beef (burgers, steak tartare aside, which is a separate choice) should reach 71 °C / 160 °F. Mechanically or needle-tenderised steaks and rolled or glued pieces carry surface bacteria into the centre; in the United States they must be labelled as such, and they should not be served rare.

Official numbers and restaurant numbers describe different things. On the restaurant scale in the chart above, 63 °C / 145 °F is a medium steak, so a home cook who follows the USDA minimum exactly will serve medium, not medium-rare. The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency takes the same position on the surface of whole cuts: steaks can be served rare because the pathogens are on the outside, while burgers should be cooked through to a core of 70 °C / 158 °F for two minutes, or an equivalent combination such as 75 °C / 167 °F for 30 seconds or 80 °C / 176 °F for 6 seconds. Time counts as well as temperature: the same reduction in bacteria is reached faster at higher temperatures, which is why sous vide cooks can pasteurise meat at lower temperatures held for longer.

Pulling late, probing from the top

Pulling at the final temperature and letting carryover push the steak a full level past the target. Probing from the top, where the tip easily passes the centre and reads the cooler bottom or the hotter far side. Using one chart for every cut: lean cuts such as tenderloin taste best at the low end of a range, heavily marbled ones such as ribeye and Wagyu at the high end, where the fat softens. And cutting the steak to look, which lets juice run out and still says less than a thermometer.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

7

1. 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
2. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
3. Myhrvold, Nathan; Young, Chris; Bilet, Maxime. Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Bellevue: The Cooking Lab, 2011.
4. Toldrá, Fidel (ed.). Lawrie's Meat Science, 8th ed. Duxford: Woodhead, 2017.
5. López-Alt, J. Kenji. The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.
6. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. "Descriptive Designation for Raw or Partially Cooked Needle- or Blade-Tenderized (Mechanically Tenderized) Beef Products." Final rule, Federal Register 80 (2015).
7. Food Standards Agency (United Kingdom). "Less than thoroughly cooked beef burgers: guidance for food businesses." www.food.gov.uk/node/16746

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