How long to cook steak depends mostly on its thickness and your heat, so no single number works: plan the cook by thickness, then let a thermometer decide when it is done.
Weight tells you surprisingly little, because a thin, wide steak cooks faster than a smaller, thicker one.
This guide shows how to time a steak by thickness and doneness, with Celsius pull points, air fryer times by thickness and resting times.
The clock gets you close. A thermometer reading in Celsius tells you when to stop.
How to Time a Steak by Thickness
Steak cooking time rises with thickness, so measure your steak in centimetres first, then choose the method that suits it.
| Thickness | Best approach | How to judge it | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2cm | Very hot pan, BBQ grill bars or air fryer | Sear hard and probe early, as thin steaks overshoot quickly | 3 to 5 minutes |
| 2.5 to 3cm | Very hot pan, BBQ grill bars or air fryer | Sear both sides, then probe from the side | 3 to 5 minutes |
| 4cm and over | Sear, then finish in the oven, or reverse sear | Probe the centre until it is 3 to 5C below your target | 3 to 5 minutes |
A heavy pan preheated until very hot gives the most predictable result. A cooler pan or a fridge-cold steak needs longer, and the crust suffers.
Every cook aims for the Cost Cut Meats final temperatures after resting: rare 55 to 60C, medium rare 60 to 63C, medium 65 to 70C and well done 75C, with the steak pulled 3 to 5C early. The rest column follows Australian Beef's resting advice to let steaks stand for 3 to 5 minutes before serving.
Blue sits below rare and needs only a fast, hard sear, so its timing is covered under cooking a blue steak. Medium well falls between medium and well done.
How Long to Cook a Medium Rare Steak
A medium rare steak is ready to come off the heat when the centre reads 57 to 58C, and it rises to 60 to 63C as it rests, however many minutes that takes on your stove.
Thicker steaks take longer to get there. At 4cm, extra minutes in the pan only scorch the outside, so the steak is seared hard and then finished in a hot oven.
Medium rare suits marbled cuts such as scotch fillet and porterhouse, because the fat has begun to soften by this point, adding flavour and keeping each bite moist. Lean eye fillet is at its most tender here too, since it has little fat to cushion it beyond medium.
So is medium rare 3 minutes each side? Only at one particular thickness on one particular heat. The same three minutes can overcook a thin steak and leave a thick one underdone, which is why any single number is a starting point rather than a rule.
The most reliable timing chart is the one you build at home. Note the thickness, the heat setting and the minutes per side each time a steak reaches its pull temperature, and the next steak of the same thickness on the same stove will land close to it.
How Long to Cook Steak by Method: Pan, BBQ, Flat Plate, Oven and Air Fryer
The same steak cooks at a different pace on every heat source, because each one delivers heat in a different way.
| Method | Heat | When to check | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pan (cast iron or heavy based) | Very hot, fully preheated | Turn once the underside is well browned, then probe | Oil the steak, not the pan |
| BBQ grill bars | High, direct heat | Probe after both sides are seared | Finish on a cooler zone if the outside is ready first |
| Flat plate | High | Turn once a crust forms, then probe | Full contact gives an even crust |
| Oven finish (thick steaks) | Hard sear, then a hot oven | Probe the centre until it is 3 to 5C below your target | Best for steaks of 4cm and over |
| Air fryer | 200C, preheated for 5 minutes | Medium rare in 7 to 9 minutes in total at 2cm, or 10 to 12 minutes at 3cm, flipped halfway | Pull at 57C for medium rare |
For the air fryer, the totals below come from our air fryer steak times, cooked at 200C and flipped halfway. Air fryers vary in power, so treat them as a starting point and confirm with the probe.
| Thickness | Rare (pull at 52C) | Medium rare (pull at 57C) | Medium (pull at 62C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2cm | 6 to 7 minutes | 7 to 9 minutes | 9 to 11 minutes |
| 3cm | 8 to 10 minutes | 10 to 12 minutes | 12 to 14 minutes |
A 2.5cm steak sits between the two rows, so start probing at the shorter time.
Whole roasts follow a different logic of minutes per kilo, set out in the roast and slow-cook times.
What Changes How Long Steak Takes to Cook?
Thickness, starting temperature, pan heat, bone and fat all change the clock, which is why two steaks of the same weight can need very different times.
Heat travels in from the surfaces, so the distance to the centre matters more than weight. A fridge-cold steak also takes longer to reach its target, and vacuum-packed steak should be patted dry, since surface moisture must steam off before it browns.
A pan that is not hot enough makes a steak run over time, because it greys and stews instead of searing. Bone-in steaks such as a bone-in Wagyu ribeye tend to cook more slowly next to the bone, while lean grass-fed steaks have little fat to buffer them and can overshoot quickly.
Fat edges need their own attention. When cooking porterhouse steak, stand it on its fat edge with tongs for a minute or two first, so the fat renders without overcooking the meat.
Even thickness is the simplest fix. Cutting every steak from a whole striploin to the same thickness keeps your timings consistent from one steak to the next.
Time vs Temperature: When to Trust the Thermometer
Use the time to plan and the thermometer to decide, because only the centre temperature shows what the steak has actually reached.
Push the meat thermometer probe in from the side so the tip sits in the centre of the thickest part, start checking a minute or so before you expect the steak to be ready, and take it off 3 to 5C below your target.
Give it 3 to 5 minutes before slicing, since resting the steaks lets carryover finish the cooking and keeps the juices in the meat.
Is it better to cook steak quickly or slowly? For steaks up to about 3cm, quick and hot wins, because a hard sear builds a crust before the centre overcooks. Thicker steaks do better with a gentler oven phase before or after the sear.
The Food Safety Information Council recommends cooking whole cuts of beef to at least 63C with a 3 minute rest, and mince, sausages and rolled or stuffed roasts to 75C. Its own doneness guide lists medium rare at 63C, medium at 71C and well done at 77C, higher than the eating scale used in this guide.
Conclusion
How long to cook steak comes down to thickness first, heat second and doneness third.
Plan the cook by thickness, let a thermometer make the final call and rest every steak for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing.
Cutting your own even steaks from a whole grass-fed porterhouse striploin makes every cook more predictable.
