The best way to cook scotch fillet is hot and fast: sear the steak in a very hot pan or on the BBQ, pull it at 57C for medium rare, then rest it for about 5 minutes.
This beef steak is marbled enough to forgive a little extra heat, but thickness still decides how long it takes.
Here is how to cook scotch fillet in a pan, on the BBQ and by reverse sear, with probe targets, resting and cutting your own steaks from a cube roll.
How Long to Cook Scotch Fillet: Probe Targets by Doneness
How long to cook scotch fillet depends on thickness and method, so cook to the centre temperature: pull at 52C for rare, 57C for medium rare or 62C for medium.
Scotch fillet is the boneless rib eye cut from the cube roll, and its marbling helps it handle high heat better than leaner steaks.
| Doneness | Pull from the heat | Final after resting |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 52C | 55 to 60C |
| Medium rare | 57C | 60 to 63C |
| Medium | 62C | 65 to 70C |
| Well done | 70 to 72C | 75C |
Pull the steak 3 to 5C below the final temperature you want, because carryover heat keeps lifting the centre as it rests. Thickness changes how long a steak takes to reach those numbers, not the numbers themselves: a 2.5cm steak gets there quickly over direct heat, while 3.5cm and 5cm steaks need a gentler finish or a reverse sear.
As a general guide, Australian Beef's oregano scotch fillet recipe cooks 180g steaks on a very hot char-grill pan or BBQ for 3 to 4 minutes per side, then rests them for 5 minutes.
The Food Safety Information Council recommends cooking whole cuts of beef to at least 63C and resting them for 3 minutes, and mince, sausages and rolled or stuffed roasts to 75C. Rarer beef is a personal choice that pregnant women, older people, young children and anyone with a weakened immune system are safest avoiding.
How to Cook Scotch Fillet in a Pan
To cook scotch fillet in a pan, sear it in a smoking hot heavy pan, render the fat edge, baste with butter near the end and pull it at your target temperature.
- Pat the steaks dry and salt them just before cooking or at least 40 minutes ahead.
- Heat a cast iron or steel pan over high heat until it just smokes, then add a thin film of high smoke point oil.
- Hold the steaks on their fat edge with tongs until it turns golden.
- Lay them flat and sear until a deep crust forms, then turn and sear the second side.
- In the final minutes, lower the heat, add butter, garlic and thyme, and baste with garlic butter, spooning the foam over the steak.
- Probe the thickest part and pull at 57C for medium rare.
- Rest on a warm plate before slicing.
Cook no more than two steaks at once in a standard pan, since crowding drops the heat and the steaks steam instead of searing.
How to Cook Scotch Fillet on the BBQ
To cook scotch fillet on the BBQ, preheat it well with the hood down, sear over the hottest zone, dodge flare-ups and close the hood on thicker cuts until the probe reads your pull temperature.
A grill plate gives an even, pan-like crust and catches the rendering fat, while open bars add char lines and smoky flavour but more flare-ups. Scotch fillet's fat seam makes flare-ups likely on bars, so keep a cooler zone ready.
Preheat with the hood closed until the grill is properly hot, since a half-hot grill sticks and stews the steak. Oil the steak rather than the grill, lay it on the hottest part and leave it until it releases with a good crust, then turn. If the fat flares, slide the steak to the cooler side until the flames die down.
Steaks of 2.5cm usually finish over direct heat. Thicker 3.5cm and 5cm steaks are easier to manage if you sear them first, then move them to the cooler side with the hood down so the centre cooks through without the outside burning. Check with a probe rather than cutting into the steak.
Reverse Sear for Thick Scotch Fillet
A reverse sear suits thick scotch fillet, such as a 5cm steak cut from the cube roll: cook it slowly in a low oven until it is just under the pull temperature, then sear it hard for the crust.
- Season the steak and set it on a rack over a tray in a low oven.
- Cook until the centre sits a few degrees below your pull temperature, checking with a probe.
- Sear in a smoking hot pan or over the hottest part of the BBQ until a deep crust forms, then rest briefly.
The slow start cooks the steak evenly from edge to centre, with almost no grey band under the crust, and the dry surface browns quickly in the final sear. It is the most forgiving way to cook a thick steak from a whole cube roll, though slower than a straight sear.
Because the steak spends so little time in the hot pan, it usually needs only a short rest. Thinner steaks cook so quickly that a straight sear in the pan or on the BBQ is the simpler choice.
Resting, Slicing and Choosing Your Thickness
Rest scotch fillet for about 5 minutes, slice it across the grain, and choose a thickness that suits your method by cutting steaks from a whole cube roll.
Resting gives the juices time to settle, and thicker steaks can rest a little longer, loosely covered. Sliced across the grain, scotch fillet also suits stir fries, steak sandwiches and other scotch fillet recipes.
Buying the whole cube roll lets you cut your own scotch fillet steaks to the thickness you cook best: 2.5cm for a quick pan sear, 3.5cm for the BBQ or 5cm for a reverse sear. Cut across the roll with a long, sharp knife in one smooth stroke.
Cost Cut Meats stocks four scotch cube rolls: AMG A Budget and AMG Prime grass-fed Angus, Southern Ranges SR+ grass-fed and finished Angus (MSA MB2+, wet aged 21 days) and Roam MB2+ grass-fed beef. Full box prices run from $39/kg to $54/kg, as of 18 October 2026.
For a crowd, you can also roast the whole cube roll.
Conclusion
Scotch fillet rewards a simple routine: measure the thickness, get the pan or BBQ properly hot, trust the probe and rest the steak.
Pull it at 57C for medium rare and let the marbling do its work.
To cut steaks at your own thickness, browse whole scotch cube rolls delivered chilled to your door.
