Knowing how to cook steak well comes down to five steps: pat it dry, season it, sear it hot, check the centre with a thermometer and rest it before slicing.
Those steps hold for every cut, from scotch fillet and porterhouse to eye fillet and rump.
What changes is the detail: how thick the steak is, which method suits it and when to take it off the heat.
This guide works through each step in Celsius, compares the pan, BBQ, oven and air fryer, and explains what grass-fed beef changes.
Before You Cook: Choose the Cut, Thickness and Prep
Thickness decides the method more than the cut does, so check how thick your steak is before you heat anything. A steak of 2 to 3cm suits a straight pan sear or a hot barbecue, where the crust and the centre finish at about the same time. At 4cm or more, the outside can overcook before the middle is ready, so thick steaks do better with an oven finish or a reverse sear.
Take the steak out of the fridge 20 to 30 minutes before cooking so the centre is not fridge-cold. Chilled, vacuum-packed beef carries surface moisture, so pat it dry with paper towel, because a wet steak steams instead of browning.
Salt it just before it hits the pan or at least 40 minutes ahead, since salting in between leaves moisture sitting on the surface. A simple steak seasoning of salt and cracked pepper is all a good cut needs.
For the sear, use a high smoke point oil such as rice bran or canola. Save butter for basting at the end, as it burns at full searing heat.
Cutting Steaks From a Whole Primal
Buying a whole scotch cube roll or striploin lets you set the thickness yourself. Use a long, sharp knife, cut across the grain and keep every steak even, choosing the thickness to suit the method: 2 to 3cm for the pan or barbecue, or 4cm and up for an oven finish or reverse sear. Wrap and freeze any steaks you will not cook soon.
How to Cook Steak in a Pan, Step by Step
To cook steak in a pan, heat a heavy pan until it just smokes, sear the steak without moving it, turn it once, baste it with butter, then take it off 3 to 5C below your target and rest it.
- Heat the pan. Put a heavy cast iron or carbon steel pan over high heat until it is just smoking, then add a tablespoon of high smoke point oil.
- Sear without moving. Lay the steak in, away from you, and leave it alone so a deep crust can form.
- Turn and render. Flip once the underside is well browned, then hold any fat edge against the pan for about 30 seconds.
- Baste with butter. Lower the heat to medium, add butter, crushed garlic and thyme, and spoon the foam over the steak, the classic garlic butter steak finish.
- Probe the centre. Check the thickest part from the side and take the steak off 3 to 5C below your target doneness temperature.
- Rest it. Leave it on a warm plate or a rack before slicing.
For a steak of 4cm or more, sear both sides in the pan, then finish it in the oven until the probe reads 3 to 5C below your target.
Butter or oil? Use both at different stages: oil carries the high heat of the sear, and butter adds nutty flavour once the heat comes down.
Pan, BBQ, Oven or Air Fryer: Which Method Suits Your Steak?
The pan suits most steaks up to about 3cm, the barbecue suits the same steaks with added char, the oven suits thick steaks, and the air fryer is a handy option for 2 to 3cm steaks.
| Method | Best for | Heat | Key tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pan | Scotch fillet, porterhouse and eye fillet, 2 to 3cm | High, then medium to baste | Sear without moving, baste at the end |
| BBQ | Scotch fillet, porterhouse, rump and rump cap steaks, 2 to 3cm | A hot zone and a cooler zone | Move the steak to the cooler side if flare-ups start |
| Oven (reverse sear) | Steaks 4cm and thicker, such as thick-cut scotch fillet or porterhouse | About 120C, then a hard sear in a pan | Probe the centre and sear last for the crust |
| Air fryer | Porterhouse, scotch fillet and rump, 2 to 3cm | 200C, preheated | Cook in a single layer and flip halfway |
Pan or oven? For a standard steak the pan wins, because it is faster and builds a better crust. Cooking steak in the oven earns its place once steaks pass about 4cm, bringing the centre up gently before the final sear.
Cooking steak on a BBQ needs its own habits. When you cook porterhouse steak over coals or gas, stand the fat edge against the grill bars to render it before searing the flat sides.
For a weeknight shortcut, air fryer steak cooked at 200C keeps the splatter out of the kitchen and works best on 2 to 3cm cuts.
Steak Temperatures, Resting and Slicing
Cook steak by internal temperature rather than time: take it off the heat 3 to 5C below your target and it will climb to its final temperature as it rests.
| Doneness | Final temperature after resting |
|---|---|
| Rare | 55 to 60C |
| Medium rare | 60 to 63C |
| Medium | 65 to 70C |
| Well done | 75C |
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. Whole cuts differ because bacteria sit on the surface, where the sear deals with them, while mincing or rolling carries them inside. Rarer beef is a personal choice that pregnant women, older people, young children and anyone with a weakened immune system are safest avoiding.
Resting beef lets the juices settle so they stay in the meat when you slice, so allow 3 to 5 minutes for a steak. Rest it uncovered or under loose foil, never wrapped tightly, or the crust softens.
Finally, slice across the grain, cutting through the muscle fibres rather than along them. Shorter fibres make every bite more tender, which matters most on rump, rump cap and rostbiff.
Cooking Grass-Fed Steak: What Changes?
Grass-fed steak cooks the same way as any other, but it is usually leaner, so it overshoots faster and needs closer attention to temperature. It tends to carry less marbling than grain-fed beef and a firmer, yellower fat cap, a difference rooted in how grass-fed beef is raised.
With less fat running through the muscle, there is less to cushion a lean steak if it goes too far, and it can turn tough quickly once it passes medium. Pull it a full 5C below your target and give it a proper rest before slicing.
Every cut in the Cost Cut Meats range is grass-fed, from AMG and Southern Ranges Angus to Roam Wagyu, and each needs a slightly different touch. Eye fillet, the leanest, is best cooked hot and fast to medium rare, seared in cast iron with butter, garlic and thyme.
Grass-fed Wagyu is the exception. Roam's grass-fed Wagyu, graded MB2 to MB3+, carries more marbling than lean grass-fed cuts, which makes it more forgiving, though it still shines at medium rare with high heat, a short cook and a long rest.
Conclusion
Every good steak follows the same pattern: dry it, season it, sear it hot, check the temperature and let it rest.
Match the method to the thickness and the result looks after itself.
For thick steaks cut exactly the way you like them, our whole scotch cube rolls are a generous place to start.
