Medium rare steak temperature is 60 to 63C at the centre after resting, so take the steak off the heat 3 to 5C earlier and let carryover heat finish the job.
That one number causes more confusion than any other in steak cooking, because charts online mix chef scales, safety scales and Fahrenheit.
This chart puts every doneness level on one Celsius scale, explains why pull and final temperatures differ, and sets out what Australian food safety guidance actually recommends.
Steak Temperature Chart in Celsius, Rare to Well Done
Steak temperature is read at the centre of the thickest part, and the chart below gives both the final reading after resting and the point to take the steak off the heat.
| Doneness | Take off the heat at | Final temperature after resting | Centre colour and texture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | 52 to 55C | 55 to 60C | Bright red, soft and very juicy |
| Medium rare | 57 to 58C | 60 to 63C | Warm rosy pink, tender with a little spring |
| Medium | 62 to 65C | 65 to 70C | Paler pink, firmer, juices less red |
| Well done | 70 to 72C | 75C | No pink, brown throughout, firm |
The take-off column applies the house rule of pulling 3 to 5C below the final figure, because a steak keeps climbing as it rests. Read the final column first: that is where your steak should finish.
Blue sits below rare: a good blue steak is seared hard on the outside and left cool and deep red in the centre. Medium well falls in the gap between the medium and well done rows.
What Is the Ideal Medium Rare Steak Temperature?
The ideal medium rare steak temperature is 60 to 63C after resting, which gives a warm, rosy-pink centre framed by a thin band of browner meat under the crust. The steak feels springy when pressed, yields easily to the knife and releases juice without flooding the board. A centre that is still deep red and cool is rare, not medium rare.
Medium rare suits marbled cuts such as scotch fillet and porterhouse, because by this point the fat has begun to soften, 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 if it goes further.
For a classic finish, a butter-basted steak suits medium rare perfectly: the foaming butter deepens the crust while the centre stays in range.
Medium vs medium rare comes down to about 5C. Medium finishes at 65 to 70C, with a paler pink centre and a firmer bite, and suits anyone who finds medium rare too soft. The gap shows most on lean cuts, which lose moisture quickly past medium.
Pull Temperature vs Final Temperature: How Carryover Works
Carryover cooking is the rise in internal temperature after a steak leaves the heat, as the hotter outer layers keep pushing warmth towards the centre. That is why the pull and final temperatures differ: take a steak off at its target and it will overshoot, sometimes into the next doneness level.
How far it climbs depends on thickness, the heat you used and the rest. A thick steak seared over fierce heat stores more energy than a thin one cooked gently, and the 3 to 5C house rule suits a standard pan-seared steak. A reverse sear moves the pull point lower, because the final sear adds heat of its own.
Give a standard steak 3 to 5 minutes so the rise can finish, since resting beef properly turns the right pull point into the right final number.
Whole roasts follow their own rules, which is why roasting times and conversions for a whole joint are worked out separately from steak.
How to Check Steak Temperature Accurately
Use an instant-read digital thermometer, pushed in from the side so the tip sits in the centre of the thickest part, away from bone and the fat cap. A probe pushed down from the top can pass straight through the middle and read the hotter meat below, while bone and fat read differently from muscle.
Check every steak rather than one in the pan, as thickness varies even between steaks cut from the same primal. Start checking a few minutes before you expect the steak to be ready, remembering the reading keeps climbing after you pull it, and wipe the probe between readings.
Temperature beats steak cooking times on every appliance. Pans, barbecues and air fryers vary widely in power, which is why even an air fryer steak recipe with set times treats them as a starting point and leaves the final call to the probe.
The touch test, comparing the steak's firmness with the base of your thumb, is a handy backup without a thermometer, but it varies with the cut and the cook, so treat it as a rough guide only.
Is Medium Rare Steak Safe? Australian Food Safety Guidance
Medium rare sits at the edge of Australian food safety guidance: a steak that finishes at 63C meets it, while anything rarer falls below it. The Food Safety Information Council recommends cooking whole cuts of beef to at least 63C and resting them for 3 minutes, and cooking mince, sausages and rolled or stuffed roasts to 75C.
The Council's own chart lists whole cuts at 63C for medium rare, 71C for medium and 77C for well done. Readers who want the most conservative guidance can follow those figures instead of the Cost Cut Meats scale, which runs lower.
The Council explains that mincing, rolling or stuffing meat can carry bacteria into the centre, which is why those need 75C, and it treats mechanically tenderised meat the same way. It also notes that cooking whole cuts to 63C helps kill bacteria and parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii.
Rarer beef is a personal choice that pregnant women, older people, young children and anyone with a weakened immune system are safest avoiding. US charts quote 145F because that is the American safety minimum for whole cuts, about 63C.
Conclusion
Medium rare steak temperature is 60 to 63C after resting, so pull the steak 3 to 5C early and give it a few minutes before slicing.
A good thermometer takes out the guesswork, and our grass-fed steaks and primals arrive chilled, never frozen, ready to put the chart to work.
