Doneness is a temperature, not a time
The single biggest reason home steaks come out wrong is that people cook to the clock. Minutes-per-side charts assume one thickness, one starting temperature, and one pan — change any of those and the chart lies. Doneness is defined by the internal temperature at which the muscle proteins denature: myosin firms up around 50 °C, the meat turns from translucent to opaque, and above ~65 °C the collagen and actin squeeze out moisture and the steak dries. That is why this tool asks for thickness and a target doneness and works backwards to a temperature and a timing, rather than handing you a fixed number of minutes.
Pull and serve temperatures
Two numbers matter for every doneness level: the serve temperature you actually want on the plate, and the lower pull temperature at which you take the steak off the heat so it can coast up the rest of the way (see carryover, below).
| Doneness | Pull | Serve |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 48 °C / 118 °F | 52 °C / 126 °F |
| Medium-rare | 52 °C / 126 °F | 56 °C / 133 °F |
| Medium | 57 °C / 135 °F | 60 °C / 140 °F |
| Medium-well | 63 °C / 145 °F | 66 °C / 151 °F |
| Well-done | 70 °C / 158 °F | 74 °C / 165 °F |
Carryover: why you pull early
A steak does not stop cooking when it leaves the pan. The hot exterior keeps driving heat toward the cooler centre, so the internal temperature rises by roughly 3–4 °C during a normal rest — and by as much as 8–11 °C after the fierce, brief sear of a reverse-sear (López-Alt, 2015). The pull temperatures above already bake this in: pull at the pull temperature, rest, and the steak arrives at the serve temperature on its own. Pull at the serve temperature and you will overshoot it by a full doneness band.
The four methods
Direct pan and grill sear both sides over high heat; the per-side time scales with thickness and the target doneness. Reverse-sear warms the steak slowly in a low oven to just below the serve temperature, then finishes with a hard sear — best for thick cuts (over ~3 cm) because it heats evenly edge to edge. Sous-vide holds the steak in a water bath set to the serve temperature itself: it cannot overcook, because the meat can never exceed the water, so timing becomes a matter of safety and texture rather than precision.
A worked example
A 25 mm steak cooked to medium-rare in a pan:
- Target serve temperature: 56 °C; pull at 52 °C.
- Sear time scales from thickness — about 80 seconds per side over high heat.
- Rest ≈ thickness ÷ 8 ≈ 3 minutes; the centre coasts the final 4 °C up to 56 °C.
Limitations and food safety
These pull temperatures assume a room-temperature steak (~20 °C) and an instant-read thermometer placed in the thickest part — eyeballing colour is unreliable. Add 5–10 minutes if you cook straight from the fridge. Note the food-safety floor: the USDA recommends a minimum internal temperature of 63 °C (145 °F) with a 3-minute rest for whole beef cuts (USDA FSIS, 2020). Rare and medium-rare sit below that line and are a culinary preference accepted by most diners for intact (not ground) cuts seared on the outside; if you are cooking for someone pregnant, very young, elderly, or immunocompromised, cook to at least medium-well. Ground beef is a different case entirely and must always reach 71 °C (160 °F).