This free steak cook time calculator gives you per-side times for the grill, pan-sear, broiler, sear-and-oven-finish, and reverse sear — matched to your steak’s thickness, cut, and target doneness, with pull temperatures and rest times included.
Short on time? Enter your steak and your available minutes — the calculator works backwards and shows which doneness levels actually fit.
Pull temperatures are the thermometer reading when the steak leaves the heat; carryover cooking adds about 5°F while it rests. This combined steak doneness chart and steak internal temp chart is generated by the same engine as the calculator above, so the numbers always agree.
If your question is simply how long to grill steak, this table answers it: minutes per side on a hot grill (NY strip reference — total time is double). Steak thickness cooking time scales with thickness, not weight, so measure the thickest point.
A steak keeps cooking after it leaves the heat — residual heat drives the center up roughly 3–7°F (about 5°F typical) while it rests. That is why every result above gives you a pull temperature (when to take it off) instead of only a final temperature. Pull a medium-rare steak at 132°F and it coasts to about 137°F on the board. Rest thick steaks the full 10 minutes; thin ones need about 5.
The USDA safe temperature for steak comes from the USDA FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart:
| Product | Minimum internal temp | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Beef, pork, veal & lamb steaks, chops, roasts | 145°F (62.8°C) | at least 3 minutes |
| Ground meats (burgers, meatloaf) | 160°F (71.1°C) | — |
| All poultry | 165°F (73.9°C) | — |
Note the honest gap: a classic medium-rare steak finishes around 137°F — below the USDA line. USDA guidance is the blanket-safe rule; many cooks accept medium-rare on whole intact cuts (surface bacteria are killed by the sear). The calculator flags this on every result. Ground beef has no such exception: cook it to 160°F, no pink.
Grill / pan-sear / broiler: direct high heat, flip once. Best for steaks up to about 1.5 in. Sear + oven finish: hard sear 2 minutes per side, then a 400°F oven to finish the center — the fix for thick steaks that char outside before the middle is done. Reverse sear: low oven (275°F) first until the center nears 110–115°F, then a blazing final sear. A reverse sear steak time runs about 45–55 minutes for a 2-inch cut, but the edge-to-edge color is unmatched. (Low-and-slow water-bath cooking is a different discipline — see our sous-vide calculator below.)
For ribeye cook time on a hot grill at medium-rare, this steak cook time calculator gives 4.5 min per side (9 min total) for a 1-inch ribeye. Pull it at 132°F (55.6°C) and rest it 5 minutes — carryover takes it to about 137°F (58.3°C). That answers how long to cook steak per side for the most popular cut and doneness combo.
A 1-inch NY strip grilled to medium needs 5 min per side (10 min total). Pull at 142°F (61.1°C) and rest 5 minutes for a final 147°F (63.9°C). Go thicker and the answer to how long to grill steak scales with thickness, not weight — a 1.5-inch strip needs 6.5 min per side.
The medium rare steak temp to pull at is 132°F (55.6°C); after a short rest it coasts to about 137°F (58.3°C). That pull-early rule is the whole trick: if you wait for 137°F on the thermometer while it is still on the heat, carryover will push it into medium.
Honest answer: the USDA safe temperature for steak is 145°F with a 3-minute rest, and a medium-rare steak finishes around 137°F (58.3°C) — below that line. The USDA rule is the blanket-safe standard. Many cooks accept medium-rare on whole intact cuts because bacteria live on the surface, which the sear kills; there is no such exception for ground beef (160°F). Undercooked meat is not advised for young children, pregnant people, older adults, or anyone immunocompromised.
Reverse sear steak time for a 2-inch porterhouse at medium-rare is about 49.5 min in a 275°F oven plus 1.5 min per side for the final sear (52.5 min all in). Use the reverse-sear method in the calculator above for other thicknesses — it beats sear-first on anything over about 1.5 inches.
Rest about 5 minutes for a thin steak and up to 10 minutes for a thick one (the calculator above gives you the exact number). Resting lets carryover finish the center — roughly 5°F — and lets juices redistribute so they stay in the meat instead of on the board.
A 1.5-inch strip pan-seared to medium needs 6.5 min per side (13 min total) in a ripping-hot cast-iron skillet. Pull at 142°F (61.1°C), rest 6 minutes. If the outside is done before the center, finish in a 400°F oven — that is the sear + oven finish method in the calculator.
Steak thickness cooking time scales almost linearly with thickness: a 0.75-inch sirloin at medium-well needs 4.5 min per side on the grill, while a 3-inch ribeye at medium needs 17 min per side — nearly four times longer. Always measure the thickest point, and for anything past 2 inches switch to reverse sear or sear + oven finish.
For a 1-inch strip on the grill, 10 minutes covers rare, medium rare, medium: Rare: 6 min, pull 125°F (51.7°C); Medium rare: 8 min, pull 132°F (55.6°C); Medium: 10 min, pull 142°F (61.1°C). Medium-well needs 12 min, so it does not fit. Use the time-budget tab above to run this backwards for your own steak and method.
The steak doneness chart and steak internal temp chart at the top of this page list every level: pull temp, final temp after rest, center color, and whether it meets the USDA 145°F minimum. Both tables are rendered by the same engine as the calculator, so they can never disagree with your result.