Steak doneness temperature chart

What temperature is each doneness?

• Rare

  120 to 130°F (49 to 54°C)

  Cool, deep-red center. Very soft.

• Medium-rare

  130 to 135°F (54 to 57°C)

  Warm red-pink center. Juicy and tender, the classic steakhouse order.

• Medium

  135 to 145°F (57 to 63°C)

  Warm pink center with a firmer bite. Still juicy.

• Medium-well

  145 to 155°F (63 to 68°C)

  A trace of pink. Noticeably firmer and less juicy.

• Well done

  155°F (68°C) and up

  Grey-brown throughout. Firm; fattier cuts like ribeye hold up best.

Swatch colors come from our heat model at 125, 130, 140, 150 and 160°F. Real steaks vary with the cut, its age and the lighting, so trust a thermometer over color.

When should you pull the steak off the heat?

A steak keeps cooking after it leaves the heat, because the hot outer layers keep pushing heat toward the center. That carryover is about 3 to 5°F for thin steaks and 5 to 10°F or more for thick ones. So pull it about 5°F below your target, or 5 to 10°F below for thick steaks cooked hot.

Final temps are the targets the cook planner uses, each inside its doneness range above. In a reverse sear the steak leaves the oven 15 to 30°F below your target, and the sear supplies the rest.

A reverse-seared steak rises much less than one seared hard from cold, and a sous vide steak is already at its final temperature. The cook planner works out the pull temperature for your cut, thickness and method.

How do you take a steak's temperature?

Insert an instant-read thermometer from the side into the center of the thickest part, away from bone and fat. Push the probe past the middle, then draw it back slowly and go by the lowest reading, which is the center of the steak.

To check that your thermometer is accurate, stand the probe in a glass of crushed ice and a little water for about 30 seconds. It should read 32°F (0°C). Boiling water is a weaker check, because it reads 212°F (100°C) only at sea level and lower as you go higher.

Why do some charts say 145°F is medium-rare?

There are two scales in use. Beef checkoff and USDA-style cooking charts use a safety-based scale that lists 145°F for medium-rare, about 10 to 15°F hotter than the culinary scale above. Cooks, steakhouses and test kitchens use the culinary scale, which is the one this site uses.

What does USDA recommend?

USDA recommends cooking whole beef steaks to 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest. The same applies to mechanically tenderized steaks, which are labeled as such in US stores: 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest. Ground beef should reach 160°F (71°C).