Skip to content

How long do you cook a steak?

It depends on thickness and method. Over a hot direct fire, a 1-inch steak takes roughly 3 minutes per side to reach rare to medium-rare. A 1½-inch steak takes about 8 to 14 minutes in a hot pan with frequent flipping. Times are only a guide: pull the steak by temperature, not the clock.

By Gene · Updated November 12, 2026

Illustration of a seared steak in a cast iron skillet on a gas burner next to a kitchen timer

Why does thickness matter more than weight?

Heat travels into a steak from the outside, so cooking time grows much faster than thickness: a steak twice as thick takes about four times as long to heat through. Steaks thinner than about 1 to 1½ inches cook through in about the time it takes to sear, so a hot pan or direct grill is enough. Thicker steaks do better with a gentle first stage, such as a reverse sear or a two-zone fire.

How long does a steak take in a pan?

A 1½-inch steak pan-seared over high heat with frequent flipping takes about 8 to 14 minutes to reach a medium-rare pull temperature of 120 to 125°F. The flipping helps: turning a steak every 30 to 60 seconds cooks it roughly a quarter to a third faster than flipping once. See how to pan-sear a steak.

How long does a steak take on the grill?

Over a hot direct fire, a steak about 1 inch thick takes roughly 3 minutes per side to reach rare to medium-rare. On a two-zone fire, a strip or rib steak about 1½ inches thick takes roughly 10 to 17 minutes in total to reach a medium-rare pull of about 125°F. See how to grill a steak.

How long does a reverse sear take?

In a 250 to 275°F oven, a steak about 1½ inches thick takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes to reach its pre-sear temperature for rare to medium-rare, then a short sear. Thicker steaks, higher targets and lower ovens take longer. See how to reverse sear a steak.

How long does sous vide take?

A fridge-cold steak takes about 1¼ hours at 1 inch, 2½ hours at 1½ inches and 3½ hours at 2 inches to heat through in the water bath. See how to cook steak sous vide.

Should a steak come to room temperature first?

It barely matters. Leaving a steak on the counter warms the center only about 9 to 12°F in an hour, and tempered and fridge-cold steaks cook in nearly the same time.

When should you take the steak off the heat?

Go by temperature, not time. Pull it about 5°F below your target, or 5 to 10°F below for thick steaks cooked hot. The cook planner works out the pull temperature and steps for your steak.

Common questions

How long do you cook a 1-inch steak?

Over a hot direct fire, roughly 3 minutes per side for rare to medium-rare. Check the center with a thermometer and keep turning it if it is not there yet.

How long do you cook a 1½-inch steak in a pan?

About 8 to 14 minutes over high heat with frequent flipping, to a medium-rare pull temperature of 120 to 125°F.

Does a thicker steak take much longer?

Yes. Heat moves in from the outside, so a steak twice as thick takes about four times as long to heat through to the center.

Keep reading

Sources

Every fact on this page is checked against at least two independent sources. How we check facts.

Show all 36 sources
  1. AmazingRibs.com (Meathead Goldwyn), Cooking BBQ Hot And Fast, Low And Slow, And The Reverse Sear Method
  2. America's Test Kitchen, How to Grill Steak Without a Recipe
  3. America's Test Kitchen, Pan-Seared Strip Steaks
  4. America's Test Kitchen, Sear Any Steak to Perfection on the Stovetop
  5. America's Test Kitchen, The Effect of Flipping on a Crisp Burger and Steak Crust
  6. America's Test Kitchen, Charcoal-Grilled Porterhouse or T-Bone Steaks
  7. America's Test Kitchen, Charcoal-Grilled Strip or Rib Steaks
  8. America's Test Kitchen, Grilled Thick Steaks
  9. America's Test Kitchen, Reverse-Seared Strip Steaks with Cowboy Butter
  10. America's Test Kitchen, Sous Vide Seared Steaks
  11. America's Test Kitchen, Should Steak Be Room Temperature Before Searing?
  12. America's Test Kitchen, 8 Simple Tricks for Perfect Grilled Steaks
  13. America's Test Kitchen, All About Carryover Cooking
  14. America's Test Kitchen / Cook's Illustrated, Should Steak Be Room Temperature Before Searing? (Cold Sear)
  15. Beef Checkoff (Cattlemen's Beef Board and NCBA), Confident Cooking with Beef: Grilling Guidelines (PDF)
  16. Beef. It's What's For Dinner (beef checkoff), Grilling time guidelines
  17. Cook's Illustrated / America's Test Kitchen (June 25, 2018), Why Are Sous Vide Cooking Times So Long?
  18. Douglas Baldwin, A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking
  19. HarvardX (Harvard University), SPU 27 Science and Cooking, Week 6 Science Review Handout: Heat Transfer
  20. Physics Education (IOP), peer-reviewed; Rowat, Sinha, Sorensen et al. 2014, The kitchen as a physics classroom (Phys. Educ. 49(5) 512, doi:10.1088/0031-9120/49/5/512)
  21. Physics Today (American Institute of Physics), peer-reviewed magazine, The Virtual Cook: Modeling Heat Transfer in the Kitchen (McGee, McInerney, Harrus, 1999, vol. 52 no. 11)
  22. Serious Eats, Steak flipping cooking technique (July 15, 2026)
  23. Serious Eats, The Food Lab's Perfect Grilled Ribeye Steaks
  24. Serious Eats (Daniel Gritzer), The Best Ways to Cook Steak, Explained
  25. Serious Eats (Daniel Gritzer), Meat resting science
  26. Serious Eats (J. Kenji Lopez-Alt), Reverse-Seared Steak Recipe
  27. Serious Eats (J. Kenji López-Alt), Pan-Seared, Butter-Basted Thick-Cut Steak
  28. Serious Eats (J. Kenji López-Alt), The Food Lab: Flip Your Steaks (and Burgers) Multiple Times for Better Results
  29. Serious Eats (J. Kenji López-Alt), The Food Lab's Complete Guide to Sous Vide Steak
  30. Serious Eats (J. Kenji López-Alt), 7 Myths About Cooking Steak That Need to Go Away
  31. ThermoWorks, Grilled Porterhouse Steak: Flavor and a Sear
  32. ThermoWorks, Grilling New York Strip Steak: Key Temperatures
  33. ThermoWorks, Grilled Strip Steaks, Perfectly Done
  34. ThermoWorks, Steak Temperature: Getting It Right
  35. ThermoWorks, Steak Temperature Guide
  36. ThermoWorks, Grilling Perfect Steaks Every Time, Every Steak