For rare steak, pull at 48°C (118°F) internal temperature. Medium-rare: 52°C (126°F). Medium: 57°C (135°F). Medium-well: 63°C (145°F). Well-done: 68°C (154°F). These are pull temperatures, not final temperatures — every steak will rise 3–5°C (5–9°F) during the rest. A 3 cm (1.25 inch) ribeye at 52°C when it leaves the pan will settle at 55–57°C after five minutes of resting, landing squarely in the medium-rare zone: warm red centre, pink edges, juices that run freely when sliced. This is steak cookery in its entirety — control the interior temperature, build a crust on the exterior, and rest before cutting. The cut dictates the approach. A ribeye (Longissimus dorsi with the spinalis cap) is richly marbled and forgiving — the intramuscular fat bastes the meat from within, and even a slightly overcooked ribeye remains palatable. A filet mignon (Psoas major, the tenderloin) is lean and tender but mild in flavour; it demands precision because there is no fat safety net. A New York strip (Longissimus dorsi without the cap) offers a balance: moderate marbling with a firmer chew. A bone-in côte de boeuf (rib steak for two, 5–7 cm thick) is the showpiece — and the bone acts as a heat shield, creating a gradient of doneness from the edges to the centre that is desirable, not a defect. The cast-iron sear is the workhorse method. Preheat a cast-iron skillet over high heat for five full minutes — the surface should register 260°C (500°F) or above on an infrared thermometer. Season the steak generously with kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper at least 45 minutes before cooking, or immediately before — never in the 5–40-minute window, where the salt draws moisture to the surface but has not had time to reabsorb, leaving a wet exterior that steams rather than sears. Add a high-smoke-point oil (avocado, refined grapeseed) to the screaming-hot pan, lay the steak away from you, and do not touch it for 3–4 minutes. Flip once. Add 30 g butter, two crushed garlic cloves, and a sprig of thyme to the pan, tilt it, and baste the steak continuously with the foaming butter for 60–90 seconds. The butter's milk solids and the thyme's essential oils create the aromatic crust that separates a restaurant steak from a home-cooked one. The reverse sear is the precision method. Place a thick steak (4 cm or above) on a wire rack set over a sheet pan in a 120°C (250°F) oven. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 5°C below your target pull temperature — roughly 40–50 minutes for a 5 cm steak to 47°C. Then sear in a cast-iron pan at maximum heat for 60–90 seconds per side. The advantage is edge-to-edge uniformity: there is no grey band of overcooked meat between the crust and the pink centre. This is where the dish lives or dies for thick cuts. The quality hierarchy: (1) A competent steak is cooked to the requested doneness with a visible sear. (2) A great steak has a deeply caramelised, almost black crust that is savoury and faintly bitter in the best way, a uniformly pink interior with no grey banding, and a rest that allows the juices to redistribute so they stay in the meat rather than flooding the plate. (3) A transcendent steak — dry-aged for 35–45 days, during which enzymatic breakdown of proteins produces a concentrated, funky, almost cheese-like depth of flavour — is seared over binchotan (Japanese white charcoal) or on a cast-iron plancha, rested for half the cooking time, sliced against the grain, and finished with nothing more than flaky salt and a turn of the pepper mill. The meat speaks. Sensory tests: listen for the sear. A properly hot pan produces an aggressive, sustained sizzle the moment the steak makes contact. If the sound is faint or hissing, the pan is too cold and you are steaming. A rested steak, when pressed, should feel like the fleshy base of your thumb when relaxed (rare), when your thumb touches your index finger (medium-rare), or your middle finger (medium). Slice a corner and look: rare is cool, bright red; medium-rare is warm, rosy pink; medium is pink with no red. The juices should be red-pink for rare, pink for medium-rare, and clear-pink for medium.
Salt timing matters. Salting 45 minutes to 24 hours before cooking (dry brining) draws moisture to the surface, dissolves the salt, and allows it to be reabsorbed deep into the muscle, seasoning the steak internally. The surface dries during this time, which promotes better Maillard browning. Salting 1–5 minutes before cooking works only because the moisture has not yet been drawn out. The 5–40-minute window is the worst: the surface is wet with drawn-out moisture, and the salt has not yet penetrated. Either salt early or salt late. Resting is redistribution. During cooking, the muscle fibres contract and push moisture toward the centre. If you slice immediately, that concentrated moisture runs out — you lose up to 25% of the steak's juices. During resting, the fibres relax, the temperature equalises, and the moisture redistributes throughout. Rest for a minimum of five minutes, or roughly half the cooking time for thick cuts. Grain orientation matters for slicing. Always cut against the grain — perpendicular to the muscle fibres. This shortens the fibres and makes each bite more tender. Cutting with the grain produces long, chewy strands.
For the butter-baste finish, tilt the pan toward you at a 30-degree angle so the melted butter pools at the low end. Use a large spoon to continuously ladle the foaming butter over the top of the steak — every pass adds flavour and promotes even browning on the upper surface. The garlic and thyme are not garnish; they are infusing the butterfat with aromatic compounds that bond to the steak's surface. For a steakhouse-style finish, top the resting steak with a coin of Maître d'hôtel butter (softened butter mixed with parsley, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt) — it melts into the surface and creates a self-saucing effect. For testing doneness without cutting, use an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally through the side of the steak into the geometric centre. If you must cut, slice a corner — the centre is always slightly less cooked than the edges, and the corner sacrifice gives you an accurate reading without ruining the presentation.
Not preheating the pan long enough. A lukewarm pan produces a grey, steamed exterior with no Maillard crust. Five minutes over high heat is the minimum for cast iron. Second: flipping too often. For the standard method, one flip is sufficient. For very thick steaks, flipping every 60 seconds can produce a more even cook, but this is an advanced technique that requires attention. Third: skipping the rest. This is the most consequential mistake after temperature control — it turns a properly cooked steak into a dry one. Fourth: cooking a cold steak straight from the refrigerator, which extends cooking time and increases the grey band. Temper at room temperature for 30–45 minutes before cooking (food safety research confirms this is safe for intact muscle). Fifth: overcrowding the pan. Two steaks in a 25 cm skillet drop the temperature so severely that the meat steams. Cook one at a time, or use a pan large enough that there is 5 cm of clearance between steaks.