Steak grilling times by thickness: a simple chart

How long to grill a steak for rare, medium-rare, medium and well done — from a thin 1.5 cm cut to a 5 cm ribeye.

Grilling time per side, direct high heat (230–260 °C)

Thickness	Rare	Medium-rare	Medium	Well done
1.5 cm (⅝″)	1½–2 min	2–2½ min	3 min	4 min
2 cm (¾″)	2–3 min	3–4 min	4–5 min	6 min
2.5 cm (1″)	3–4 min	4–5 min	5–6 min	7–8 min
3 cm (1¼″)	4 min	5–6 min	6–7 min	8–9 min
4 cm (1½″)	Sear 3 min per side, then move to indirect heat: rare 2–4 · medium-rare 4–6 · medium 6–8 · well 10–12 min
5 cm (2″)	Sear 3 min per side, then indirect: rare 6–8 · medium-rare 8–10 · medium 10–12 · well 14–16 min

Rest the steak for at least 3 minutes before slicing; thick cuts often get up to 10. Times are estimates: grills, wind and the starting temperature of the meat all change them.

Core temperatures, if you have a thermometer

Doneness	Take it off at	After resting	Looks like
Rare	48 °C	≈ 52 °C	Red, cool centre
Medium-rare	52 °C	≈ 56 °C	Warm red-pink centre
Medium	57 °C	≈ 61 °C	Pink centre, firmer
Medium-well	62 °C	≈ 65 °C	A hint of pink
Well done	66 °C	≈ 70 °C	Grey-brown throughout

The meat keeps cooking while it rests — usually by 3–5 °C — so take it off a little early. Food-safety agencies advise cooking whole cuts of beef to at least 63 °C with a 3-minute rest, and minced meat, pork and poultry all the way through.

Why thickness matters more than weight

Heat travels from the surface to the centre. A 300 g steak that is 2 cm thick cooks much faster than a 300 g steak that is 4 cm thick, because the heat has half the distance to go. That is why the chart is built on thickness. Measure the thickest part with a ruler — or simply hold the steak next to a finger: an adult fingertip is about 1.5–2 cm wide.

Five steps for a good steak without guessing

Take it out of the fridge 30–40 minutes early. A cold centre makes the outside overcook before the middle is ready.
Dry it and salt it. Pat the surface dry with a paper towel. Salt just before grilling, or at least 40 minutes before — not 10 minutes before, when the salt draws out water that has not yet soaked back in.
Get the grill really hot. Hold your hand 10 cm above the grate: if you can keep it there for only 2–3 seconds, it is ready for direct searing.
Flip once or flip often — but time it. Both work. What matters is the total time on each side. Set a timer instead of relying on feel.
Rest, then slice across the grain. Food-safety agencies ask for at least 3 minutes' rest for steaks. Whether resting keeps meat juicier is less certain: one recent study found no difference. Slicing across the fibres makes even a cheaper cut tender.

Thick steaks: sear, then go indirect

Above 3–4 cm the outside will burn before the centre is ready on direct heat alone. Set up two zones: coals or burners on one side, nothing on the other. Sear on the hot side, then move the steak to the cool side, close the lid and let it finish gently. Some cooks do it the other way round — slow first, sear at the end (the “reverse sear”). Both give an even pink centre.

Cooking a whole dinner at once

The hardest part of grilling is not one steak — it is a steak, chicken, vegetables and corn that should all be hot at the same time. The trick is to plan backwards from the moment you want to eat: the dish that takes longest goes on first, the quickest goes on last, and the resting time counts too. Sizzle does exactly this arithmetic for you and reminds you when each dish goes on, gets flipped and comes off.