Cooking the perfect steak
How to Cook the
Perfect Steak at Home
No restaurant required. Just a good pan, a thermometer, and a few techniques that make all the difference.
Here is the honest truth about steak: cooking a great one at home is not difficult. It is, however, unforgiving of a few very specific mistakes — and those mistakes are so common that most people assume the problem is their kitchen, their pan, or their steak, when really it's one or two small things happening in the first sixty seconds of cooking.
This guide will give you the complete picture. We'll cover how to choose the right cut, every step of the preparation most people skip, two reliable cooking methods, a full doneness temperature guide, and individual guidance on each of the four cuts we carry at Farmfare. Read it once and you'll never second-guess a steak again.
"A great steak doesn't need much. A hot pan, a dry surface, good seasoning, a thermometer, and patience. That's the whole secret."
Let's Start HereThe Truth About Cooking Steak at Home
The reason most home-cooked steaks disappoint comes down to three things: the pan isn't hot enough, the steak is too wet when it hits the pan, and it's cut too soon. Fix those three things and you're already ahead of 90% of home cooks.
Beyond that, the most transformative investment you can make is a meat thermometer. Guessing doneness by pressing the steak, or cutting into it to look, is imprecise at best and ruins the cook at worst. A thermometer tells you exactly where you are. It removes all the anxiety and gives you a result you can repeat every time.
The other misconception worth clearing up immediately: you do not need a restaurant grill or a professional gas range to cook a great steak. A cast iron pan on a domestic hob, ripping hot, produces a better crust than most restaurant grills. Your kitchen is entirely capable of this.
Step OneChoosing the Right Cut
Each cut has a distinct character. Understanding them helps you choose the right one for the occasion — and cook it in the way that suits it best.
🥩 The Four Cuts at Farmfare
- Ribeye — The flavour king. Cut from the rib section, ribeye has abundant intramuscular fat (marbling) running throughout the muscle. This fat melts as it cooks, basting the meat from within and producing an intensely rich, juicy, deeply flavoured steak. Best cooked medium-rare to medium to allow the fat to render properly. The most forgiving cut for beginners.
- Striploin / New York Strip — The best of both worlds. Firm, fine-grained meat with a generous fat cap on one edge. Less marbled than ribeye but more flavourful than tenderloin. Has excellent chew and a clean, pronounced beef flavour. Takes a crust beautifully. Suits medium-rare perfectly.
- Tenderloin / Filet — The most tender cut. Cut from a muscle that does virtually no work, the tenderloin is exceptionally soft and fine-grained. It has very little fat, which means it's the most delicate in flavour and the least forgiving of overcooking. Suits rare to medium-rare. The choice for special occasions.
- Sirloin — Lean, flavourful, and versatile. A workhorse cut with genuine beef character and a firmer texture than the others. Less expensive than ribeye or tenderloin without sacrificing flavour. Benefits from careful cooking to medium-rare and particularly benefits from resting time. Excellent everyday steak.
Buy steaks that are at least 2.5cm (1 inch) thick — ideally 3–4cm for premium cuts. Thin steaks overcook almost instantly because there's no thermal buffer between the hot surface and the centre. A thick steak gives you a wide window to develop a gorgeous crust while hitting your target temperature inside. If the steaks at the counter look thin, ask if thicker cuts are available.
PreparationBefore You Cook: The Steps Most People Skip
What you do before the steak hits the pan is just as important as what you do after. These steps take ten minutes and make a profound difference to the finished result.
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30–45 minutes before
Bring to Room Temperature
Remove the steak from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking — 45 minutes for a thick cut. A cold steak hitting a hot pan creates a large temperature gradient: the outside cooks fast while the centre struggles to warm through. The result is a grey, overcooked band around a narrow rare centre. A room-temperature steak cooks far more evenly, giving you edge-to-edge colour at your target doneness.
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Just before cooking
Pat Completely Dry
This is the step most people miss and it matters enormously. Use kitchen paper to pat every surface of the steak — top, bottom, and all edges — until it is completely dry. Surface moisture creates steam when the steak hits the pan, and steam is the enemy of a crust. A dry surface sears; a wet surface stews. Dry the steak more thoroughly than you think is necessary.
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Just before cooking
Season Generously
Season with coarse salt on all surfaces including the edges, which most people forget. The amount of salt should look like slightly more than you're comfortable with — steaks are thick, and seasoning only the top and bottom means the interior is completely unseasoned. Black pepper goes on just before the steak hits the pan; applied earlier, it can burn in a very hot pan and turn bitter. Nothing else is needed — a quality grass-fed steak has enough flavour to carry itself.
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While prepping
Get Your Pan Ripping Hot
Place a cast iron skillet or heavy stainless pan over the highest heat your hob allows. Let it preheat for a full 3–5 minutes. The pan is ready when a drop of water evaporates instantly on contact and a faint wisp of smoke rises from the surface. Add a very thin layer of a high smoke-point oil — avocado oil, refined sunflower oil, or beef tallow are ideal. The oil should shimmer and just begin to smoke before the steak goes in.
Cooking a steak properly produces significant smoke — that's the crust forming and it's a good sign. Turn your extractor fan to its highest setting before you start, and open a window. Don't let the smoke alarm stop you from getting the pan hot enough; a lukewarm pan is the #1 cause of a disappointing steak.
The Core TechniqueThe Method: Pan-Sear Perfection
This method works for steaks up to about 3cm thick. For thicker cuts, see the reverse sear method below.
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The sear
Lay the Steak Away From You and Don't Touch It
Place the steak in the pan laying it away from you to avoid oil splatter. Once it's in, leave it completely alone for 2–3 minutes. Resist every urge to press it, move it, or check underneath. The steak will release from the pan naturally when the crust has properly formed — if it's sticking, it's not ready to flip. A good sear on one side takes 2–3 minutes for a standard cut; a thick ribeye may take 3–4.
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The flip
Flip Once — and Sear the Edges
Flip the steak and sear the second side for the same amount of time. Then stand the steak on each of its edges — using tongs — for 30–60 seconds each. This renders the fat cap on a striploin and ensures the edges get as much colour as the faces. A well-seared edge is the mark of a steak cooked with care.
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The baste
Butter, Garlic, and Thyme
Reduce the heat to medium. Add a generous knob of butter, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary to the pan. As the butter foams, tilt the pan toward you and use a spoon to continuously baste the steak with the aromatic butter for 60–90 seconds. This finishes the cook, adds layers of flavour to the crust, and gives the steak an extraordinary shine and aroma. It is the single step that separates a good home steak from a great one.
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Check and rest
Temperature Check and the Critical Rest
Remove the steak from heat when it's 2–3°C below your target temperature — it will continue to rise as it rests. Place it on a wire rack (not a plate, which traps steam and softens the crust) and rest for a minimum of 5 minutes, ideally as long as it cooked. During this time the muscle fibres relax and the juices redistribute evenly throughout the meat. Cut too soon and those juices pour onto the board. Wait, and they stay exactly where they should be.
For Thick CutsThe Reverse Sear Method
For steaks over 3.5cm thick — a thick ribeye, a barrel-cut tenderloin, or a generous striploin — the reverse sear is the most reliable method for an even, edge-to-edge perfect cook with an exceptional crust.
The name describes the order: instead of searing first and finishing in the oven, you cook the steak low and slow in the oven first, then sear it at the very end.
🔄 Reverse Sear — Step by Step
- Preheat your oven to 120°C (250°F). Place the seasoned steak on a wire rack over a baking tray.
- Cook in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 8–10°C below your target — for medium-rare (target 54°C), pull it at around 46°C. This takes 20–45 minutes depending on thickness.
- Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes while you heat your pan to its absolute maximum.
- Pat the steak dry again — it will have released some moisture in the oven. Sear in the screaming-hot pan for 60–90 seconds per side only. Because the steak is already close to target temperature, the sear is purely about the crust.
- Baste with butter, garlic, and herbs for 30 seconds. Rest for 5 minutes and serve.
The result is a steak that is the same rosy colour from edge to edge — no grey band, no uneven gradient — with a crust that rivals any restaurant. Once you've tried it on a thick ribeye, you'll never go back.
Reference GuideSteak Doneness Temperatures
These are the internal temperatures to aim for. Remember to pull the steak 2–3°C early — it rises during the rest.
| Doneness | Pull Temp | Final Temp | What to Expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | 47°C / 116°F | 49–52°C / 120–125°F | Deep red centre, very soft, cool to warm inside |
| Medium-Rare | 52°C / 125°F | 54–57°C / 130–135°F | Warm red-pink centre, juicy and tender — the sweet spot |
| Medium | 58°C / 136°F | 60–63°C / 140–145°F | Pink centre, slightly firmer, still juicy |
| Medium-Well | 63°C / 145°F | 65–68°C / 150–155°F | Slightly pink centre, noticeably firmer, less juicy |
| Well Done | 69°C / 156°F | 71°C+ / 160°F+ | No pink, firm throughout — a quality steak deserves better |
Insert the thermometer horizontally through the side of the steak — not from the top — so the probe tip sits in the very centre of the thickest part. Avoid touching bone or fat, which give false readings. For thin steaks, angle the probe in from the corner to reach the middle.
Cut by CutSpecific Guidance for Each Cut
🥩 Ribeye
Medium-Rare to Medium · Most ForgivingRibeye is the most beginner-friendly premium steak because its fat content protects it from drying out. Cook it to medium-rare (54–57°C) for the ideal balance of juiciness and rendered fat, or push to medium (60–63°C) to melt the fat cap fully. Below medium-rare, the fat doesn't render properly and can feel waxy rather than luscious.
The fat cap and any internal fat deposits will render and baste the meat as it cooks — lean into this by tilting the pan and spooning that fat over the steak during the basting stage. A well-cooked ribeye should glisten. Rest it well: the fat continues to redistribute for several minutes after cooking.
🥩 Striploin / New York Strip
Medium-Rare · Sear the Fat CapStriploin has a firm, fine-grained texture that takes a crust exceptionally well. The key technique here is to render the fat cap: stand the steak on its fat-cap edge in the hot pan for 2–3 minutes before searing the faces. This renders the fat from the outside in, making it golden, slightly crispy, and deeply flavourful rather than soft and chewy.
Medium-rare is the ideal doneness for striploin. The clean, pronounced beef flavour is best showcased at this temperature — medium can work, but much beyond that and the texture becomes noticeably drier.
🥩 Tenderloin / Filet
Rare to Medium-Rare · Handle with CareTenderloin is the most unforgiving cut to overcook because it has almost no intramuscular fat to carry it through. A tenderloin at medium is noticeably drier than at medium-rare; at medium-well it has lost its reason for being. Cook it to rare or medium-rare and treat those temperatures as hard limits.
Because tenderloin is so lean, the butter basting stage is particularly important — it adds richness and flavour that the meat doesn't provide itself. Some cooks wrap tenderloin in bacon for exactly this reason. The reverse sear is an excellent method for a thick barrel-cut tenderloin, giving you precise control over the final temperature.
When slicing, cut across the grain in thick slices — tenderloin's soft texture doesn't require thin slicing, and thicker slices make for a more luxurious presentation.
🥩 Sirloin
Medium-Rare · Rest GenerouslySirloin is leaner than ribeye and striploin, with a firmer texture and a bold, direct beef flavour. It rewards two things above all others: a very hot, confident sear, and a generous rest. The firmer muscle fibres need more time to relax during resting — give a sirloin at least 7–8 minutes on the rack before you cut into it.
Medium-rare is ideal. Sirloin is also an excellent candidate for marinades — even a short 30-minute marinade in something acidic (citrus juice, wine, or vinegar with oil and aromatics) helps tenderise the muscle fibres and adds a complementary layer of flavour. Pat it completely dry before cooking regardless of whether you marinated it.
ImportantCooking Grass-Fed Steak: What's Different
All the beef we carry at Farmfare is grass-fed and locally sourced — and it cooks differently than the grain-fed beef you might find in a supermarket. Understanding these differences ensures you get the best out of it.
🌿 Grass-Fed Beef: Key Differences
- Leaner overall. Grass-fed cattle have less total body fat and less intramuscular marbling than grain-fed. This means less thermal protection during cooking — it reaches target temperature faster and overcooks more quickly. Use your thermometer and pull it early.
- Cooks faster. Due to lower fat content, grass-fed steaks can cook 30% faster than comparable grain-fed cuts. Watch the temperature carefully, particularly on thin cuts.
- More complex flavour. Grass-fed beef has a more mineral, grassy, and complex flavour profile than grain-fed. This is not a flaw — it's the taste of an animal that ate what cattle are supposed to eat. It pairs beautifully with simple seasoning and aromatics like thyme, rosemary, and garlic.
- Medium-rare is the maximum for most cuts. For grass-fed sirloin and tenderloin especially, treat medium-rare as a firm ceiling. The reduced fat content means that beyond this point, the steak dries out more noticeably than a fattier grain-fed cut would.
- Rest longer. Grass-fed beef benefits from a slightly longer rest — the leaner muscles are more tightly wound and need a bit more time to fully relax.
"Grass-fed beef from a local farm is a genuinely different product than commodity supermarket steak. It deserves a thermometer, a proper rest, and a moment of appreciation at the table."
Your Questions, AnsweredFrequently Asked Questions
What temperature should steak be cooked to?
Rare: 49–52°C (120–125°F). Medium-rare: 54–57°C (130–135°F) — the sweet spot for most cuts. Medium: 60–63°C (140–145°F). Medium-well: 65–68°C (150–155°F). Well done: 71°C+ (160°F+). Pull the steak 2–3°C before your target temperature as it continues to rise during resting.
How long should steak rest before cutting?
At minimum 5 minutes, ideally as long as the steak cooked. A thin sirloin needs 5 minutes; a thick ribeye benefits from 8–10. Rest on a wire rack — not a plate — so air can circulate and the crust stays intact. The rest is not optional: it's where the juices redistribute and the final temperature evens out throughout the meat.
Should I oil the steak or the pan?
Ideally both — rub the steak lightly with a high smoke-point oil, then add a very thin film to the preheated pan. This ensures full contact between the steak and hot fat on all surfaces. Use avocado oil, refined sunflower oil, or beef tallow. Do not use butter for the initial sear — it burns at the high temperatures needed for a good crust. Butter comes in during the basting stage only.
What is the reverse sear method for steak?
The reverse sear cooks the steak low and slow in a 120°C (250°F) oven until it's just below target temperature, then finishes with a hard sear in a screaming-hot pan. This produces an edge-to-edge even cook with no grey band, plus the best possible crust because the steak surface is completely dry when it hits the pan. It's the most reliable method for thick cuts over 3.5cm.
Does grass-fed steak cook differently than grain-fed?
Yes — grass-fed beef is leaner, cooks faster, and is more sensitive to overcooking. Use a thermometer, pull it early, and rest it well. The flavour is more complex and mineral than grain-fed beef, which means simple seasoning works best. Medium-rare is the ideal doneness for virtually all grass-fed cuts.
Why is my steak chewy and tough?
For tender cuts (ribeye, tenderloin, striploin), toughness almost always means overcooking — the muscle proteins seize up as temperature rises. For leaner cuts like sirloin, toughness can also mean insufficient resting time, or cutting with the grain rather than across it. Always slice perpendicular to the direction of the muscle fibres, which shortens them and makes each bite more tender.