Foods & cuts · Beef

Fillet steak

The tenderest cut on the animal and the least forgiving over fire — thick, round, and with almost no fat inside it to buy back a mistake.

What it is

Form: Steak
Typical weight: 180–280 g
Typical thickness: 35–50 mm
Cut: Fillet steak

Why it behaves as it does

Fillet is the steak whose shape fights its composition. It is cut thick and round rather than broad and flat, so the distance from surface to centre is greater than on any other steak here, and it has essentially no marbling — so while a rib eye taken five degrees too far is merely less good, a fillet taken five degrees too far is dry all the way through with nothing to disguise it. That combination is the argument for reverse-searing it specifically: bring it up gently away from the fire, then colour the outside at the end, which shortens the time the surface spends punishing the middle. Its shape also makes it the one steak worth probing rather than judging by feel, because there is genuinely enough depth for a probe to sit in.

When is it done?

Food-safety endpoint

Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency states that whole cuts of red meat such as steaks can be served pink, rare or bloody and will be safe to eat as long as the surface has been adequately seared. It gives no internal temperature for this case, so there is no figure here to cook to — the searing of the surface is the condition.
The rule and its source
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the Food Standards Agency states that whole cuts of red meat such as steaks may be served pink, rare or bloody, on the condition that the surface has been adequately seared. No internal temperature is given for this case.
Well established
- Food Standards Agency — States this directly
  “red meat such as steaks can be served pink, rare or bloody and will be safe to eat as long as the surface has been adequately seared”
  What it covers:
  The document states its own reach: 'Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales'. Food Standards Scotland publishes separately and, as recorded separately, does not make this statement.
  The permission is CONDITIONAL and the condition is the whole rule: the surface must have been adequately seared, because on a whole cut the contamination is on the surface. A reading that drops the condition has changed the guidance into something else.
  Shape:
  No figure is given, and none is implied. This is a statement about a FORM rather than a temperature, which is why BBQHQ had to be able to record a rule about form at all before this could be held without inventing a number to hang it on.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-14
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
FSANZ states that steaks can be cooked to preference, in the same guidance that requires chicken, sausages and hamburgers to reach 75 °C. No temperature is attached to the steak case.
The rule and its source
Across Australia and New Zealand, FSANZ advises cooking chicken, sausages and hamburgers thoroughly to an internal temperature of 75 °C, while stating that steaks may be cooked to preference.
Well established
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand — States this directly
  “Cook chicken, sausages and hamburgers thoroughly, to an internal temperature of 75oC - check the temperature with a food thermometer.”
  Where it applies:
  Australia and New Zealand together. FSANZ's remit is bi-national, which is why a New Zealand reader is covered by this AND by MPI.
  Form:
  Names chicken, sausages and hamburgers — poultry plus the two commonest minced forms.
  Method:
  Stated in the context of sausage sizzles and barbecues specifically.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand — States this directly
  “Steaks can be cooked to preference”
  A regulator saying explicitly where its own rule stops. Most authorities leave this to be inferred; FSANZ writes it down.
  Form:
  The distinction is FORM, not species: the same animal appears on both sides of the sentence.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
In the United States, whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal — steaks, chops and roasts — should reach 145 °F (63 °C), followed by a rest of at least three minutes before carving or eating.
- 63 °C (145 °F) — measured at the centre of the thickest part, away from bone and fat.
The rule and its source
In the United States, whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal have a safe minimum internal temperature of 145 °F (63 °C), followed by a rest of at least three minutes.
Well established
- United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service — States this directly
  “Cook raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F ... allow meat to rest for at least three minutes”
  Form:
  Whole cuts only. Ground meats are covered by a separate, higher figure.
  The three-minute rest is part of the safety requirement, not only a quality step.
  How it was measured:
  As measured with a food thermometer before removing from the heat source.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
Health Canada
In Canada, beef, veal and lamb pieces and whole cuts are given a safety figure for each doneness level: 63 °C (145 °F) medium-rare, 71 °C (160 °F) medium and 77 °C (170 °F) well done. Mechanically tenderized beef and veal should reach 63 °C and be turned at least twice during cooking.
- 63 °C (145 °F) — measured at the centre of the thickest part.
- 71 °C (160 °F) — measured at the centre of the thickest part.
- 77 °C (171 °F) — measured at the centre of the thickest part.
The rule and its source
In Canada, beef, veal and lamb pieces and whole cuts are given three safety figures by doneness: 63 °C medium-rare, 71 °C medium and 77 °C well done. Mechanically tenderized beef and veal are given 63 °C and must be turned at least twice during cooking.
Well established
- Health Canada — States this directly
  “Pieces and whole cuts, for example, steaks and roasts medium-rare 63 145 medium 71 160 well done 77 170”
  Shape:
  A safety chart that speaks in doneness, which is unusual and useful. Most authorities give one safety figure and leave doneness to the cook; Canada publishes the ladder, so a Canadian reader choosing medium-rare is choosing inside official guidance rather than against it.
  The mechanically tenderized row carries a handling instruction rather than only a temperature, which matches BBQHQ's existing claim that tenderised meat behaves like mince.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-15
Tenderised meat is grouped with minced meat rather than with whole cuts, and must be cooked through when barbecued.
Well supported
- New Zealand Food Safety / Ministry for Primary Industries — States this directly
  New Zealand Food Safety advises that chicken, tenderised meat and minced meat products need to be barbecued until they are cooked through, over 75 °C all the way through.
  Form:
  Groups tenderised meat with mince rather than with whole cuts — direct support for treating mechanical tenderisation as an interior-contamination form.
  Stated specifically in the context of barbecuing.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Use separate equipment for raw and cooked meat, and never put cooked meat back on a tray or plate that held it raw. Throw away leftovers unless there is refrigeration available to cool them quickly.
The rule and its source
At a barbecue, raw and cooked meat must be kept apart: separate equipment, and cooked meat never returned to the tray that held it raw.
Well established
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand — States this directly
  “never place cooked meat back on the trays that held the raw meat”
  The single most common barbecue food-safety failure, and one that no cooking temperature prevents.
  Where it applies:
  Australia and New Zealand.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
Food Standards Agency
Wash a thermometer stem in hot soapy water before and after each use, and do not put the head in water.
The rule and its source
A thermometer stem should be washed in hot soapy water before and after each use, and the head should not be put in water.
Well established
- Clemson Cooperative Extension — States this directly
  “Make sure to clean the stem of your food thermometer with hot soapy water before and after each use. Do not immerse the head in water.”
  Before and after, not just after. a probe that went into an undercooked bird and then into the next one is a cross-contamination route BBQHQ's food-safety model already recognises between surfaces and hands, and has never described for the instrument that touches every piece of meat on the grate.
  The head exclusion is an equipment instruction rather than a hygiene one — electronics — and is recorded here because it is in the same sentence and separating them would misquote the source.
  About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-21

When it goes wrong

It came out dry: The meat came out dry — 4 distinguishable causes.
Burnt outside, underdone inside: Steak burnt outside and underdone inside — 2 distinguishable causes.
It stuck to the grate: Food sticking to the grate — 2 distinguishable causes.

Afterwards

Cooling, keeping and reheating what is left is general guidance for barbecue leftovers. Neither UK authority publishes anything specific to fillet steak, and BBQHQ does not invent a distinction they do not make.