Foods & cuts · Beef

Rib eye steak

A whole-muscle cut whose interior was sterile before it was cut, which is why a culinary endpoint below the pasteurisation temperature is a legitimate choice here and nowhere near it for mince.

What it is

Form: Steak
Typical weight: 250–400 g
Typical thickness: 20–50 mm
Cut: Rib eye

Why it behaves as it does

Thickness matters more than weight, and BBQHQ can now show it rather than assert it: Weber's chart runs 5–8 minutes at 1 inch, 10–14 at 1½ and 14–18 at 2. Doubling the thickness roughly triples the time. AHDB's specification declines to fix a steak thickness at all, which is exactly why a cut name cannot carry a cooking time.

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

Culinary doneness — a preference, not a safety figure

medium rare — 52–56 °C (126–133 °F)

Measure at: The centre of the thickest part, probing from the side rather than the top.

A medium-rare target sits below the pasteurisation region and is a legitimate choice for WHOLE-MUSCLE beef only, because the interior was sterile before it was cut. It is not valid for mince, for burgers, or for mechanically tenderised steak, which looks identical and is not. The US safety endpoint for whole cuts is 63 °C with a three-minute rest; choosing a lower culinary target is a decision to accept a different level of risk, and BBQHQ states both rather than choosing for the reader. Note also that meat carries over 3–6 °C after coming off, so the figure to pull at is below the figure to eat at.

Where this comes from

Meat continues to rise in temperature after it comes off the heat. Weber gives 5–10 °F over a 5–10 minute rest for roasts and thick cuts; SharkNinja's thermometer stops the appliance early because its food carries over 10–15 °F; MLA advises removing a roast just before the target for the same reason.

Well established

Weber-Stephen Products LLC — States this directly
“Let roasts, larger cuts of meat, and thick chops and steaks rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving. The internal temperature of the meat will rise by 5 to 10 degrees during this time.”
Degrees are Fahrenheit; 5–10 °F is roughly 3–6 °C.
A carry-over statement, which is a physical claim, not the USDA's three-minute rest, which is a safety requirement. The two are frequently confused.
About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
SharkNinja Operating LLC — States this directly
The Ninja Woodfire's built-in thermometer presets give beef and lamb at 115 °F rare, 125 °F medium rare, 130 °F medium, 145 °F medium well and 150 °F well done; pork at 130 °F medium through 160 °F well done; chicken and turkey at 165 °F well done; and fish at 130 °F medium. The appliance stops before the target because it carries over 10 to 15 °F.
PULL temperatures, not finished temperatures. The manual states the food carries over 10–15 °F after the appliance stops, so 125 °F 'medium rare' finishes around 135–140 °F.
Read as finished temperatures these figures would look alarmingly low. Recorded with the carry-over assumption attached, because the assumption is what makes them correct.
Where it applies:
US market appliance; the chicken figure is the USDA one.
About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13
Meat & Livestock Australia — States this directly
MLA gives Australian culinary doneness temperatures for beef of 60 °C rare, 65–70 °C medium and 75 °C well done, and advises removing a roast just before the target because it continues to cook while resting.
Culinary preference, not a safety endpoint. MLA is a levy body and is explicitly restricted from the safety domain here.
Noticeably higher than British culinary conventions for the same words — a real difference in what people in different places expect 'medium' to mean.
About this source · Original · retrieved 2026-08-13

Texture endpoint — how you actually know

Evenly coloured through, with a dark surface crust

The steak gives evenly under a finger rather than being soft at the centre and firm at the edges — the sign that the slow phase did its job before the sear.

How long it takes

Rib eye steak, reverse seared

Estimated cooking window

10 min–18 min

Low confidence

Why this is a range, not a number

Thickness varies between pieces
How cold the food was when it went on
Cookers hold temperature imperfectly
Individual animals and pieces differ

Cook to the endpoint, not to the clock. The window tells you when to start checking.

What this rests on

BBQHQ publishes a window for this cook.

Observations: 5
Documents: 4
Publishers timing this cook: 1

Weber-Stephen Products LLC

Also on this page, supplying endpoints or doneness rather than timings: Meat & Livestock Australia · SharkNinja Operating LLC · United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. They are not a second opinion about how long the cook takes.

Why confidence is not higher

The sources describe materially different methods, so they are not combined.
Several documents, but all from one publisher.
All timing evidence comes from equipment manufacturers describing their own products.
At least one source does not state the cooker temperature.
No source states whether the food went on fridge-cold or rested.

How the sources were combined

BBQHQ had no duration here at all. Weber's chart now supplies a two-phase sear-then-indirect timing at two thicknesses — 10–14 minutes at 1½ inches and 14–18 at 2 — which is close enough to reverse searing in structure to be usable, though Weber sears first and reverse searing sears last. Combined as a union across the thickness band the profile covers. Note what the endpoint observations do here: the USDA gives a SAFETY figure of 63 °C, MLA gives an Australian CULINARY figure of 65–70 °C for medium, and SharkNinja gives a PULL figure of 52 °C for medium rare that assumes 10–15 °F of carry-over. Three numbers, three different meanings, and flattening them into one would produce advice that is wrong in three ways at once.

What makes the window as wide as it is

Thickness varies between pieces
How cold the food was when it went on
Cookers hold temperature imperfectly
Individual animals and pieces differ

One open question tracked for this.

Rib eye steak, grilled directly

Estimated cooking window

5 min–10 min

Moderate confidence

Why this is a range, not a number

Thickness varies between pieces
How cold the food was when it went on
Cookers hold temperature imperfectly
Sources disagree about this
Individual animals and pieces differ

Cook to the endpoint, not to the clock. The window tells you when to start checking.

What this rests on

BBQHQ publishes a window for this cook.

Observations: 5
Documents: 5
Publishers timing this cook: 3

Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board · Clemson Cooperative Extension · Weber-Stephen Products LLC

Also on this page, supplying endpoints or doneness rather than timings: Meat & Livestock Australia · United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. They are not a second opinion about how long the cook takes.

Why confidence is not higher

The sources are measuring different things — a safety floor, a doneness preference and a texture endpoint are not competing answers to one question.
At least one source does not state the cooker temperature.
No source states whether the food went on fridge-cold or rested.

How the sources were combined

Three publishers on three continents time a thin rib-eye over direct heat and none of them was reachable before, because the only rib-eye profile in the catalogue was a reverse sear starting at 25 mm. Weber gives 5-8 minutes at 1 inch to what it states is the USDA definition of medium; AHDB gives 8 minutes at 2 cm to medium in a row it explicitly shares across sirloin, rump, rib-eye and minute steak; Clemson gives 8-10 minutes at ¾ inch to what it calls medium rare and specifies as 145 °F. The union is 5-10 minutes and it is a union rather than a mean. THE DONENESS LABELS ARE NOT COMMENSURABLE ACROSS THESE PUBLISHERS: Clemson's 'medium rare' is 63 °C and MLA's 'medium' is 65-70 °C, so the American label sits roughly where the British one does. That is why Clemson taking longer for a thinner steak at a nominally lower doneness is not the contradiction it looks like. Only Clemson states a temperature, so the alignment is read from one source and not asserted of the other two.

What makes the window as wide as it is

Thickness varies between pieces
How cold the food was when it went on
Cookers hold temperature imperfectly
Sources disagree about this
Individual animals and pieces differ

One open question tracked for this.

When it goes wrong

It came out dry: The meat came out dry — 4 distinguishable causes.
It came out tough: The meat came out tough — 3 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.
It caused flare-ups: Flare-ups — 2 distinguishable causes.

Afterwards

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