A steak’s cooking time is set by how thick it is, not how heavy it is — and it
Heat reaches the middle by conduction from both faces, and conduction time scales with the
Past about 45 mm the outside is ruined before the middle arrives, and the rule stops being useful advice — that is the thickness where sear-then-oven beats the pan alone. It also fails on a wet steak, whose surface stalls near 100 °C until it dries, and on anything with a bone through it.
Estimate with the rule, then check it against the calculator that models it properly.
Open Steak Timer & Doneness Calculator →A steak’s cooking time is set by how thick it is, not how heavy it is — and it Heat reaches the middle by conduction from both faces, and conduction time scales with the .