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Reverse Sear Time Calculator

Enter your steak thickness, oven temperature and target doneness to time the reverse sear.

Result

45 min
4 min
49 min

How it is calculated

The tool uses a single rule of thumb based on thickness in inches: oven time = thickness × 30 minutes, as if the oven were at about 250 °F. The finishing sear is a fixed 4 minutes in total, and total = oven time + sear time. Times are rounded to whole minutes (37.5 becomes 38). Thickness must be above zero, otherwise there is no result. The oven temperature and doneness fields are accepted but do not change the numbers: a rare steak at 350 °F gets the same time as a well-done one at 250 °F. Treat the result as a schedule for planning, and use a probe thermometer to decide when the steak has actually reached the temperature you want before searing.

Worked example

A steak 1.5 inches thick, with the oven at 250 °F and medium doneness. Oven time: 1.5 × 30 = 45 min. Sear: a fixed 4 min. Total: 45 + 4 = 49 min. Changing the doneness to rare or the oven to 350 °F gives the same 45 + 4 = 49 minutes, because those fields are not used. A 1.25-inch steak gives 37.5 minutes of oven time, which the tool shows as 38 min, for a total of 42 min.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the thickness in centimetres. The field is in inches, so a 4 cm steak should be entered as about 1.6, not 4, or the oven time becomes 120 minutes.
  • Expecting oven temperature or doneness to change the time. Neither affects the result, so a hotter oven or a rarer target will not shorten the estimate; judge by the thermometer instead.
  • Treating the minutes as a finish time. The time is an estimate for planning, and a steak that started cold or has a different shape can need more or less.
  • Forgetting to rest the steak or to allow oven preheating. Neither is included, so the real timeline from start to table is longer than the total shown.
  • Entering the thickness of the thickest spot of an uneven cut. The tool assumes even thickness, so use the average thickness or time to the thinner end.

About this calculator

Reverse searing flips the usual steak-cooking order: the steak first goes into a low oven — commonly around 200–275°F (roughly 95–135°C) — until it reaches a target internal temperature a few degrees below the final doneness goal, then gets a short, very hot sear in a pan or on a grill to build a crust. Cooking low-and-slow first lets the interior come up to temperature gradually and evenly, avoiding the gray overcooked band that a hot-pan-first approach produces around the edges.

Because heat has to travel further through thicker meat, the low-oven phase scales with steak thickness — this calculator uses 30 minutes per inch, a typical figure for a 250°F (120°C) oven — while the finishing sear is a fixed 4 minutes in total (about two per side) regardless of thickness, since its job is just to brown the surface. It adds the two stages from your steak’s thickness in inches so you can time the whole process. Oven temperature and doneness do not change the estimate, so always confirm with a thermometer: a hotter oven or a rarer target will finish sooner.

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