Reverse Sear Time Calculator

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 — roughly 20 to 30 minutes per inch at typical reverse-sear oven temperatures — while the finishing sear is a fixed one to two minutes per side regardless of thickness, since its job is just to brown the surface. This calculator estimates both stages from your steak’s thickness, oven temperature and target doneness so you can time the whole process.