Pull it early, leave it alone, and let the heat finish the job off the pan. The thicker the cut, the longer it waits.
Why it keeps cooking
A thick steak carries a lot of stored heat. Once it comes off the pan the outside is far hotter than the middle, and that heat keeps travelling inward for several minutes. On an inch-and-a-half ribeye that carry-over is worth five to eight degrees — enough to take a perfect medium rare straight past it if you left it on too long.
How long to leave it
- Half inch: three minutes, loosely covered.
- One inch: six minutes.
- Inch and a half: eight to ten minutes.
- A whole roasting joint: twenty minutes, and it will still be hot.
Rest it on a warm plate, not a cold one, and do not wrap it tightly in foil — the trapped steam softens the crust you just spent ten minutes building.
