Home › Recipes › Beef & Pork › Air Fryer Steak (Full Doneness Chart)

Air Fryer Steak (Full Doneness Chart)

CrispyAir Kitchen · Updated October 22, 2026 · Air fryer recipes with exact times & temperatures

A 1-inch steak takes 6–8 minutes at 400°F (200°C) for rare, 8–10 for medium-rare, 10–12 for medium, flipped once. The air fryer cooks steak far better than sceptics expect — if you respect the three rules this recipe is built on: the steak starts at room temperature (30 minutes out of the fridge), its surface is bone dry, and it is pulled 5°F (3°C) before your target because the rest finishes the job. Garlic butter goes on during the rest, melting over the crust you worked for.

Ingredients

• 2 steaks, about 1 inch thick (ribeye, strip or sirloin, 8–10 oz each)
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp coarse black pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• For the rest: 2 tbsp butter, 1 grated garlic clove, chopped parsley

Method

1. Take the steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead. Pat them completely dry and season all over with the salt and pepper; rub with the oil.
2. Preheat the air fryer to 400°F (200°C) for a full 5 minutes — steak needs the hottest possible landing.
3. Lay the steaks in the basket with space between them. Cook, flipping once at halfway, to your doneness for a 1-inch steak: rare 6–8 minutes (pull at 120°F/49°C); medium-rare 8–10 (pull 125–130°F/52–54°C); medium 10–12 (pull 135°F/57°C); medium-well 12–14 (pull 145°F/63°C); well 14–16 (pull 155°F/68°C).
4. Thicker steaks: add about 2 minutes per extra 1/2 inch. Thinner: subtract the same.
5. Top each steak with the garlic butter and rest 5–10 minutes, tented loosely. Slice against the grain and serve with the butter juices poured over.

Tips that actually matter

• A frozen steak cooks surprisingly well: 400°F (200°C) for 16–20 minutes to medium, flipped once — season after the first flip when the surface has thawed.
• Salt timing debates end here: salt right before cooking, or a full hour ahead. The 20-minute middle ground draws out moisture that has no time to reabsorb.
• Resting on a warm plate, not a cold one, keeps the butter melted and the steak hot.

Why this recipe works

A steak's crust is the Maillard reaction — proteins and sugars browning into hundreds of new flavours — and it only happens on a dry surface above 300°F. Everything in this recipe serves that reaction: the room-temperature start, the patting dry, the full preheat, and the rest, which lets the crust stay crisp while the juices return to the centre.

Variations to try

Flavour directions that suit this category: Chimichurri over anything beef; honey-mustard glaze brushed on pork in the final 3 minutes; a coffee-chilli rub for steak; Italian-herb and Parmesan through meatballs; maple and black pepper over bacon in its last 2 minutes.

What to serve with it

With fries and garlic butter as the full steakhouse plate, sliced over salads, or in sandwiches with horseradish the next day.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days. Reheat gently at 300°F (150°C) for 4–5 minutes to protect the doneness; or slice cold for salads and sandwiches.

Frequently asked questions

Can an air fryer really sear a steak?

It browns by convection rather than contact, so the crust is even and deep rather than grill-marked — different from a cast-iron sear, but genuinely good, especially with a dry surface and full preheat.

Why start steak at room temperature?

A fridge-cold centre forces you to overcook the outside while the middle catches up. Thirty minutes out narrows the gap and the steak cooks evenly edge to edge.

Do I need to flip more than once?

Once is the standard and works. Frequent flipping (every 2 minutes) cooks marginally more evenly and is used by some steak obsessives — the chart times assume one flip.

More recipes like this

See the full cooking times chart