How long or how little should we cook our steak depends on how we want our meat to be cooked, from rare to well. This is dependent on many factors like the temperature, the pan, the thickness of the meat, etc. So each time it can be a different amount of cooking time. One of the best ways to know this, is, of course, a meat thermometer. In fact, these aren't expensive and are easy to use. And as a guide, here is the internal temperature you are looking for: Rare steak - 125 F, about 6 minutes of cooking. Medium-rare steak - 130 F, about 8 minutes of cooking. Medium steak - 140 F, about 10 minutes. Medium-well - 145 F, about 12 minutes.