How to use the online timer
Six minutes is a whole steak of ordinary thickness — roughly three minutes a side in a pan that is genuinely hot, turned once. It is short enough that everything else should be ready before the meat goes anywhere near the heat, and short enough that walking away to answer a message is how a good piece of beef becomes an expensive disappointment.
Get the pan properly hot first, dry the surface of the meat, and start the count when it lands rather than when the pan goes on. Thickness matters far more than weight: a thin steak and a thick one cut from the same piece cook entirely differently. Keep the page open while it runs, since the count lives in this tab and stops if the tab is closed.
Then rest it. Five minutes on a warm plate lets the juices settle back through the meat instead of running out across the board at the first cut, and it costs nothing but patience. If you own a thermometer, use it — around 52°C at the centre for rare, 57°C for medium — because thickness, starting temperature and pan behaviour all move the timing more than any recipe admits.
Common questions
Does the six minutes depend on thickness?
Very much so. Thickness matters more than weight, and a thin steak cooked to the same timing as a thick one will be overdone. Use it as a starting point and check the centre if you have a thermometer.
Do I really need to rest it?
Five minutes on a warm plate makes a noticeable difference. The juices settle back through the meat instead of running out at the first cut, and the steak stays hot far longer than most people expect.
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