Buying guide · One thick piece
Steak for two: cuts to share and how to cook them
A steak for two is a single thick piece of beef, usually 800 g to 1.2 kg / 1¾–2½ lb on the bone or 400–600 g / 14–21 oz without it, cooked whole and carved at the table: a chateaubriand, a côte de bœuf, a large porterhouse or T-bone, a tomahawk or a small whole picanha. At 4 cm / 1½ in or more it has room for a dark crust over a wide band of even pink, so it is cooked gently to a few degrees below its target, then seared, rested and sliced.
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Measured by Steakpedia · Steakpedia Field Kitchen
At a glance
- For two (raw)
- 400–600 g / 14–21 oz boneless · 0.8–1.2 kg / 1¾–2½ lb bone-in
- Thickness
- 4–6 cm / 1½–2½ in
- Method
- Reverse sear: oven at 110–120 °C / 225–250 °F, then sear
- Medium-rare
- out of the oven 43–46 °C / 110–115 °F · final 53–56 °C / 127–133 °F
- Classic sauces
- Béarnaise, peppercorn, chimichurri
Why one thick piece
A single large steak behaves differently from two small ones. At 4–6 cm / 1½–2½ in thick it has room for a dark crust and a wide band of evenly pink meat, and carving it at the table shares out the different parts a whole piece contains — the strip and the fillet of a porterhouse, the eye and the cap of a rib. The format has a long history: classic French cookery describes the chateaubriand as a thick slice from the centre of the fillet, cooked for two, and the côte de bœuf as a bone-in rib steak large enough to share; the Florentine bistecca and the Basque chuletón are thick bone-in steaks cut for the table.
It is a common choice for Valentine's Day (14 February) and for dinners for two at home, where one piece is simpler to time than several steaks and a single thermometer reading tells the cook when it is done.
Cuts that serve two
| Cut | What it is | Raw weight | Thickness | Serves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chateaubriand | Centre of the tenderloin, boneless | 400–600 g / 14–21 oz | 5–7 cm / 2–2¾ in | 2 |
| Côte de bœuf (rib on the bone) | Bone-in ribeye, one rib | 0.9–1.2 kg / 2–2½ lb | 5–6 cm / 2–2½ in | 2 |
| Porterhouse or large T-bone | Short loin on the bone: striploin and tenderloin | 0.8–1.2 kg / 1¾–2½ lb | 4–5 cm / 1½–2 in | 2 |
| Tomahawk | Rib on the bone with 12–20 cm / 5–8 in of frenched bone | 1–1.5 kg / 2.2–3.3 lb | 5–6 cm / 2–2½ in | 2–3 |
| Small whole picanha | Rump cap with its fat cap | 0.9–1.2 kg / 2–2½ lb | Whole, 1–2 cm / ½–¾ in of fat | 2–4 |
Lean fillet, marbled rib, two-muscle loin
The chateaubriand is the leanest and most tender, with no bone and no fat cap; it is usually tied to keep a round, even shape. The côte de bœuf carries the eye of the rib and its marbled cap, with the bone acting as insulation on one side. The porterhouse combines two muscles that cook at different rates: the tenderloin side, smaller and leaner, reaches temperature first. The tomahawk is the same meat as a côte de bœuf with a longer, scraped bone that adds weight and presentation, not meat. A small picanha, cooked whole under its fat, is the most economical and leaves leftovers for two. See tenderloin, ribeye, T-bone, tomahawk and picanha.
How much meat is on the bone
For two adults with side dishes, the usual allowance is 400–600 g / 14–21 oz of boneless meat or about 1 kg / 2¼ lb on the bone. Bone, fat and trim make the difference. Field data, weighed piece by piece, put the usable share at 79.6 % of the weight for a bone-in short loin cut into T-bones and porterhouses and 72.2 % for a frenched bone-in rib, so a 1 kg / 2.2 lb tomahawk carries roughly 700 g / 25 oz of meat before cooking. A whole tenderloin with its side muscle is 72.2 % usable, but only 57 % of its weight ends up as steaks, the centre-cut chateaubriand among them, which is one reason for its price. Cooking to medium-rare then removes a further 15–25 % of the raw weight.
Cooking a thick piece: low first, sear last
- Salt the steak with about 1 % of its weight in coarse salt, ideally 12–24 hours ahead, and leave it uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator (see salting). The dry surface browns faster.
- Heat the oven to 110–120 °C / 225–250 °F, or set up a two-zone grill. Place the steak on a rack over a tray, with a probe thermometer in the centre of the thickest part, away from bone.
- Cook until the centre is about 10 °C / 18 °F below the final target: for medium-rare, take it out at 43–46 °C / 110–115 °F. A 5 cm / 2 in steak takes about 40–55 minutes; a tomahawk, 55–75 minutes.
- Sear in a very hot, heavy pan or over embers, 1–2 minutes a side plus the edges and any fat, until deep brown. Butter, garlic and thyme can be added for the last minute and spooned over (see searing and cast-iron steak).
- Rest 5–10 minutes. After a reverse sear the carryover is small, 0–2 °C / 0–4 °F, so the steak can be carved soon.
The traditional way: sear, then oven
The older restaurant method reverses the order: the piece is seared on all sides in a hot pan, then finished in an oven at about 200 °C / 400 °F. It is faster, around 15–25 minutes for a chateaubriand, but leaves a wider grey band under the crust and more carryover, 3–5 °C / 5–9 °F, so the steak must come out earlier and rest longer, 10–15 minutes. On a porterhouse, in either method, the tenderloin side is kept towards the cooler part of the pan, oven or grill. See resting and steak temperatures.
Temperatures for a thick steak
| Doneness | Reverse sear: leave the oven at | Sear first, then oven: pull at | Final, after rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | 40–43 °C 104–109 °F | 45–47 °C 113–117 °F | 49–52 °C 120–126 °F |
| Medium-rare | 43–46 °C 110–115 °F | 49–51 °C 120–124 °F | 53–56 °C 127–133 °F |
| Medium | 49–52 °C 120–126 °F | 54–56 °C 129–133 °F | 58–61 °C 136–142 °F |
Carving and serving
- Cut the meat away from the bone in one piece, keeping the knife against the bone. On a porterhouse or T-bone, take the strip and the tenderloin off separately.
- On a rib or tomahawk, separate the cap from the eye along the seam of fat if desired; the cap is sliced on its own.
- Slice across the grain, 1–1.5 cm / ⅜–⅝ in thick. Lean tenderloin can be cut slightly thicker; a striploin side slightly thinner.
- Lay the slices back against the bone in their original shape on a warm board, finish with flaky salt and pour any resting juices over.
Béarnaise, pepper or chimichurri
French cookery pairs the chateaubriand with béarnaise, an emulsion of butter and egg yolk flavoured with tarragon and shallot. A peppercorn sauce made in the searing pan, as for steak au poivre, suits a rib or a porterhouse. Chimichurri, an uncooked sauce of parsley, garlic, oil and vinegar, cuts the fat of a picanha or a tomahawk. Serving two sauces in small bowls lets each diner choose; a well-seasoned, well-rested piece also needs none.
Buying by weight, not thickness
Buying by weight and ignoring thickness: a thin, wide 1 kg steak is not a steak for two and cooks like an ordinary one. Cooking a 5 cm piece over high heat only, which leaves a grey band and a cold centre. Cooking without a thermometer. Pulling at the final temperature after a hot oven and overshooting by a full doneness level. Slicing straight after a hot-oven finish. Forgetting that the bone of a tomahawk is a large part of its weight and price.
Field data
Numbers measured in a working kitchen, piece by piece, not taken from a table. Another kitchen, another trimming specification, another number. How field data is collected.
Field data
Short loin, bone-in (T-bone)
Steakpedia Field Kitchen4 Jul 2026 – 21 Oct 2026
Field data
Ribeye, bone-in (tomahawk)
Steakpedia Field Kitchen1 Jul 2026 – 20 Oct 2026
Field data
Tenderloin
Steakpedia Field Kitchen1 Jul 2026 – 20 Oct 2026
Frequently asked questions
How big should a steak for two be?
About 800 g–1.2 kg / 1¾–2½ lb on the bone, or 400–600 g / 14–21 oz boneless, cut at least 4–5 cm / 1½–2 in thick.
What is chateaubriand?
A thick piece from the centre of the beef tenderloin, usually 400–600 g / 14–21 oz, cooked whole for two and carved at the table. It is traditionally served with béarnaise sauce.
What is côte de bœuf?
The French name for a thick bone-in rib steak, the same cut as a bone-in ribeye, usually about 1 kg / 2.2 lb and 5–6 cm / 2–2½ in thick, shared between two.
What temperature should a tomahawk be cooked to?
For medium-rare, take it out of a low oven at 43–46 °C / 110–115 °F, sear it and rest it; it finishes at 53–56 °C / 127–133 °F in the centre.
How long should a thick steak rest?
5–10 minutes after a reverse sear; 10–15 minutes after searing first and finishing in a hot oven, when the carryover is larger.
Sources
6
- Larousse Gastronomique, rev. ed. London: Hamlyn, 2009.
- McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart. 2023. www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart
- Steakpedia Field Kitchen. Butchery records, July–October 2026: 279 sheets, 1,604.6 kg of meat processed, weighed piece by piece on a calibrated scale and logged per cut. Open data, CC BY 4.0. steakpedia.com/field-data
- López-Alt, J. Kenji. The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.
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