How to Cook Meat Better: 10 of Your Most Asked Cooking Questions Answered 🥩
Ever stood at the BBQ with a beautiful steak in front of you and suddenly thought…
How long am I actually supposed to cook this?
Or pulled a cut from the freezer and Googled:
“What do I do with oyster blade?”
You're definitely not alone.
Great meat deserves to be cooked well, so we've answered 10 common meat-cooking questions in one place — from Porterhouse and brisket to roasting temperatures, resting and slow cooking.
And if you'd rather not Google your way through dinner every time, we've created something for that too.
The Primal Cooking Guide puts cut-by-cut cooking guides, methods, temperatures and step-by-step instructions right in your pocket.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRIMAL COOKING GUIDE APP
Now, let's cook. 🔥
1. How long do you cook Porterhouse steak for medium rare?
There's no single cooking time that works for every Porterhouse because thickness matters.
For a steak around 2cm thick, Australian Beef's cooking guide suggests approximately 2½ minutes per side for medium rare, followed by around 4 minutes of resting.
But we'd encourage you not to rely on the clock alone.
A meat thermometer is one of the easiest ways to take the guesswork out of steak night.
For whole-cut beef, NSW Food Authority lists 63°C with at least a three-minute rest for medium rare.
Remember that your steak will continue to cook while resting, so factor carry-over cooking into when you take it off the heat.
Primal tip: Steak thickness, starting temperature and BBQ or pan temperature can all change the cooking time. Use time as a guide and internal temperature as your check.
2. What temperature should steak be for medium rare?
If you're constantly cutting into your steak to see if it's done, there's a better way.
Get yourself a meat thermometer.
For Australian home cooks, NSW Food Authority recommends the following safe internal temperatures for whole cuts of beef, lamb, veal and pork:
Medium rare: 63°C + at least 3 minutes resting
Medium: 71°C
Well done: 77°C
When checking a steak, insert the thermometer into the centre of the thickest part, away from fat, bone and gristle.
And remember: colour isn't a reliable food-safety test. Temperature gives you a much better indication.
3. How do you cook Porterhouse steak on the BBQ?
Porterhouse and a hot BBQ are very good friends. 🔥
Start by preheating your BBQ until it's properly hot.
Pat your steak dry, lightly oil and season it, then place it onto the hot grill.
For a steak around 2cm thick, approximately 2½ minutes per side is a useful starting point when aiming for medium rare — but thickness and BBQ temperature will affect the result.
Rather than repeatedly flipping and poking at it, give the steak time to develop a beautiful seared exterior.
Check the internal temperature with a thermometer, remove it from the BBQ when ready and let it rest before slicing.
That's the bit impatient cooks love to skip. 😂
Don't.
Resting is part of cooking a great steak.
Want the guide beside you at the BBQ? 🥩
Find Porterhouse in the Primal Cooking Guide, choose your cooking method and have the information you need right there while you cook.
GET THE FREE PRIMAL COOKING GUIDE
4. How do you cook Oyster Blade so it's tender?
Oyster Blade is one of those cuts we wish more people understood.
It comes from the shoulder area and has loads of flavour, but the way you cook it makes a big difference.
It's particularly well suited to slow, moist cooking, which gives the connective tissue time to soften.
Think:
Slow-cooked Oyster Blade
Braised beef
Casseroles
Curries
Rich winter stews
Australian Beef's guide groups oyster blade among cuts suitable for lower-temperature roasting, while blade cuts can also work beautifully in slow-cooked preparations.
The lesson?
Don't judge a cut by how famous it is.
Understanding how to cook different cuts can open up a whole lot more options — and often excellent value — beyond reaching for the same two steaks every week.
5. What's the best way to cook beef brisket?
Brisket isn't a cut to rush.
It contains plenty of connective tissue, which is exactly why low-and-slow cooking works so beautifully.
Depending on the result you're after, brisket can be:
🔥 Smoked
🍲 Slow cooked
🥘 Braised
🔥 Cooked slowly in the oven
The goal is to give it enough time for that tougher connective tissue to break down and become tender.
This is why brisket can go from relatively firm to wonderfully soft and rich when it's given the time it needs.
And once you understand how to cook it, brisket becomes one of those cuts you start actively looking forward to.
Low. Slow. Be patient.
Your brisket will thank you.
6. How long do you cook roast beef per kilogram?
This is one of those questions where we'd love to give you one magic number — but your cut, size, oven and desired doneness all matter.
Australian Beef provides roasting guidance per 500g.
For cuts such as boneless rib eye, Scotch Fillet, rump, Porterhouse/New York, Eye Fillet and similar roasting cuts at 200°C, its general guide is:
Rare: 15–20 minutes per 500g
Medium: 20–25 minutes per 500g
Well done: 25–30 minutes per 500g
So, for example, a 1kg roast aiming for medium would have an approximate cooking-time starting point of 40–50 minutes.
But don't rely on time alone.
Use a thermometer to confirm the internal temperature of your roast.
Ovens vary. Cuts vary. Roast shapes vary.
The thermometer doesn't have to guess.
7. What temperature should roast beef be when cooked?
This depends on how you like your beef cooked — but food safety still matters.
For whole cuts of beef, NSW Food Authority gives:
Medium rare: 63°C + at least 3 minutes resting
Medium: 71°C
Well done: 77°C.
When checking a roast, place your thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding bone, fat and gristle.
And don't forget that roast beef continues cooking after it leaves the oven.
Australian Beef notes that carry-over cooking can raise the internal temperature by approximately 3–6°C while resting.
So don't wait until you've dramatically overshot your target before taking the roast out.
8. What cuts of beef are best for slow cooking?
This is where learning your cuts can save you money and give you some incredibly flavourful meals.
Cuts that work beautifully with slow cooking include options such as:
Chuck
Blade
Oyster Blade
Shin / Gravy Beef
Brisket
These harder-working muscles contain connective tissue that responds beautifully to long, gentle cooking.
Australian Beef suggests around 2–2½ hours for diced chuck or shin/gravy beef in a slow-simmered preparation, with rump, round and blade around 1–1½ hours, depending on the preparation.
Slow cooking isn't about taking a "lesser" piece of meat and making do.
It's about matching the right cooking method to the right cut.
And once you learn that skill, an entirely different section of the butcher's case opens up to you.
9. How do you cook lamb so it stays tender and juicy?
First: match your cooking method to your lamb cut.
Tender lamb cuts are suited to faster cooking methods such as grilling, pan cooking or roasting.
Harder-working cuts generally benefit from longer, slower cooking.
But one of the biggest mistakes people make with any meat is treating cooking time as an absolute guarantee.
Thickness, cut, cooking equipment and starting temperature all affect how quickly meat cooks.
So again, our little friend comes out:
the meat thermometer. 🌡️
For whole cuts of lamb, Australian safety guidance lists 63°C plus a minimum three-minute rest for medium rare, 71°C for medium and 77°C for well done.
And give your lamb time to rest before carving.
That little bit of patience at the end can make a big difference.
10. How long should you rest steak after cooking?
You've done all the work.
You've bought beautiful meat.
You've heated the BBQ.
You've nailed the cook.
Don't ruin the final step because you're hungry. 😂
Australian Beef recommends resting steaks for approximately 3–5 minutes before serving, while larger roasts generally benefit from around 10–20 minutes.
Resting allows the meat to settle after cooking and helps retain juices when you eventually slice into it.
It also allows for carry-over cooking, which is why the internal temperature can continue to rise after the steak comes off the heat.
So:
Cook it.
Rest it.
Then slice it.
Stop Googling Your Way Through Dinner 🥩📱
We love teaching our customers about meat.
Because buying beautiful meat is only half the story.
Knowing what to do with it when it arrives at your door is the other half.
That's exactly why we created the Primal Cooking Guide App.
Instead of standing at the BBQ searching “how long do I cook this?”, you can have your Primal cooking guide right there in your pocket.
Explore different cuts, cooking methods, temperatures and step-by-step guidance designed to help you get more from the meat you bring home.
And if you're a Primal VIP, there's even more waiting inside.
Unlock the VIP section to access VIP Rewards, challenges, My Freezer Tracker, marinades, rubs, recipes, the recipe library, Weekly Drops, VIP deals and more.
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Great meat deserves to be cooked well.