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AirfryerHQ

Thick-cut steak in an air fryer

Fresh — the short answer

250°C (482°F) for 9–12 min

For
220g per piece, about 30mm at the thickest point, 2 pieces, From the fridge
In
Multicooker with air fry, single layer, pieces not touching
Preheat
Yes, before the food goes in
Part way
turn the pieces over at about 5 min
Check
A dark crust on both faces
Safety
Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead. Full rule below.
Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.

A 3cm steak, which is where this appliance stops being a compromise.

Fresh

The quick answer

250°C (482°F) for 9–12 min

How you want it, for steaks around 3cm. The chart gives filet mignon 9-12 minutes and T-bone 8-12 at that thickness.

Assuming
220g per piece, about 30mm at the thickest point, 2 pieces, From the fridge
In
Multicooker with air fry
Loaded
Single layer, pieces not touching
Preheat
Yes, before the food goes in
Result
Just cooked
Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.

Preparation

Patted dry, seasoned, laid straight onto a hot plate.

How to load the basket

Single layer, pieces not touching. The reference condition. Air reaches every surface, and times are the shortest the food will achieve.

While it cooks

  1. At about 5–6 minutes: Turn the pieces over

    A thick steak needs both faces on the plate to build a crust on each.

How to tell it is done

  • A dark crust on both faces
  • Yields gently in the middle and springs back at the edges

Rest for 6 minutes before serving.

Where these figures came from — fresh

Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.
Applies to
Specific to this model
Why this rating
A published row from the manufacturer's grill chart, with the named temperature level converted to degrees using the table in the same manufacturer's instruction booklet. Both documents were read; neither figure is inferred.
Last reviewed
2026-08-13

What this does not cover

  • Published by the manufacturer for this appliance. It is evidence about this machine and is not general advice.
  • This is a contact grill plate rather than a perforated basket. Heat reaches the food by conduction from the plate as well as by airflow, which is a different mechanism from air frying and transfers poorly to a basket machine.
Sources (1)

From frozen

Before anything else

From national food-safety authorities, not from us. These take precedence over any cooking time below.

Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)

Food cooked from frozen must reach the same core temperature as the same food cooked fresh — the frozen centre is the last thing to get there.

Target: 70°C in the thickest part.

How to tell, without a thermometer

  • No ice or cold spot at the centre when the thickest piece is cut open
  • Steaming hot throughout, tested in the middle rather than the edge

If it has not got there: Reduce the temperature by 10–20°C and give it longer. A lower set point lets the centre catch up before the surface passes the point of no return, and it is the single most useful adjustment for cooking from frozen.

Important: If the packaging says the product must be thawed before cooking, follow it. That instruction exists because the manufacturer has tested cooking it from frozen and it did not reach temperature reliably.

The quick answer

230°C (446°F) for 18–26 min

Steak weight within the published 225-300g band at 3cm. The eight-minute spread is the widest in the chart and reflects how much frozen steaks differ.

Assuming
260g per piece, about 30mm at the thickest point, 4 pieces, From frozen
In
Multicooker with air fry
Loaded
Single layer, pieces not touching
Preheat
Yes, before the food goes in
Result
Well done
Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.

Preparation

Straight from the freezer. Season once the surface has thawed enough to hold it.

How to load the basket

Single layer, pieces not touching. The reference condition. Air reaches every surface, and times are the shortest the food will achieve.

While it cooks

  1. At about 9–13 minutes: Turn the pieces over

    Flipped two or three times, per the published instruction.

How to tell it is done

  • Cooked through to the centre with no cold band
  • A crust on both faces

Rest for 6 minutes before serving.

Where these figures came from — from frozen

Moderate confidenceWell supported, but from a narrower base of sources than we would like.
Applies to
Specific to this model
Why this rating
A published row from the manufacturer's grill chart, with the named temperature level converted to degrees using the table in the same manufacturer's instruction booklet. Both documents were read; neither figure is inferred.
Last reviewed
2026-08-13

What this does not cover

  • Published by the manufacturer for this appliance. It is evidence about this machine and is not general advice.
  • This is a contact grill plate rather than a perforated basket. Heat reaches the food by conduction from the plate as well as by airflow, which is a different mechanism from air frying and transfers poorly to a basket machine.
  • This block of the chart states an internal temperature of 75°C for frozen beef, where the fresh beef block states 63°C. A frozen steak taken to 75°C is well done, and there is no version of this row that produces a rare steak.
Sources (1)

Chilled

No time or temperature for this, and not by accident

Thick-cut steak is sold and cooked chilled, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.

We are not going to produce one by adjusting the fresh figure above. A time arrived at that way would appear on this page looking exactly like a time somebody measured, and you would have no way to tell the difference.

What we do hold for thick-cut steak: fresh, from frozen. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.

Defrosted

No time or temperature for this, and not by accident

Thick-cut steak is sold and cooked defrosted, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.

Same reason as above: a figure adjusted from one we do hold would be indistinguishable from one somebody measured.

What we do hold for thick-cut steak: fresh, from frozen. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.

Marinated

No time or temperature for this, and not by accident

Thick-cut steak is sold and cooked marinated, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.

Same reason as above: a figure adjusted from one we do hold would be indistinguishable from one somebody measured.

What we do hold for thick-cut steak: fresh, from frozen. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.

What usually goes wrong

A grey band under the crust. Moving air browns more slowly than a pan, so the outer layer of a steak spends longer above its ideal temperature — with a 3cm cut there is enough centre left for that not to matter, which is exactly what a 2cm cut lacks.

Running the appliance safely

These apply to every food and every air fryer, so they are here once rather than repeated under each state above. They come from Electrical Safety First, from UK product-safety notices and from the manufacturers’ own manuals.

Each links to its own page, with what it means in practice, what to do if it has already happened, and the source it comes from. Every safety rule AirfryerHQ holds.

Why beef behaves this way

A steak in an air fryer is a compromise: moving hot air browns a surface well but not as fast or as hard as a pan, so the centre gains temperature during the time the crust takes to form. Thickness therefore decides whether air frying is the right tool at all — thick cuts do well, thin ones overcook before they colour.

More on beef

Where to go from here

The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.

  • Using a thermometer, and where to put itThe times above are for a piece that is not the one you are holding. This measures yours — and it is the single change that fixes most dry thick-cut steak.
  • How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
  • Cooking from frozenUsually cooler and longer than the same food fresh, and never worked out from the fresh figure.
  • Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.

Easily confused with

  • Steak — A different cooking problem with a different answer.