Say you’re making a roast chicken. Or a nicely marinated pork tenderloin. Or maybe a beautiful, thick steak. You take it out of the oven–so fragrant and sizzling, pick up your favorite knife and start slicing.
Congratulations. You’ve just ruined the meat.
Next time, give it a rest. Start slicing right after cooking ends, and you get a big pool of juice on the plate and meat that tastes dry and tough. Let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes (or as long as 15 minutes for a whole chicken or 20 minutes for a large roast) and your meat will be as it should be: juicy and tender.
There’s a scientific reason for this. As meat cooks, the protein fibers tighten and contract, squeezing out the juices. The blast of heat on the surface of the meat, meanwhile, drives this liquid toward the center. When you slice into that pork roast right out of the oven or that flank steak just off the grill, all those juices pooled in the center come pouring out.
But, said food science expert Robert Wolke, good things come to those who wait. Wolke, author of “What Einstein Told His Cook,” explained that letting meat settle after roasting or grilling allows the protein fibers to partially relax again and the juices to redistribute themselves throughout the meat. As a result, less juice runs out when you slice the meat and the meat tastes better. Resting also allows the meat to firm up, making it easier to carve thin slices.
Another thing to remember, said Russ Parsons in “How to Read a French Fry and Other Stories of Intriguing Kitchen Science,” is that “just because you’ve removed something from the heat doesn’t mean it has finished cooking.”
As the meat rests, the stored heat at the surface continues to cook the middle of the meat, causing the internal temperature to rise as much as 10 degrees. Try it: Take a roast chicken out of the oven and immediately insert an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part. You’ll see the temperature slowly rise as the center continues to cook. Meat, therefore, should be taken out when it’s slightly underdone, or it will become overdone as it rests.
Practical bonus
There’s another reason for waiting.
“Yelling time,” Gillian Clark said bluntly. The chef of Washington’s Colorado Kitchen and the mother of two said there’s food science and mom science. Mom science says you need to factor in the time that you yell for the kids to come to dinner and they ignore you.
So, for instance, if you want perfect roast chicken, you take it out of the oven when it’s almost done–say, 150 to 155 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. You let it sit, tented with foil, and yell for the kids to come to dinner. As the chicken sits, Clark said, the temperature will rise to 160 to 165 degrees, which she considers ideal for poultry. (Federal food safety guidelines for absolute certainty recommend 170 degrees, however.) Meanwhile, you finish tossing the salad. You yell for the kids again. By the time they finally show up, set the table and get settled, the chicken has rested 10 to 15 minutes. When it’s carved, it’s perfect.
At her restaurant, Clark’s “yelling time” turns into “walking time.” She has to consider not only resting time, but also the time it takes the waiter to get the plate from the kitchen and walk it to the customer.
All in the timing
There’s another term for the heating that continues as food rests. Chefs call it carry-over cooking, said Brian McBride, chef at the Melrose restaurant in Washington’s Park Hyatt Hotel: The residual heat carries over from the stove. Chefs use this final “push,” as it’s also called, to time things exactly.
“You want a three-minute egg? Take it out at 2 1/2 minutes and let it sit. It will continue to cook and you’ll have a perfect egg,” McBride said.
A thick piece of fish works the same way. “Grill a salmon steak for just under 10 minutes and then let it sit [in a warm place or tented with foil]. The residual heat will finish cooking the center,” he said.
McBride said that home cooks can use the method to get perfect vegetables. Cook vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and asparagus until they’re halfway done. “Then cover and take [the pan] off the burner. The vegetables will continue to steam for a few minutes,” he said.
Clark added that the same method can be used with chicken or duck breasts, which can easily be overcooked. For boneless chicken breasts, for example, she gets the skillet hot over high heat. She adds butter and when it stops sizzling, she adds the chicken (skin-side down) and immediately turns the heat to low. When the chicken has turned a golden brown, she turns it over, turns off the heat and covers the pan. The residual heat cooks the breast the rest of the way.
In his restaurant, McBride times his steaks by pulling them off the grill and letting them rest 6 to 8 minutes before serving. Bigger cuts of meat need more resting time, he noted. “For big parties, where we make a huge roast like a prime rib, the rest time can be 25 minutes.”
While the meat is resting, “you can make a sauce or saute some veggies to finish the meal,” he suggested.
“All meats, whether grilled or roasted, benefit from a 10- to 20-minute rest at the end of cooking,” Parsons said. Clark follows the rule of 25 percent of cooking time. “If you’ve cooked a roast for an hour, let it rest 15 to 20 minutes,” she said.
And if you’re too hungry to wait?
“It’s like in life,” she said. “Any resting time is better than none.”
Umbrian-style turkey breast
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Marinating time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 55 minutes
Resting time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
This Italian-inspired recipe is adapted from one for pork loin roast from “How to Read a French Fry,” by Russ Parsons. Like pork loin, turkey is quite lean, so you will have to be very careful not to overcook it or the meat will be dry. An instant-read thermometer is crucial: Roast the turkey just until the temperature registers 155 degrees. As it rests, the temperature will rise to about 165 degrees, but the meat will remain moist. While the turkey is resting, saute some spinach for a side dish.
2 teaspoons each: freshly ground pepper, fennel seeds, coarse salt
1 bone-in turkey breast, about 3 3/4 pounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1. Grind the pepper, fennel seeds and salt until finely ground using a mortar and pestle, spice grinder or coffee mill; set aside. Rub the spice mixture evenly over the turkey in a roasting pan, making sure to get as much seasoning as possible under the skin so that the meat is seasoned as well. Drizzle the oil over the turkey; rub evenly to coat with oil and to push the spices into the meat. Set aside 1 hour at room temperature. Or, cover loosely; refrigerate 2 hours.
2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Transfer the turkey to a wire rack inside the roasting pan; roast until the interior temperature reaches about 155-160 degrees, about 55 minutes. (Federal guidelines call for a final internal temperature of 170 for turkey breast. To test for doneness, check the roast in several places with an instant-read thermometer, being careful not to touch the bone with the tip of the thermometer.)
3. Remove the turkey from the oven; tent with aluminum foil. Set aside 20-30 minutes to allow the temperature to continue to rise. Carve the turkey into thin slices; serve with any juices from the roasting pan.
Nutrition information per serving:
433 calories, 43% of calories from fat, 20 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 152 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 59 g protein, 906 mg sodium, 0.4 g fiber
Bourbon-marinated flank steak
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Standing time: 35 minutes
Marinating time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Talk about resting–in this recipe, the marinade tastes better if you let it rest at least 30 minutes before using (you could even make it the day before), and flank steak should always rest for at least 5 minutes before it is sliced. The cook doesn’t rest, however; while the flank steak is sitting for its prescribed 5 minutes, quickly broil some asparagus. Adapted from “Damon Lee Fowler’s New Southern Kitchen.”
1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
2 small shallots or 1/2 small onion
2 tablespoons dried mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup peanut or canola oil
1 flank steak, about 1 3/4 pounds
1. Combine bourbon, vinegar, garlic, shallots, dried mushrooms, salt, nutmeg and peppers in a food processor or blender; pulse until the shallots and mushrooms are finely chopped. With the motor running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream; process until the mixture is combined. Set aside to allow the flavors to meld at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
2. Make crisscross slashes, about 1 inch apart, on both sides of the steak. Transfer to a shallow glass baking dish. Pour marinade over steak, turning several times to coat. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.
3. Prepare a charcoal grill or heat the broiler. Drain the steak, discarding the marinade; transfer to the grill or a broiler pan. Cook until the steak is nicely browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Turn; cook until the steak is evenly browned and done to your liking, about 5 minutes more for medium. (Flank steak should never be broiled beyond medium or it will be tough.)
4. Transfer the steak to a cutting board; tent with foil. Set aside to rest at least 5 minutes. Slice steak in thin slices, across the grain, at a 45-degree angle; transfer to a warm platter.
Nutrition information per serving:
401 calories, 59% of calories from fat, 26 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 78 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 40 g protein, 226 mg sodium, 0.3 g fiber
