Carryover cooking
A roast's outside is far hotter than its center, and that heat keeps creeping inward after you pull it. That's carryover cooking. A steak gains 3 to 5°F (2 to 3°C). A big roast can gain 10 to 15°F (5 to 8°C).
Resting does two jobs
Rest steaks 5 to 10 minutes and big roasts 20 to 30. The heat evens out through the meat, and the juices settle. Slice too soon and they run onto the board instead of staying in the slice.
Bigger cuts coast further
A thin steak carries over only 3 to 5°F. A 2 kg roast stores far more heat and can climb 10 to 15°F. Pull a steak about 5°F early and a big roast 10 to 15°F early.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
You pull a big roast from the oven and leave a thermometer in it. What does the reading do over the next 15 minutes?
It rises several degrees, then slowly falls. The hot outside keeps heating the center, so the peak comes after you pull the roast.
Fill the blank: For a steak that should finish at 135°F (57°C), pull it off the heat at about ___.
For a steak that should finish at 135°F (57°C), pull it off the heat at about 130°F (54°C). Carryover adds about 5°F while it rests, landing it at 135°F.
True or false: A roast stops getting hotter the moment it leaves the oven.
False. The outside keeps heating the center, so a big roast can gain 10 to 15°F (5 to 8°C) while it rests.
What went wrong? You pull a steak at exactly 135°F (57°C), the temperature you want at the end. After a 10-minute rest it's medium, not medium-rare.
They ignored carryover. The rest added several degrees, so the steak should have come off about 5°F earlier.
A 2 kg roast and a 2 cm steak both need to finish at 135°F (57°C). When do you pull each?
Roast about 10 to 15°F early, steak about 5°F early. The big roast holds more stored heat, so it climbs further.
Pull early, rest, measure
Watch the temperature climb after the heat is off.
Do the 25-minute experiment