Carryover Cooking and Letting Meat Rest

Before I move on to the specifics of internal temperature, I want to discuss the idea of carryover cooking and letting meat rest before cutting it. While cooking your meat, you will be tempted to do two things: cook the meat all the way until it hits the ideal internal temperature and cut into your food right after pulling it off the fire. These are not ideal ways to cook.

With regard to cooking meat until it hits its ideal internal temperature, many people do not realize that food continues to cook even after you pull it off the fire. The meat is still hot from the fire and will carry over (hence the name “carryover cooking”) the heat from the grill. So, what was a medium-rare steak at 125°F (52°C) on the grill will continue to cook for the next 3 to 5 minutes, when it will end up being a medium steak at 130°F (54°C) once rested. If you were shooting for a medium steak, that would be perfect. However, if you wanted a nice medium-rare, then you just overcooked your steak. To prevent this, pull the meat off the fire about 5°F to 10°F (3°C to 6°C), depending on the cut of meat, less than your ideal temperature and let the carryover heat slowly rise to the ideal internal temperature.