Cooking science

Resting and redistribution

Resting cooked meat is one of the few pieces of kitchen advice that is both universally repeated and genuinely correct, though usually for slightly the wrong reason. It is less about juices "flowing back in" than about the meat relaxing enough to hold on to what it still has.

What happens during a rest

Heat makes muscle fibres contract and squeeze liquid out of the cells into the spaces between them, and towards the cooler centre. Cut into meat straight from the heat and a good deal of that liquid runs out onto the board, because it is under pressure and has nowhere else to be.

As the meat cools, the fibres relax slightly, the pressure drops and some of the liquid is reabsorbed into the cells. It also thickens as it cools. The net effect is that a rested piece of meat loses noticeably less on the board and eats as juicier — the same water, better distributed and better held.

Alongside this, the temperature evens out. The outside is much hotter than the centre when cooking stops, and during a rest that gradient flattens, so the meat is more evenly done throughout.

Roughly how long

Times are indicative. Thickness matters more than weight.

Thin steak or chop

Five minutes. Longer and it is cold.

Thick steak

Eight to ten minutes.

Chicken pieces

Five to ten minutes.

Whole chicken

Fifteen to twenty minutes.

Large roast

Twenty to thirty minutes, and it will still be hot. A big joint holds heat remarkably well.

Anything braised

Rest is less critical, and these are often better left in their liquid to cool slightly.

Rest under foil, or not?

Loosely tented foil keeps the meat warmer without steaming it. Wrapped tightly, the trapped steam softens any crackling or crust you worked for, which is usually a worse trade than a slightly cooler dinner.

For anything with crisp skin — roast chicken, pork with crackling, a well-seared steak — rest it uncovered in a warm place. For a large joint you want to serve hot, tent it loosely and accept some softening.

A rested piece of meat also carries on cooking. That is carryover cooking, and it means you take large joints out below the temperature you actually want.

Resting is not only for meat

• Baked potatoes and roast vegetables — a few minutes lets steam escape rather than condensing under the skin.
• Cakes and loaves — the crumb is fragile until it cools and sets; cutting hot cake tears it.
• Bread — cutting a hot loaf gives a gummy crumb, because the starch has not finished setting. This is genuinely worth waiting for.
• Pastry and pie fillings — a fruit pie cut hot floods the plate; the same pie warm holds together.
• Batters and doughs before cooking — a different kind of rest, for hydration and gluten relaxation, but the same principle of not hurrying.

Common questions