Give it a rest!

I have mentioned in previous blogs that a lot of the good work being done to your meat is actually being done in your absence. Your job is simply to know what is going on while you are leaving the meat alone when you don’t have to do anything other than focus your time on other things for the overall meal.

In this blog I just want to bring your attention to an activity so simple yet so effective after you have cooked your meat. It is resting. Again, great work being done to the meat without any input on you. You just have to know what is going on and why.

Do I rest it in room temperature?

Do I rest it in the oven?

When roasting, grilling or panfrying resting will make an enormous difference to the end result of your dish.

There is a balance that the home cook must find between resting the meat whilst still maintaining the heat within.

You may have noticed in previous blogs that I like to cook the meat on a high heat to brown the exterior followed by low heat to gently cook the interior.

If you have followed this (high heat to start followed by low heat cooking) then I suggest to have the oven on 55 degrees C – 65 degrees C (130 degrees F – 150 degrees F) un fan forced as the place to rest your meat. The meat can be uncovered. If it is in the oven within those temperature ranges and being un fan forced, there is little to no chance of over cooking the meat. Let the meat rest for approximately 15 minutes. Save the juices and add to your sauce or add back to the pan.

If you have chosen to cook the meat on high heat throughout, then, when it comes to resting, place the meat in a tray or on a plate loosely covered in foil and allow it to rest at room temperature preferably in a warm place such as near the stove top (where there  is some residual heat from the cooking). Given that the meat has just come off the high heat, it will retain its interior heat for about 15 minutes in the resting time.  In other words, do not put in the oven because the interior temperature will be too hot and your meat will further cook.

Resting is the key for any successfully cooked meat. During the resting time, any uneven temperature and juices throughout the meat will become more evenly distributed. In its uneven state the juices sit in clumps so if you cut into the meat before it has rested, you will hit one of those clumps and this is what causes the excess juice loss.

Resting is will ensure your meat retains more juice and more flavour and will be easier to cut.

This is what the professionals know and now so do you!

For more on cooking red meat visit www.yourmeatmate.com