Resting your proteins
Resting food after it leaves a heat source can be a just as important as the primary cooking process. Rest periods are most frequently associated with proteins such as steaks or chickens, where this extra time allows the muscle fibers to reabsorb moisture and flavor. Cutting into a steak before it has time to rest will release juices and all the flavor that comes with them in a puddle on your cutting board. Properly rested steak (like the photo above) will release very little juice and be full of flavor. Rest times can vary depending on the size of the food cooked.
Resting isn’t just for proteins. Many foods benefit from resting when they are finished such as cookies, brownies, pies and lasagna. This extra time allows hot fillings to thicken and set properly, giving you slices that hold their shape when cut.
How to Rest Your Foods
For proteins: When June lets you know your food is ready, remove your food from the oven and transfer to a cutting board or platter. Loosely tent with foil if desired. Let the protein rest for the length of time indicated by your oven before eating.
For baked goods: When June lets you know your food is ready, remove your food from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Allow your food to rest in the baking pan it was cooked in for the length of time indicated by your oven before eating.
Carryover Cooking
When you set aside your food to rest it doesn’t stop cooking right away. The residual heat on the surface of food continues to move towards the center after it leaves a heat source. This heat transfer continues to raise your food’s internal temperature by several degrees (sometimes up to 10°F for larger roasts) and can actually overcook food that was at the target temperature when it started to rest.
June’s Culinary and R&D Teams programmed June to account for carryover cooking and prevent your food from overcooking. When using a Cook-Program or Guided Recipe, June will tell you to take your food out of the oven before it reaches the target temperature and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Your food will continue to cook as it rests and the internal temperature will rise up to the desired target temperature. Once the rest time is over, your food should have reached your desired target temperature and it’s time to eat.
Frequently asked questions
Rest times will vary depending on the size and thickness of your proteins. Here is some universal guidance that should help in most situations.
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Make sure you’re removing food as soon as possible after June says it’s ready.
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When resting proteins, transfer them to a cutting board or a platter. If they are resting it the pan they were cooked in, the extra heat from the pan may be contributing to more carry over cooking than expected.
This can happen when the thermometer tip isn’t in the geometric center of the food and June is reading the temperature away from the center. Carryover cooking relies on the center reaching a particular temperature before removing from the oven. If the center hasn’t actually reached that temperature, there won’t be enough heat energy left in the food to raise the temperature to the expected point. The geometric center may not always be where you expect, so we’ve put together some examples for how to place the thermometer in different foods.
Have other questions about the resting food and carryover cooking? Contact our support team.
