I love to cook on the grill year-round.  As a child my Dad enjoyed cooking on the grill, maybe it is nostalgia.  My Dad cooked on an old charcoal grill that belonged to his Dad.

At the Farmer’s Market, I get asked quite often, how to do you recommend cooking these steaks as the customer looks into our freezer case.  The best piece of advice I can give them is to make sure you let your steak/roast rest before serving it.  I get strange looks, but hey, they asked right?

What happens when you cook meat?

When you cook meat the protein in it sets. Generally, the softer it feels, the less cooked it is and vice versa. And cooking your steak to your liking is a skill that comes with time and patience.

While using a thermometer is accurate and takes the guesswork out of it, I feel there is something satisfying about being able to cook a steak perfectly by feel alone.

What happens when you rest meat?

If you cut straight into your delicious piece of steak after cooking it kind of defeats the purpose. The reason it needs to rest is that the juices need time to redistribute, otherwise it will just run off the steak, leaving you with a brown, overcooked piece of meat.

Also, tell our customers, another important thing to know is the residual heat will continue to cook your steak after you’ve removed it from the grill. So if your desired temperature is 130F, then it’s best to remove the meat a few degrees shy of this. It will come up to the desired temperature during the resting period, giving you a perfectly cooked steak.

How long should you rest your beef?

It fully depends on the size of the cut of beef but as a guide, bigger 3-5 lbs roasts should rest for 10-20 minutes and your steak should breathe for at least five minutes. Mouth-watering, juicy steaks in no time are the main goal.  You don’t want to have to apologize to the steak for overcooking it.

The final comment is YES, you should rest your steak.