Some facts about meat

Think of meat as a protein sponge. Raw muscle is about 75% liquid. This liquid is not blood, which is dark red, almost black, thick, and it clots. There is no measurable blood in a properly slaughtered and butchered animal. Most of the liquids in muscle are protein laden fluids called myoglobin andmyowater.

They are thin and usually pink when cooked, and they don’t coagulate like blood. They are what you see on your plate when you cut into a piece of meat fresh from the heat. Remember, Zuzu, everytime someone calls them “blood”, somewhere a teenager becomes a vegetarian.

What we call juiciness is not just a matter of how much water is in the meat we are eating. There are many factors (see sidebar at right). Among the other important factors are melted fat, connective tissues that have been converted to gelatin, and our own saliva. But the single most important factor is what temperature the meat is when it is done cooking.

When you cut into raw meat there is practically zero loss of liquid. Even if you grind meat for burgers there is no real liquid loss. That’s because the liquids are bound by proteins and held by capillary action in the thin spaces in the muscle. Raw meat in the grocery display case might have 1 to 3% “drip loss” which is why they put that little absorbent pad under it. Much of this drip loss is due to the rupturing of cell walls while the carcass goes throughrigor mortis, a shrinking and stiffening of the muscles after slaughter. Within a day, enzymes kick in and begin the tenderizing and aging process and the muscles relax. This is why freshly killed meat can be tough. It is usually best to let it rest a day or three.

If the meat has been frozen, water expands and ice crystals form. Remember the last time you stuck a beer in the freezer and forgot about it? The slower the freezing the bigger and sharper the crystals. These ice crystals puncture the cell walls and, depending on how the meat was frozen and thawed, another 3 to 5% of “purge” can emerge when the meat is defrosted.

During cooking, according to the amazingAmazingRibs.com science advisor, Dr. Greg Blonder, “The first ‘sweat’ occurs with water that is very loosely contained between fibers oozing out through relatively wide channels in the meat. Some of it drips off and some evaporates. As the heat increases, more tightly bound water is freed. Then, around 135 to 145°F, the collagen in the connective tissues that sheath muscle fibers and hold together bundles of fibers begin to shrink and eventually soften into gelatin. This squeezes on the muscle fibers, wringing out additional liquid, some myowater, and some myoglobin from burst cells. So the amount of released juices rises as you pass through 140°F. This is why meat cooked to higher temps gets dry.”

Depending on how hot and how long you cook, there might be 10 to 25% water loss, mostly due to evaporation and dripping. Let’s call it 15%. So a properly cooked steak is down to about 60% water, but most of it cannot escape when the meat is cut because it is bound by proteins and held by capillary action.

Why all the books say we should rest our meat

There are several explanations for why we should rest meat. Let’s look at the most popular:

The pressure theory. The most widely repeated theory says that during cooking, muscle fibers, which resters say are like tiny skinny balloons, shrink along their length and expand across their width. Just like when you see meat “pulling back” along the bone. This puts pressure on the juices between the balloons and at the same time these juices expand pushing even harder on the balloons. If you cut into the meat when it is fresh off the heat, they say the juices come gushing out of the sliced balloons. If you let meat rest and cool, say the resters, water pressure drops, fibers relax, and fewer juices escape.

Not so, says the AmazingRibs.com meat scientist, Dr. Antonio Mata, “Water moves back and forth between compartments. It is not trapped in the fibers. Fibers are not balloons.” So the pressure equalizes quickly. And at cooking temperatures, water does not expand much inside the muscle. Meat shrinks during cooking mostly because of dripping and evaporation. If the water was somehow pushed into and trapped inside expanding balloons, then, when the fibers cool during resting, they would shrink and would expel more liquid, not less. In other words, this theory just doesn’t hold water.

The reabsorption theory. Another theory holds that the outer parts of the meat, which are much hotter than the centers, dry out during cooking. The hotter you cook, the more gray dried out meat forms directly below the surface. This is less lovable. This is overcooked meat with less flavor, juice, and tenderness. By allowing the meat to rest, says the theory, these hot dry fibers can absorb some of the liquid from the center, so less liquid will spill out when you cut the meat.

This may be true because systems do seek equilibrium. But the goal of cooking properly is to have a good dark crust and minimize the dry brown area beneath it. So reabsorption might hold onto a little liquid, but it’s not relevant with properly cooked meat with minimal overcooked meat below the surface.

Why resting is bad

But resting has other impacts, many detrimental.

Cold steak! Another important thing happens during resting: The meat gets cold. There’s a reason the plates are hot in steakhouses. We like our meat hot. It will cool off fast enough, why give it a running start?

Soft surface! While resting, the crust gets soft and wet, especially on the side that is in contact with the plate or cutting board. Spice rubs get muddy. Adam Perry Lang is a classically trained chef, a partner with Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich in Carnevino in Las Vegas, a partner with Jamie Oliver in Barbecoa in London, and founder ofDaisy May’s BBQ in New York City. I asked him to weigh in on this. He points out that the juiciness sensation also depends a lot on the crust, especially its saltiness. “In the early crust stage (fresh off the grill), fat, collagen, and salt will cause a unique flood of saliva in your mouth. I refer to this type of crust stage as ‘alive and snappy’. It is the type of crust that can cause you to eat clumps of fat and chewy sinew with joy that you would not normally eat. I am convinced it is another dimension, or the epitome ofumami [savoriness]. It rarely comes the same way from a rested piece of meat. Finishing salt is also important for this juiciness sensation.”

Overcooked meat! Another thing happens when the meat is resting: Carryover. Depending on the thickness and the amount of energy stored in the outer layer, the center can rise 5 to 10°F or more. That can take your perfectly cooked prime rib roast to particle board before you know it. And the hotter the center, the less moisture.

Waxy fat! When a steak is hot, the fats are soft, sometimes even runny. They give the meat a rich unctuous mouthfeel and a lot of flavor. Let the meat cool and the fat starts to harden and get waxy.

Rubbery skin. Hot chicken and turkey should have crispy skin. Rest it for 15 minutes or so, especially under foil, and it turns to rubber.

So resting cools the meat, softens the crust, overcooks the center, muddies the spices and herbs, and reduces moisture of steaks and chops, and its impact on the perception of juiciness is probably nil.

Foil makes it worse

A loose tent of foil is often suggested during resting. Not only does it not help, it hurts! It does prevent a little heat from escaping, but not much. Foil is a lousy insulator. If you take a dish from the oven that has cooked under foil, in seconds that foil is cool enough to handle. The problem with foil is it traps steam which softens crust and can turn crackly poultry skin to rubber in minutes. And never wrap meat tightly in foil. Juices really come gushing out then.

Let’s get real: How do you eat?

Let’s forget all the science now and just think about how we eat. Let’s be conservative and say finished meat is about 60% water after drip loss, purge, and cooking. That means that, in a 12 ounce steak, seven ounces are liquid. That’s almost a cup. So let’s say we pull our nice big thick juicy medium rare steak off the grill and cut into it. Out come the juices. Maybe a teaspoon out of 12 ounces of steak that is seven ounces of water.

Do you let those juices sit on the plate and waste away? Heck no. You mop them up with the meat on your fork! The meat is absorbent now that it is not longer saturated with water. Nothing is lost!

Look at the two plates at the top of the page. No juices left behind! The plate on the left shows juices from a steak that did not rest. The plate on the right held a steak that rested 15 minutes. Not much waste is there? That’s because my wife and I mopped up all the juice we could with the meat on our forks. (The slight color difference is because one steak had a tiny bit of char on some of the fat and it colored the juice.)

Thick, dry-aged porterhouse is the specialty of the house at the most beloved beef emporium in the nation, Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn. It is cooked under a screaming hot gas broiler to medium rare, and then, to halt the carryover cooking, the two sections are sliced from the bone, and sliced again into hunks so several people can share it. It is served swimming in its juices. See those spoons in the picture? They are for saucing the meat on your plate with the juices in the platter. I sincerely doubt any steak has been sent back to the Pewter Luger kitchen for being too dry.

Do you inhale the whole steak immediately? Heck no.

It takes a few minutes to get it off the heat and to the table. Then it takes at least 15 minutes to eat it. The fact is, by the time the steak comes off the heat til you get two or three bites in, have a bit of potato, a bit of the green beans, a sip of wine, a little conversation, the meat has had plenty of time to rest, and not a drop of fluid is wasted because when you are done, your plate is clean. And the steak was hot and crisp when you cut into it.

What about roasts and large cuts?

Because a beef rib roast, pork loin, or turkey breastcan be so much thicker than a steak, when you slice them there is much more surface area to leak juice. So the amount of juice exuded from a roast can be significant and look alarming.

Will more liquid flow without resting? Blonder says “no”. By slicing right away I get to serve perfectly cooked hot meat. I collect the juices from the cutting board and I pour them over the meat on the serving platter. Most of the juices are re-absorbed. Or I make a board sauce(especially on leg of lamb). This is a great way to use the juices and add some excitement. Trust me, I never serve improperly cooked or dry roasts.

I have even built a cutting board with a slot to collect juices. There’s a similar one on Amazon.com, a real beauty, the John Boos Newton Prep Master Reversible 18″ Square Cutting Board with Juice Groove and Panshown here.

The best reason Blonder sees for resting a big roast like a prime rib is that it stiffens slightly and is easier to carve. But I want my meat limp and compliant. A sharp knife solves any cutting issues.

Holding meat: An important exception not the same as resting meat

Let’s define our terms:

Resting is the term for letting hot meat cooked to normal temperatures cool as discussed above. Typically these are meats cooked to 165°F or below.

Holding is the technique of letting meat cooked well past well done stay warm for a while after cooking. Typically these are meats cooked in the 195 to 205°F range, like beef brisket, pork butt, and ribs.

In restaurants these meats are often removed from the 225°F oven, wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, and placed in a warming oven to hold for a few hours at 170 to 180°F. Some of these ovens even have humidity control. In competitions the meats are often wrapped in foil and then towels and placed in an insulated box like a cambro or faux cambro.

First of all, these are very different meats than steaks, chickens, chops, etc. They are really tough cuts with lots of fat and connective tissues that need to be cooked to a high temp to make it chewable. A steak cooked to 203°F would be inedible, but a brisket is at its best at about that temp. Rendered fat and gelatin from connective tissues provide most of the juiciness. In fact they often can lose up to 30% of their weight during cooking, most of that “drip loss” is water that has evaporated from the surface. Read more about this in my article on meat science.

During the holding period, very gentle slow carryover cooking continues to cook the meat and tenderize it as it cools slowly, and it rarely is allowed to cool to less than 180°F, much hotter than a medium rare steak or even a turkey.

Because these meats have been cooking for 8 to 12 hours, the surface has become dry, forming a jerky-like bark. What water is left is in the center. By wrapping it so no more water will evaporate, and cooling it slightly, that water can move back into the parched areas.

The problem is that if you let it go too long, it can soften the bark too much. It is a balancing act, and that is why to top cooks are called Pitmasters.

The bottom line

1) The difference between the amount of juice spilled with resting and without resting is insignificant especially when one considers that juiciness depends on many other factors such as water that remains bound with proteins, melted fat, collagen converted to gelatin, and even saliva.

2) Far more important than resting the meat is cooking it to the right temperature. Once you get beyond 140°F, the moisture from water in any meat drops precipitously. The ultimate folly is the diner who orders a medium steak (140°F) and insists that it rest for 20 minutes. As meat sits around it can easily overcook from carryover. The best way to make sure you cook it properly and use a quality digital thermometer. I cannot stress this enough. Follow the red link and buy one that I have tested and recommended.

3) Season your meat properly with adequate salt, then, when the meat hits the proper temp, dive in while it is hot and crisp! Sizzling crisp crust is a major pleasure factor, perhaps more important than the small amount of water spilled. Chef Dave Arnold, author of the blogCooking Issues, The International Culinary Center’s Tech ‘N Stuff Blog, says “Extra juice makes meat taste watery and bland. Moisture isn’t necessarily your friend; delicious is your friend.”

4) Juices lost in the grocery case, after thawing, and during cooking are far greater than those spilled after cooking.

5) In tests like Kenji’s, five minutes rest was all that was needed to stanch most of the flow. In Blonder’s tests, resting made no significant diff. If you still think resting matters, rest assured your meat will rest while you move it from cooker to the table, while you wait for everyone to be seated, while you taste all the other foods and drinks, and by the time you’re into it more than a slice.

6) But most important, leave no juices behind! Blonder proved that meat will soak up almost all the juices spilled, rested or not. Pour the juices over the meat, and mop the rest up with the meat on your fork, with potatoes, rice, bread, or make a board sauce with it. Look at the picture at the top of the page. That should end the debate.

This myth is busted. Like the other myth that won’t die, resting before swimming, when it comes to all this talk about resting meat, I say give it a rest, stop crying over spilled juice, and clean your plate like Momma told you. About that, she was right!

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