Do any of you make this mistake when cooking or grilling meat? You spend the time to pick out the perfect cut, marinade or season it perfectly, check it often to make sure you’re not over cooking it, and then slice into it to check it it’s done. Or maybe you’re a “smarter griller,” so you use a meat thermometer to check the doneness of the meat, and then once you take it off the grill you immediately slice it into the perfect serving sizes for your guests. What is wrong with this scenario?? Well, have you ever stopped to take a look at what is happening to your meat when you slice into it to check it’s doneness or carve it immediately? The juices from your perfectly cooked meat are running all over the place! And if the juices are sitting on your plate or cutting board, then they are not still in the meat, where they should be. If there is no juice left in your meat to keep it moist, then you end up with dry, tough meat.

So, to save us all from the dry meat syndrome, here is all you have to do…just let your meat rest for 10-15 minutes after grilling (or baking or roasting) before cutting it. Yes, it really is that simple!

Why is this so important? Well, it’s just a simple chemistry lesson. When you are cooking meat, the juices inside are heated so high that they start to move around quickly (almost like boiling inside the meat). After the meat is removed from the heat, the juices are still going crazy in there and they need a while to calm back down. If you cut the meat right away, the juices are still moving around so quickly, they will rush to the new opening and spill out. If you give the meat time to rest (like I said about 10 minutes, depending on the size of it), then the juices will have a chance to “calm down”, redistribute themselves throughout the meat, and stay exactly where they should when you cut the meat: in each individual bite.

If you don’t believe me, just ask the same people that taught me this concept: the food network chefs. Just watch any of their shows when they cook meat…they will ALWAYS tell you to “let the meat rest to let the juices redistribute.”

Lastly, if you need a surefire way to know how done your steak is, run to target and spend $10 on one of those instant read thermometers! I’ve never used one myself, but I’ve heard great things about them! Also, you can try this trick to check the doneness. But, as I said, if you make sure to let your meat rest for about 10 minutes after cooking it before cutting or carving it, your meat will always end up more tender and juicy!

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