Carry-Over Cooking

The process that occurs as food continues to cook despite being removed from the oven, the stovetop, the grill, or a roasting fire. Often a recipe will suggest an amount of time to allow foods to rest outside of a cooking chamber or area after foods have been cooked. Referred to as the resting time or the resting period,, Carry-Over Cooking is a length of time during which the temperature in the food continues to rise 10ºF to 20ºF once the food is removed from the oven or cooking area. For foods that typically continue to cook after being removed from the oven, such as pork or beef due to the dense textures and substance of the meat. Therefore, it is important to remove various meats from the oven prior to reaching the desire temperature so they do not over cook but instead continue cooking to the desired temperature outside the oven and then begin to cool.