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Great cooking is mostly understanding a few things that happen to meat and seafood as they cook. Here is why searing browns, why resting matters, how carryover cooking works, what salt and brining really do, and why tough cuts need hours. Each section links to recipes that put it to work. For exact temperatures, see our cooking times and temperatures.
Jump to: Searing | Resting | Carryover cooking | Brining | Low and slow
The brown crust on a seared steak is flavor, made by the Maillard reaction: amino acids and sugars on the surface of the meat react and create hundreds of new savory, roasted flavor compounds. It happens quickly only when the surface is well above the boiling point of water, roughly 300°F and up.
That is why a wet surface will not brown. As long as there is water on the meat, the surface stays near 212°F and steams instead. Pat meat and seafood completely dry, heat the pan until the oil shimmers, and do not crowd the pan: too many pieces at once drop the temperature and release more moisture than the pan can boil away.
Searing does not "seal in the juices"; that is a long-lived kitchen myth. A seared steak loses about as much moisture as an unseared one. You sear for the crust and the flavor, which is reason enough.
Put it to work: Cast-Iron Ribeye with Garlic Thyme Butter, Reverse-Seared Thick-Cut Steak, Pan-Seared Sea Scallops with Lemon Butter, Sous Vide Steak.
Cut into a steak the moment it comes off the heat and a puddle of juice runs onto the board. Let it rest and far less escapes. As the meat cools slightly, its juices thicken and the muscle fibers relax, so more of the moisture stays in the slice instead of on the cutting board.
A good rule: about 5 minutes for steaks and chops, 10 to 20 minutes for a roast, and 30 to 45 minutes for a whole turkey. Tent large roasts loosely with foil; wrapping them tightly steams the crust soft. A rested roast stays hot for a surprisingly long time.
Put it to work: Prime Rib Roast (Standing Rib Roast), Garlic and Rosemary Roast Leg of Lamb, Herb-Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey, Grilled New York Strip with Herb Butter.
When you take meat off the heat, the outside is much hotter than the center, and that heat keeps moving inward. The center temperature keeps rising for several minutes: about 3 to 5°F for a steak, 5 to 10°F for a roast, and up to 10 to 15°F for a large prime rib or turkey cooked at high heat.
Use it to your advantage. Pull a steak a few degrees before your target, and a big roast 5 to 10 degrees before. An instant-read or leave-in thermometer is the only reliable way to know; times in recipes are a guide, not a guarantee.
The USDA safe minimums still apply after resting: 145°F with a 3-minute rest for whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal; 160°F for ground meat; 165°F for poultry; and 145°F for fish. Many cooks prefer steak and lamb pinker than the USDA guideline; that is a personal choice, but ground meat and poultry should always reach their safe temperatures.
Put it to work: Prime Rib Roast (Standing Rib Roast), Basic Beef Tenderloin, Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb, Herb Butter Roast Turkey Breast.
Salt changes meat. Given time, it dissolves some of the muscle proteins near the surface, which helps the meat hold on to its own moisture as it cooks. That is why a salted or brined pork chop or turkey breast stays juicier.
A wet brine soaks the meat in salted water. It adds some water to the meat and works well for lean poultry and pork, but it can make the skin harder to crisp. A dry brine is simply salt (and often a little sugar or spices) rubbed on the surface. The salt draws out moisture, dissolves in it, and is drawn back in; the surface dries, so the skin crisps and steaks brown better.
Timing matters more than method. Salt a steak at least 40 minutes before cooking, or the night before, uncovered in the refrigerator; salting just a few minutes ahead leaves the surface wet. A chicken does well with 1 to 2 days, a turkey 2 to 3. Whatever you brine must stay at 40°F or below the whole time.
Put it to work: Turkey Brine, Herb-Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey, Steakhouse Dry Rub, Prime Rib Roast (Standing Rib Roast).
Cuts from hard-working muscles, such as brisket, short ribs, shanks and pork shoulder, are full of connective tissue called collagen. Cooked quickly, they are chewy. Held for hours somewhere between about 160°F and 205°F inside, the collagen slowly melts into gelatin, and the meat turns tender and silky.
So if a braise is still tough, it needs more time, not less. Keep it covered at a gentle simmer or in a low oven and check every 30 minutes. A "stall" on the smoker, when the temperature of a brisket stops rising for hours, is evaporation cooling the surface; wrapping it pushes it through.
Put it to work: Instant Pot Braised Short Ribs, Texas Smoked Brisket, Red Wine Braised Lamb Shanks, Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, Osso Buco (Braised Veal Shanks).
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