How to Plan Carry Over Cooking on Beef

                               Carry Over Cooking on Dense Meats 

Have you ever noticed that the internal temperature of meat continues to rise after removing it from the smoker, grill or oven? This is called carry-over cooking and is caused by residual heat transferring from the hotter exterior of the meat to the cooler center.

As a rule, the larger and thicker the cut of meats, brisket, pork butts, beef shoulder clods and the higher the cooking temperature, the more residual heat will be in the meat, and the more the internal temperature will rise during resting due to carry-over cooking. This means the meat must be removed from the heat at an internal temperature lower than your desired final internal temperature, allowing the residual heat to finish the cooking.

Carry Over Temperature Chart for Beef Tenderloins,Prime Rib and Steaks. 

It is the reason why many recipes call for standing time. The carryover cooking that occurs during standing time causes the internal temperature of the food to rise several degrees and allows for the temperature to become more equalized throughout the food. How much carryover cooking is possible depends upon the size of the food, its density, its heat capacity (ability to retain heat), and how hot its internal temperature is when you remove it from the smoker,grill or oven . Foods that are high in water have a high heat capacity, and therefore, are excellent at carryover cooking. Thus, failure to allow for standing time results in food that is overdone

Chris Marks  CBBQE (Chief BBQ Expert) Three Little Pig’s Rubs & Sauces and Good-One Smoker/Grills