Sarah,
All living things require some sort of rest at one time or another. “We don't fully understand the importance of rest. What we do know is that rest is an anabolic, or building, process. And we think it restores a living organism’s energy supplies to operational levels.” With that said, I have realized that it has absolutely nothing to do with your question (I’m sorry...I frequently digress...I’m seeing someone for this). The accurate and relative answer to our conundrum is really quite simple:

Like any food that goes on your grill, proteins contain moisture. The amount of moisture and the density of a protein's structure depends on the type of meat it is—such as steak, salmon, or chicken. The moisture levels also depends on the relative condition that you may have received it—fresh, frozen, new, or old). Even the preparation that you wish to use prior to cooking will affect the moisture—dry rub, marinade, or the amount and duration of the application of salts. When you place that New York Strip steak, boneless skinless chicken breast or Alaskan Salmon fillet on the grill a couple of things happen. First, the surface of the protein that is in contact with the grill grate will sear and, consequently, seal in the moisture in that area. The searing will caramelize the sugars in the protein and add to the texture and flavor, that classic “grilled taste”. The more direct cooking and searing that takes place, the more moisture that is sealed in. Second, the grilling environment, especially when the cover is down, produces a lot of intense heat in a rather small space. This heat in turn produces pressure. That pressure will tend to force a lot of the moisture still left inside the protein to the center of the cut. When the protein, we will say steak in this case, has cooked to your desired temperature, remove it from the grill and allow it to adjust to a non-heat producing environment—this is its time to “rest”. This will allow the internal juices, the majority of which are in the center of the steak, to redistribute evenly throughout the meat. This will give your steak the same appearance throughout (i.e. pink if cooked med rare) and prevent the juices from escaping onto your cutting board—which they would if the meat was cut into immediately after cooking. The rule of thumb here is to allow the protein to rest approximately one quarter to one third of the time it cooks. So a 15 minute steak should rest 5 minutes. A one hour grill roasted chicken should rest 15 to 20 minutes. There you have it! A rather lengthy, complicated answer to your simple but humble question. I will digress no longer and allow you to return to your grill to produce the juiciest morsels that will ever adorn your table.

Thanks,
Neal Corman

Need grilling advice? E-mail Chef Neal Corman