During family and company gatherings, whether at home or your favorite restaurant, meat recipes vary. If you’re unfamiliar with a restaurant, for example, you have almost no idea how your meal is being prepared behind the scenes. Meat, in particular, is the main course that requires tedious preparation. If you’re in charge of cooking meat, you might ask yourself if it should rest before eating it.

Why Rest Smoked Meat?

The most obvious thing is resting the meat allows it to cool down after it’s taken out of the smoker. We recommend that you wait before you cut into the meat, especially smoked meat for several reasons.

Seal in Juices

When the meat is rested, even just for a few minutes, the juices that have been forced together during cooking are redistributed throughout the meat. This process makes meat, especially steaks, much juicier and tastier, making the wait worth it. The juices from the meat especially smoked meat, are what make it more enticing and delightful to eat.

During cooking, the meat’s muscle fibers become firm and the water starts to be pushed outward. This moisture will then move outward to the surface of the meat where some of the moisture will evaporate. When taking your meat out of the oven or smoker, it’s going to take some time for the inside moisture to spread throughout the meat. Cutting into it right away will result in the liquid pouring out, leaving your meat very dry.

Resting your meat is advised with smoked food. The latest features of our food smokers will allow your favorite meat to get the most wonderful flavors, especially when they’re rested after smoking. The dual heat elements, digital console, and wood auto feeder will give you an excellent smoking experience as well as great results.

Carry-Over Cooking

Another reason for letting your meat rest after being cooked is what we call carry-over cooking. This happens most commonly with larger pieces of meat because they continue to cook for a few minutes, even after being taken out of the smoker. For this reason, most recipes will advise you to take the meat out a few minutes before the required amount of time is finished.

When cooking meat, whether through smoking, roasting, or grilling, the recommended time for resting is five to ten minutes. However, for roasting large cuts or whole chicken, for example, resting time could be much longer. For steaks, wrap it loosely in foil then place it in a container.

While the meat is being cooked, its protein components heat up and get set, and the cooking will continue after removing the meat from the smoker. The more cooked the meat is, the more settled the proteins inside the meat are. Resting the meat also helps it be cooked completely; that is why you should consider waiting a bit before serving.

Recipe Suggestions

Smoked Brisket

One of the recipes from Bradley Smokers that require a great amount of resting before eating it is a smoked brisket. About 13 pounds of brisket smoked with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic will take up to an entire day of smoking. Resting time for this recipe before it is ready to serve will be around one hour. Making a smoked brisket in the Bradley Smoker will take a very patient cook to achieve great results. Here’s the link for the recipe.

Roast Beef

Another famous recipe from Bradley Smokers that needs a good amount of resting is smoked roast beef. To make this recipe, you need a four-pound roast beef brushed with some olive oil, which will bind the meat’s seasonings. Use the armadillo pepper beef rub in heavy amounts for your seasoning since it’s a thick cut. Then, place the meat on the Bradley Smoker rack and insert the meat probe in the roast. Here’s the link for the recipe.

Set the Bradley Smoker at 250 degrees F. or 121.1 degrees C. We recommend that you use Bradley mesquite bisquettes in the smoker for about an hour. Then, use a cast iron pot or grill gun to darken the meat after taking it out of the smoker. Finally, grill all sides of the meat. Let it cool, and then put it in the fridge for 45-55 minutes.

Final Thoughts

Smoking meat is a very time-consuming activity, but using high-quality equipment like the Bradley Smoker will make you enjoy the process.

For more great ideas on how to get the most of your Bradley Smoker, check out the awesome articles on our Bradley Smoker Food Smoking Blog for more tips & tricks.