How long does food continue to “cook” after you take it out of the oven?
In: Other
Not exactly scientific perhaps, but heat is “energy” so when it goes into your food, that means it also has to exit your food…so while this “energy” (aka heat) is also exiting your food, it is still cooking it for a set time, until all energy is gone.
Thats my take at least.
Edit: just realized I answered the wrong question, but I still think it applies and depends on the thickness of the food in question to determine the amount of time.
It depends on its surface area-to-volume ratio. Something with a large volume but a small surface area like a turkey will continue to cook longer since heat can only escape through it’s surface area whereas something with a relatively large surface area to volume ratio like a thinly cut steak will give up it’s heat much quicker.
It depends on the food, the oven temperature, and the temperature gradient of the food itself.
Basically, your oven only can heat the edges of the food, and then that heat must travel through the food. As such the edges are always hotter than the core. After you pull out your cooked item, that edge temperature still carries to the center, although it also dissipates out to the kitchen air, so you may sometimes cover the item with foil to force more of it to move internally.
If you use a high temperature, then the edge will be that much warmer than the center (also meaning it’s more overcooked), so there’s more room for carryover cooking. If you cook at a lower temperature, there’s less difference between the edge and the target temperature, so there’s less carry over cooking.
The effect is also higher the bigger the object is in all dimensions. A pizza may be wide and long, but it’s very thin, so there’s less distance between the top and the middle, meaning less carry over effect. A roast is much thicker in all dimensions, so carry over has more effect.
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