Carryover Cooking of Roasted Meats

Once the internal temperature of your roast registers at least 5 to 10 degrees less than your preferred doneness (see chart below), remove the roast from the oven. The resting period will allow for any carryover cooking to bring the roast to the final serving temperature. Keep in mind that larger roasts and roasts that are cooked at higher temperatures will need to be removed from the oven even earlier, as they will be subjected to greater temperature increases during the resting period.

Very rare 113° F (45° C)
Rare 115 – 120° F (46 – 49° C)
Medium-rare 125 – 130° F (51 – 54° C)
Medium 140° F (60° C)
Medium-well 150° F (65° C)
Well-done 158° F (70° C)

For example, if you want your roast to be medium (140° F), the roast will need to be removed from the oven when the internal temperature reaches approximately 130° F. This is assuming that the roast was finished roasting at 250° F; however, if finished at 350° F, it will need to be removed before it reaches 130° F.