Why Should You Let Cooked Chicken Rest?

It can be tempting to carve right into an inviting roast chicken right after it comes out of the oven, but don't do it. Your impatience might wreck the bird you spent time so carefully making, and that would pretty much ruin dinner. Because if you slice into it too early, you'll watch helplessly as a stream of endless juices come dribbling out of the cut, which means that the meat you're about to tuck into is going to be that much less juicy by volume.

So to stop that from happening, you need to let your chicken (and really, all meat) rest for a while before you start slicing. As it cooks, water is squeezed out from the protein fibers in the meat, which then pushes towards the surface where some of it inevitably evaporates. The resting process allows the juices to redistribute and settle evenly throughout by keeping all of the moisture from escaping when you start cutting into it. Yes, you'll need to be patient. But hey, at least that'll give you enough time to finish making any sides you've got going.

If you've roasted a whole chicken, you will need to wait for a decent bit of time before serving it. A good rule of thumb to follow is to let it rest for 15 minutes, at the very least. I tend to let it go for around 20 minutes just to be safe. If you're worried about it cooling off, don't worry, I've always found it stays piping hot. But if you want to let it rest for even longer, you can tent the bird with foil to prevent it from losing too much heat. 

This gives you plenty of time to whip up a gravy from the drippings, if you're so inclined. If you've only cooked some chicken breasts, you don't have to wait nearly as long. You can let small pieces like that sit for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing it up. And remember: In all cases, there's still carryover heat, so your chicken will continue to cook even after it's been pulled out of the oven. Which is why it's doubly important for your meat to rest in order to ensure it's at the proper temperature for food safety purposes.