For years, people have repeated certain kitchen rules as fact. But testing shows some of them don’t hold up. These are the meat cooking myths worth letting go of. Your steaks, chops, and taste buds will thank you.

We all have kitchen “truths” we treat as gospel—picked up from cookbooks, chefs we admire, or repeated so often they just become fact. Then someone puts it to the test and suddenly there’s this somber little moment of, “Wait…is everything I believe a lie?”

There’s a reason there are die-hard Pluto-preservation groups out there—when something you’ve confidently believed turns out to be wrong, it rattles you a little. And nowhere does that happen more than with meat. So many of our “rules” about searing, resting, or braising have been passed down like sacred tradition, only to fall apart under rigorous testing.

The thing about science is, it doesn’t always sit still. What felt like gospel one year can fall apart the next as research and methods evolve.

Like it or not, a few beloved meat cooking rules we’ve treated as law were never laws at all. Let’s take a look at some that deserve retirement.

Myth 1: Resting Meat Lets It Reabsorb Its Juices

We’ve long been told to let meat rest after cooking so the juices can “settle back in.” But newer testing tells a different story. As our editorial director, Daniel, found in a recent series of meat resting tests (building on earlier work from Kenji, Serious Eats’ culinary director emeritus and food-science whiz, as well as Meathead from Amazing Ribs, and Modernist Cuisine alum Chris Young), meat resting isn’t about reabsorbing juice at all.

The key factor is temperature and the internal pressure that comes with it. Slice meat while it’s screaming hot, and more liquid will rush out—not because it needs to “reabsorb,” but because heat increases internal pressure.

When testers controlled for final internal temperature, rested and unrested meat lost essentially the same amount of juice. In other words, the benefit of resting isn’t about drawing liquid back in—it’s simply giving the meat time to coast to its target temp via carryover cooking, so you’re not slicing into it while it’s still building heat and pressure.

Serious Eats / Liz Clayman

Myth 2: Piercing Meat While Cooking Makes It “Lose All Its Juices”

You’ve probably heard that poking a steak with a thermometer or even flipping it with a fork while cooking will make it dry out, as if you’ve burst some kind of seal before it’s finished cooking. In reality, there is no seal, and the tip of a thermometer or fork isn’t sharp enough to slice through the muscle fibrils, the sheath-like containers that hold moisture. As Kenji showed in his testing, all you’re really doing is gently nudging some fibers apart. You might see the tiniest droplet, but the loss is so small that it’s below what tasters can perceive.

Even cutting into a steak to peek won’t meaningfully change juiciness (though it’s not the best way to check doneness since hot juices can make it look more rare than it actually is).

The real threat to a juicy steak isn’t one poke—it’s overcooking. Skipping the thermometer out of fear of “losing juices” is far more likely to dry your meat out than using one.

So don’t stress about probing your meat. A quick temperature check with an instant-read thermometer protects juiciness way more than avoiding a single poke ever will.

Myth 3: Searing Meat “Locks in” Juices

I hope at this point we all know this one’s a myth, but it still pops up everywhere. Searing doesn’t seal meat; it can’t. There’s no waterproof crust forming, no juice-tight barrier hardening on the outside. In many side-by-side tests, seared steaks actually lose slightly more moisture than unseared ones, because the hotter surface temperature drives a bit more evaporation.

So why sear? Flavor. Browning (thanks to the Maillard reaction) creates a deeply savory crust and makes meat taste better—not juicier. If you want a steak that’s both well-browned and truly moist, the key isn’t “locking in” anything; it’s proper cooking temperature and not overcooking in the first place.

J. Kenji López-Alt

Myth 4: Chicken Has to be Cooked to 165°F

You don’t need to take every chicken breast to 165°F for it to be safe—that number just guarantees instant pasteurization. As Kenji shows in our sous vide chicken guide, food safety is really a function of time and temperature together. Holding chicken at slightly lower temperatures for the right amount of time achieves the same bacterial reduction, and with far juicier results.

In that testing, chicken breasts cooked between 140–150°F stayed tender and moist, while still reaching full pasteurization thanks to precise temperature control and hold time. So the real rule isn’t to always cook to 165°F; it’s to hit a safe, tested temperature and keep it there long enough. A thermometer is still essential—you just don’t have to cook chicken to one fixed number to do it right. For lean cuts, a lower temperature is better, though for dark meat we advise blowing right past 165°F for a more succulent texture.

Get the Pan Ripping Hot Before Searing

We’ve long been told to preheat the pan with oil or butter until it’s ripping hot before adding meat so it sears instantly and forms a deep golden crust. But new testing shows that advice may be backward. As our senior culinary editor, Leah, found in a recent round of kitchen trials (building on earlier work from Kenji and other curious cooks), starting meat in a cold pan can actually lead to juicier, more evenly cooked results.

The key factor isn’t searing power, it’s heat management. Drop meat into a blazing-hot skillet, and the sudden temperature shock tightens the muscle fibers, squeezing out moisture before the interior has a chance to cook through. Start cold, and the heat builds gradually, letting fat render slowly, browning develop evenly, and muscle fibers relax instead of seize.

When Leah compared both methods side by side, the results were clear: The cold-start approach produced meat that was more tender and flavorful, while the traditional hot sear left dry patches and uneven doneness.

Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

Myth 6: The Longer the Braise, the Better

It turns out meat braises don’t actually get better the longer they cook. Push them too far, and instead of silky, tender bites, you end up with meat that tastes oddly dry and pasty, even though it’s been cooking in liquid all day. As Kenji’s testing shows, the reason isn’t extra moisture loss; it’s structure. In the first few hours, collagen melts into gelatin and beef becomes plush and spoon-tender. After that, the muscle fibers start to break down so much that they can’t hold onto juices anymore. Bite into it, and instead of releasing moisture gradually, everything squeezes out at once, leaving a fibrous, mealy texture behind.

The sweet spot is earlier than many people think. There’s a point where the connective tissue has softened and the meat is tender but still holds together when you lift it with a fork—that’s when to stop. Go past it, and the fibers collapse, turning into a pulpy mash with none of the satisfying chew or juiciness that makes a great stew so good.

The Takeaway

If there’s one thing these myths prove, it’s that cooking meat well isn’t about memorizing “rules.” It’s about understanding what’s actually happening inside the pan (or the steak, or the chicken). Temperature, time, and a little curiosity matter far more than kitchen myths.