carryover cooking (sometimes referred to as resting) is when food retains heat and continues to cook even after being removed from the source of heat. carryover cooking is often used as a finishing step in preparation of foods that are roasted or grilled, and must be accounted for in recipes as it can increase the internal temperature of foods by temperatures between 5 and 25 degrees fahrenheit (3–14°c). the larger and denser the object being heated, the greater the amount of temperature increase due to carryover cooking.