[Growster...]

'Resting' a joint of meat or a chicken, has never been a forte with us, but the process still seems to be the norm in some places! The last time we were told that the meat was resting, it arrived stone cold, and no amount of gravy could resuscitate it!

What constitutes a good 'rest' these days, and where or how does everyone do it?

[mumofstig]

I've never bothered resting a small joint, but a large one always gets covered with foil, then a few tea towels, to keep it hot, and left for 15-20 mins before carving.  It seems to slice better after that.
It usually means I can turn up the heat for the roasties to get crispy 

[Plot 1 Problems]

Same here mum, I rest all my meat joints the same was you, the meat is easier to cut and doesn't release all it's juices like it does straight off the heat. I keep things like steak warm and rest them for a few minutes too for the same reason.

[snowdrops]

Yep we rest our joints here, cover in foil & then a couple of tea towels thrown ver the top to keep it warm, served onto hot plates with boiling hot gravy, hmm yummy, think we might have to have that joint of beef that’s in the freezer very soon.

[Growster...]

Many thanks folks, it seems that the answer is foil and more!

I've always liked carving, (Dad and F.I.L. were good teachers), but as we hardly ever have anything larger than a small chicken, it's probably the answer I need! Hot plates come from the microwave too...

We do, however, buy large gammon joints, and carve these on an electric machine! We and can get a reasonable result on over 3/4 of it, and the odd bits left over go for flans, omelettes etc!