When cooking Beef Wellington…

chill it in the fridge for a while, maybe even overnight before baking.

Why is that so important?

The starting temperature should be consistent. We aren’t super concerned with the starting temperature of a beef roast, it could be left out for 20 minutes, an hour before roasting, or put in straight from the refrigerator. Why is it different on the Beef Wellington?

Well, you can’t see the beef for one, it’s hidden by pastry. You can’t touch it to check it like you can a roast, it would destroy the pastry it’s wrapped in. You’re relying purely on instinct, how much time you think is correct. A normal roast adds more methods to check and be sure it’s being cooked properly. Most people enjoy that security, the ability to measure something against their instincts and ensure they are correct. There are plenty of life situations that fly in the face of that. Where there are no measurements, and faith is what you have to go by. What can be done in these situations?

The equivalent of chilling the Wellington. Minimize the variables.

• If you’re starting a project or business, minimize the expenses.
• If you’re starting a new job, make sure that you take the time to know what the job is.
• If you’re going move across the country, make sure you know what it’s like there.

Just because you need to rely on instinct, doesn’t mean you can’t minimize your chances of that instinct being wrong. Don’t let the unknown stop you, just figure out the steps that make your instincts more likely to be accurate. Starting from the same temperature all the way through the dough and meat means that your cook time is more likely to be consistent if you repeat a recipe. What’s the equivalent for your situation?