A method for setting different cooling rates of metal strips or metal plates (rolling material) over the strip width of a cooling stretch in a hot-strip mill or heavy-plate mill is presented. According to the method, for the calculation of the cooling rate, the initial enthalpy distribution over the material width of the rolling material before the cooling is determined. Proceeding therefrom, a target enthalpy distribution is determined in the width direction and length direction of the rolling material while taking into account a calculation of the flatness and the mechanical properties by means of a microstructure model. Subsequently, the coolant amount and the coolant curve of the cooling stretch are set.