There is described a method for applying a coolant to a rolled product and/or to at least one cylinder of a roll stand provided with a rolling gap. During the method the following steps can occur: determining a total cooling rate applicable according to the effective power in the rolling gap, determining the cooling rate for several areas according to a flatness distribution determined b a flatness measuring system, wherein the difference in the cooling rate is determined by comparing the totality of the thus determined cooling rates with a predetermined total cooling rate and is used for determining the components of an additional cooling rate for the areas taking into account the top and lower limits of the cooling rate thereof. Said procedure is repeated in such a way that the coolant differences remain above a predefinable value.