Meat Temperature Chart & Cooking Guide

The thermodynamics of cooking meat

How meat cooks and a Related articles list of the temperatures Food handling and safety for making sure your meats are cooked safe Buying guide to thermometers and tasty: Beef, veal, Meat science lamb, duck, burgers, Are my ribs ready yet dausage, chicken, turkey, fish, pork, ham, and eggs.

I want my meats tender, juicy, and flavorful, and I also want them safe. This requires a good instant-read meat thermometer and an oven thermometer. Nothing will save you from apologizing to your guests and keep you from wasting money as well as good thermometers. Click here for a buying guide to thermometers. Important disclaimer. I am a cook, not a food safety expert. The temperatures recommended below are similar to the temps restaurant chefs use and they may be slightly different from those recommended in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines. To be absolutely perfectly safe from a microbial standpoint, you should follow USDA guidelinesexactly. I cannot be responsible for your health or safety if you do not follow USDA guidelines. You also need to know that the temps are not exact. Some cuts may go medium at a lower temp than others, and certainly the dividing line between rare and medium rare (etc.) is not hard and fast. Chefs vs. USDA. The official US government meat regulatory agency, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a guide for proper cooking temperatures for decades. The USDA charts are designed

to make sure there is no chance of any pathogens surviving. But many chefs feel the recommended temps for some cuts of pork, beef, and fish are too high. On the other hand, the USDA recommendations for chicken, turkey, eggs, and ground meats are nothing to be trifled with. The risks are too high. Why? Read on.

Doneness Serving temp Description

Beef, lamb, duck breast, and veal steaks, chops, and roasts (USDA minimum: 145F) * Less than 125F Bright purple-red, cool, stringy, Raw (52C) slightly juicy Rare 125-130F (52-54C) Red center, warm, tender, juicy Medium rare 130-140F (54-60C) Pink center, warm, firm, can be juicy Tan with hints of pink, firm, not very Medium 140-150F (60-66C) juicy Medium well 150-160F (66-71C) Tan center, firm to tough, little juice more than 160F Tan to brown center, tough, little Well done (71C) juice Ground meats, burgers, meat loaf, and sausages (USDA minimum 160F) Safe 160F (71C) or more Tan-brown (no sign of pink) Pork steaks, chops, and roasts (USDA minimum: 160F) Less than 125F Bright pink center, cool, stringy, Raw (52C) slightly juicy Pale pink center, warm, tender, very Rare 125-130F (52-54C) juicy Creamy with a slight pink tinge, Medium rare 130-140F (54-60C) tender, juicy Cream colored, firm, slightly pink Medium 140-150F (60-66C) juices more than 150F Cream colored, firm to tough, clear Well done (66C) juices Pork ribs, pork shoulders, and beef brisket cooked low and slow at 225F ** Tender and Pale white to tan center, tender, 190F (88C) juicy clear juices Pre-cooked ham and hot dogs Safe 140F (60C) Purple-pink meat Turkey (USDA minimum: 165F) Safe and 165F (74C) Cream colored, tender, clear juices moist Chicken (USDA minimum: 165F) Safe and 165F (74C) Cream colored, tender, clear juices moist Fish (USDA minimum: 145F) Slightly translucent meat, flakes Medium 135F (57C) easily

Well done 145F (63C) Opaque, pearly meat Unpasteurized eggs (USDA minimum: 160F) Safe 160F (71C) Solid yolks

* The colors for veal will be much paler than beef, lamb, and duck. They will be more like the colors of pork. But the serving temperatures are about the same. ** These cuts are safe at 160F, but because they are high in connective tissue and fat, they taste and feel best if cooked to about 190F at very low temperatures. This is the secret to great barbecue and is discussed in detail on Amazingribs.com.

About this guide

It's not blood! I know a lot of folks like their meat well done, but it's a scientific fact that well done meat is tougher and drier than rare or medium rare meat. Some folks are turned off by the red juice that is commonly called "blood". It is not blood and people who know better should stop calling it blood. It is myoglobin, a protein. Just call it juice. According to scientists, at about 140F red meat begins to turn pink as the myoglobin begins to change. As the temperature rises above 140F myoglobin starts to go from pink to clear, and the meat begins to turn tan. At that temp the meat starts to toughen as the proteins denature. Click here for more on meat science. Cooking time and weight and other factors. Many cookbooks tell you to cook some cuts for X minutes per pound. You've got to be careful with these rules of thumb because they are for "typical" cuts. Thickness is the really crucial factor, not the weight. Other factors that can influence cooking time are the temperature of the meat before you start cooking, the type of cooker, the amount of bone, how many times you open the cooker, the humidity in the cooker, how much other food is in the cooker, and how much of a fat cover there is since fat cooks at a different rate. There is no substitute for a good thermometer. Resting meat. When my trusty thermometer says the meat is ready, I take it away from the heat and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Resting is important because meat is mostly water, and heat makes the water expand and generate pressure within the cells. Some of the liquid is driven to the surface. When meat is removed from the heat the pressure drops a bit and the juices reabsorb into the muscle. When you cut into the meat, less juice is spilled and more juice makes into your mouth. For

properly cooked, tender, and moist food, remove the meat from the heat when it reaches the temp in the chart in the thickest part and let it rest for 10 minutes. Roasts and carryover. Take large thick roasts of beef, lamb, veal, or pork loin out of the heat at 5F less than the desired temp and they will rise about 5F in the 10 minutes of resting. This is called carryover. Actual carryover can vary depending on the shape of the meat. Thin steaks will not rise much in temp. Carryover also has to do with the cooking temp. If you are cooking hot, carryover can be up to 10F. If you are cooking low, it might not go up the full 5F. But 5F is a good rule of thumb for most roasts. Beef, lamb, and duck breasts. I like my red meat steaks and roasts rare to medium rare. The meat is no longer purple, but bright red, and it is tenderest and juiciest at this temp. Some folks like their steaks "black and blue" or "Pittsburgh" which means a dark, almost burnt crust and a rare, almost cool center. You need a really hot grill or broiler to accomplish this. I can often tell when beef steaks are rare without a thermometer. When the juices begin to break through the upper crust as in the photo to the right, it's usually rare. But this method is not foolproof. A lot of chefs can tell by poking the meat with a finger since it gets more firm the more it cooks. You have to be very experienced to rely on touch. Forgive the broken record, but a good thermometer is the best way to tell when meat is ready. Pork. I like to remove chops from the heat at 140F and roasts 135F (carryover takes them to 140F). USDA says you should cook pork to 160F but that's a recipe for cottonmouth. Trichinosis is killed at 138F, but not to worry, there are only about five cases of trichinosis a year in the US and most of them come from uninspected homegrown hogs. At 140F there will be a hint of pink, and the meat will be moist and juicy. Please note that we deliberately cook pork ribs and shoulders for pulled pork up to 180190F or more in order to melt the collagens, connective tissues, and fats that are so rife in these tough cuts. Burgers, ground meat, and sausage. Cook to 155F (serve at 160F). That's the USDA recommended temp and it should be adhered to closely. Alas, it is also well done. The risk of E. coli 0157H:7 is too great to mess

around undercooking ground meat. Why is ground meat different than whole muscle meat? During butchering of the carcass the intestines are often cut open by mistake. The fecal matter within, full of dangerous pathogens, can get on the meat and on the butcher knives. This is not a problem for steaks because the pathogens do not migrate far into the muscle fiber. They remain on the surface and they are killed rapidly by cooking. But when meat is ground, the contamination on the surface is mixed into the center. If it is not served at 160F, it can find its way into your gut and cause discomfort, illness, or even death. So ground meat must be cooked to a higher temp than whole muscle meat. Don't screw around. The risk is too high, especially for young and elderly people at your table. Chicken and turkey. Researchers tell us that practically all chicken and turkey have salmonella in the juices. I find it helpful to think of raw chicken and turkey as poisonous. USDA says to serve poultry at 165F and most chefs agree and remove it at no lower than 160F. Measure the breast at its thickest part since it takes longest to cook and dries out most easily. At 165F it is still juicy. Much higher and you'll be eating cardboard. The transition happens rapidly. The juices should run clear and any pink could be dangerous. That said, safe chicken can have some bright red parts attached to the bone. Again, a good thermometer is what you need. Fish. USDA recommends serving it at 145F, but at that temp most fish will be dry. I remove from heat at 135F when the meat is only slightly translucent, flakes easily, and is tender and moist. It is easy to overcook fish, so be vigilant. Pre-cooked ham. Serve at 140F. This stuff is cured and pre-cooked, so you are really just warming it. No need to dry it out. Eggs. It is estimated that one in 20,000 eggs is contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis in the US, and in the Northeast US it may be one in 10,000. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that one in 50 consumers eats a contaminated egg each year because large batches of eggs are pooled by food processors and restaurants. Salmonella is widespread among hens nowadays and it infects the ovaries of otherwise healthy appearing hens. In the ovaries it infects eggs before the shells are formed. Salmonella growth is inhibited by refrigeration, so eggs should not be kept at room temp. Cooking eggs to 160F, so their yolks are firm, makes them safe. You should use a thermometer on egg-based casseroles. If you like runny yolks or dishes made with lightly cooked eggs such as soft boiled eggs, pasta carbonara, egg nog, caesar salad dressing, custards, or bearnaise and hollandaise sauces, it is strongly recommended that you use pasteurized eggs. They are perfectly safe, they taste great, and they are now widely available.