#Internal temp of cooked chicken how to#

Simply stab the prong or prongs into the chicken meat at the thickest part and read the temperature. They can have multiple prongs or just one.

Meat thermometers come in all different shapes and sizes, some digital and some analog. The absolute best way to make sure your chicken is fully cooked, whether it is a whole chicken or just breasts, thighs, or drumsticks, is to use a high-quality meat thermometer. If you’re wondering what temperature is chicken done, then it’s 165 degrees fahrenheit.

#Internal temp of cooked chicken how to#

Langsrud also stressed that using a meat thermometer alone was not enough in her view, with their lab tests suggesting that bacteria could be found on the outside of a cooked chicken fillet even if the core temperature tested above 158 F (70 C).5.2 Related How To Tell When Chicken Is Done 1. What’s more, some thermometers were slow to give an accurate reading, making them inconvenient, they said. The researchers evaluated eight different types and found that they weren’t always reliable, with the cheapest model they tested showing a temperature of 146 F (63.4 C) at 158 F (70 C). Only 6.8% of the people surveyed in the study said they used a meat thermometer. They tried to assess at what temperatures juices run clear, but the team was not able to draw any firm conclusions. What’s more, they said changes in texture – from glossy to having fibers – between 131 F and 158 F (55 C and 70 C) “were so similar that it was unlikely that most consumers could distinguish between an unsafe cooking of chicken breast fillets based on texture.” Lab tests conducted by the researchers, however, found that most of the change from pink to white in a chicken fillet takes place at core temperatures below 131 F (55 C). Red and processed meat are not ok for health, study says, despite news to the contrary High temperatures can kill these microbes, but enough may survive to cause illness if meat is undercooked.įood should be cooked to 158 F (70 C) according to the World Health Organization, while the USDA advises that poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 F (73.8 C). Undercooked chicken can harbor harmful pathogens like salmonella and campylobacter. The study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.

“The findings of the initial study corroborate multiple investigations that have reported that the majority of consumers continue to rely on sensorial qualities (color, juices, texture) to indicate that the chicken is fully cooked, and only a small number of them use a thermometer,” said Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, professor and director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia in Griffin, Georgia. The researchers said, however, that their lab tests showed that changes in the color and texture of the chicken weren’t reliable indicators of whether it was done – at least not on their own. These chicken fillets were cooked to different temperatures. Other methods that closely followed in popular use included looking at the surface of the meat, testing the texture with a fork or other implement and checking inside to see whether it were still pink. They found the most common way of deciding whether the chicken was ready came down to the home cook’s gut feel – that is, timing it out based on prior experience of cooking a chicken fillet or other cut. They focused on three groups: young single men, families with infants and elderly people over 70. The researchers surveyed 3,969 people and interviewed and recorded video of 75 people from different age groups as they cooked chicken in their homes in the UK, France, Romania, Portugal and Norway. “We couldn’t find anything in the scientific literature backing this up, so we decided to look into it.” “Most people think you can look at the color change from pink to white and that suggests it’s ready,” said Solveig Langsrud, a senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research. Have to cook from home for the first time? Here's what you need to know (plus your first recipe!)