Food Safety Through Heat and Temperature

Know Your Degrees of Doneness

To reduce this risk of foodborne illness in raw meats, some food safety experts recommend cooking all meat to 160 degrees—that is, until it is well done. However, with smart shopping and storage practices, you can safely enjoy meats at temperatures below well done.

Beef: Since the temperature of beef will continue to rise as it rests (referred to as carryover cooking), it should be removed from its heat source 5 to 10 degrees before the desired serving temperature is reached.

• Rare: remove at 115 to 120 degrees
  (120 to 125 degrees after resting)

• Medium Rare: remove at 120 to 125 degrees
  (125 to 130 degrees after resting)

• Medium: remove at 130 to 135 degrees
  (135 to 140 degrees after resting)

• Medium Well: remove at 140 to 145 degrees
  (145 to 150 degrees after resting)

• Well Done: remove at 150 to 155 degrees
  (155 to 160 degrees after resting)

Pork: The temperature of pork will continue to rise as it rests, remove it from the heat source 5 to 10 degrees before the desired serving temperature. Note: The pork of yesteryear was always cooked well done, but that pork carried with it the risk of trichinosis. Selective breeding and better farming practices have made today's pork much safer to eat, all but eliminating the trichina parasite from American-raised pork.

• Medium: remove at 140 to 145 degrees
  (145 to 150 degrees after resting)

• Well Done: remove at 150 to 155 degrees
  (155 to 160 degrees after resting)

Chicken: Carryover cooking doesn’t apply to poultry (it doesn't retain heat as well as the dense muscle structure in meat), so it should be cooked to safe serving temperatures.

• White Meat: 160 degrees

• Dark Meat: 175 degrees

Fish: Carryover cooking doesn’t apply to fish (it doesn't retain heat as well as the dense muscle structure in meat), so it should be cooked to the desired serving temperatures.

• Rare: 110 degrees (for tuna only)

• Medium Rare: 125 degrees (for tuna or salmon only)

• Medium: 140 degrees (for white-fleshed fish)

Know How to Take the Temperature of Meat

Meat

When checking doneness, take the temperature of the thickest part of the meat. For large roasts, take multiple readings.

• For Steaks, Chops, and Small Roasts: To ensure accurate temperature readings for thin meats, insert the thermometer sideways into the center, avoiding bones. For larger cuts, insert the thermometer into the end, parallel to the meat.

• For Burgers:
 Insert thermometer into the top edge of the burger towards the center, avoiding the pan.

Chicken

Check the temperature of both the breast and thigh of poultry, avoiding bones, cavities, and the pan surface.

• For Thigh Meat: Insert the thermometer at an angle into the area between the drumstick and the breast, taking care not to hit the bone. It should register 175 degrees.

• For Breast Meat:
 Insert the thermometer from the neck end, holding the thermometer parallel to the bird. It should register 160 degrees.