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Cooking meat and poultry to that perfect state of "just right" is non equally elusive as it sounds. While judging doneness by look and feel is an uncertain art at best, information technology is actually pretty easy to get slap-up results all the time when you use an instant-read thermometer. A thermometer is the only reliable way to mensurate internal temperature. Take a few minutes to commit these temperatures to memory or jot them down in a identify almost where you keep your thermometer.

Meat Temperatures

At what temperature is chicken and turkey done?

To take the temperature of a whole chicken or turkey, insert the thermometer straight down into the thickest part of the breast almost the backbone and straight downwards into the thigh, taking intendance not to hit the os (which can cause an wrong reading). If y'all're cooking chicken parts, stuffed chicken or basis craven, insert the thermometer probe into the thickest part to take the temperature.

Chicken breast: 165 degrees F

Chicken thigh: 165 to 175 degrees F

Stuffed chicken: 165 degrees F

Ground chicken: 170 to 175 degrees F

At what temperature is beefiness and lamb washed?

Insert the thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat to take the temperature, taking care to avert any bones if there are any.

Rare: 125 degrees F + three minutes of resting fourth dimension

Medium rare: 130 to 135 degrees F

Medium: 135 to 140 degrees F

Medium well: 140 to 150 degrees F

Well done: 155+ degrees F

At what temperature is pork done?

Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat to accept the temperature, taking intendance to avert any bones if there are any.

Medium rare: 145 degrees F + 3 minutes rest

Nosotros roasted chickens and checked the temperature throughout the cooking process to see how quickly the thermometers registered the temperature of the meat. We also tested for accuracy past placing each thermometer in a glass of water ice water to see how rapidly and precisely they measured the freezing temperature. Here are the best picks.

What is carryover cooking?

Meat will go on cooking even after you've removed information technology from a estrus source. That means if your steak hits the perfect medium-rare temperature on the grill, it will continue to rise several degrees while it'south resting. Meat temperature can increase x degrees or more while it's resting, depending on its size. The larger the cutting, the more carryover cooking will occur. And so, if yous're cooking a larger piece of meat (such as a turkey), you volition desire to remove information technology from the estrus source when its several degrees under the USDA's official temperature for doneness.

What to Know About Taking the Temperature of Basis Meat

You may have noticed that ground meat often needs to be cooked to a slightly higher temperature than whole cuts of meat. The food scientist Harold McGee explains a crucial distinction to exist made between whole muscle cuts and ground meat: "... meats inevitably harbor bacteria, and it takes temperatures of 160 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to guarantee the rapid destruction of the bacteria that can cause human disease — temperatures at which meat is well-washed and has lost much of its moisture. So, is eating juicy, pinkish-ruby-red meat risky? Non if the cut is an intact piece of healthy muscle tissue, a steak or chop, and its surface has been thoroughly cooked: bacteria are on the meat surfaces, not within. " When raw meat is ground up, the distinction between internal and external no longer applies. McGee says: "Ground meats are riskier, considering the contaminated meat surface is broken into small fragments and spread through the mass. The interior of a raw hamburger usually does incorporate bacteria and is safest if cooked well done." Because E. coli is killed at 155 degrees Fahrenheit, the USDA sets the minimum prophylactic temperature for ground beef at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. We can only second this.

A Few Notes on Meat Safety

People very rarely get ill from rare or medium-rare cuts of whole meat. Overwhelmingly, people get sick from the way meat is handled in the dwelling house: from cross-contamination, lack of cleanliness and holding meat at unsafe temps. Internal temperature should exist the least of your worries. Nonetheless, we should emphasize that extra caution must be exercised when cooking for at-hazard groups, particularly the elderly, children under 7 and the immuno-compromised. In such cases, we propose the USDA guidelines be strictly followed.