Where to Check Chicken Temperature for Food Safety and Optimal Doneness
Cooking chicken properly is crucial for food safety, but also affects the taste and texture of the final product. Undercooked chicken can contain harmful bacteria while overcooked chicken is dry and rubbery. The key is checking the internal temperature at the right location using a reliable food thermometer. This ensures the chicken reaches the recommended safe minimum temperature to destroy any pathogens without overcooking.
Why Checking Temperature Is Important
Visual cues like color and texture are not reliable ways to determine if chicken is fully cooked. The only way to know for sure is by taking its internal temperature. Chicken can appear cooked on the outside but still be underdone on the inside. Undercooked chicken is unsafe because it can contain bacteria like Salmonella and Campylobacter that cause foodborne illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates over 1 million cases of salmonellosis occur annually in the U.S. Proper cooking destroys these pathogens, but you need an accurate temperature reading to verify safety.
Additionally, chicken tastes best and remains juicy when cooked to the right internal temperature – not over or under. Using a food thermometer helps prevent overdrying while ensuring safety. Relying on cook times alone isn’t always accurate either since factors like thickness and starting temperature affect total cook time. Checking temperature eliminates the guesswork for perfectly cooked chicken every time.
Recommended Minimum Safe Temperature
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that chicken is safe to eat once it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). At this instantaneous temperature, any potential bacteria are destroyed. However, holding chicken at lower temperatures for longer periods of time can also achieve a safe 7-log10 lethality reduction.
For example, chicken held at just 145°F (63°C) needs to be sustained for around 10 minutes to be considered safe to eat. But the longer timeframe required means it’s easier to just cook chicken to 165°F to quickly destroy pathogens.
Where to Check Temperature
For whole chickens and pieces like breasts, thighs, drumsticks, or wings, check temperature by inserting the thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat, away from any bones. The thigh is usually the last part to finish cooking on a whole bird.
For ground chicken, burgers, meatballs, or meatloaf, check temperature by inserting the probe into several spots to verify even cooking throughout.
It’s important to reach the minimum safe internal temperature of 165°F at all locations on the chicken to ensure safety. If taking multiple readings, the lowest temperature is the one that matters. Continue cooking until 165°F is achieved in all checked areas before removing chicken from the heat source.
Proper Thermometer Placement
To get an accurate reading, make sure to insert the probe of a digital instant read thermometer deep into the center of the chicken, at least .5 to 1 inch. Don’t let it touch any bones, which can provide a false high reading.
For thin cuts like chicken breasts or patties under 1 inch thick, angling the thermometer to push the probe through the side allows it to reach the center while minimizing surface area penetrated.
Leave the probe tip in place for 15-20 seconds before reading the final temperature. Thermometer probes show an increasing temp while heating up to match the internal meat temp.
For whole roasting chickens, turkey, or large cuts, use a probe thermometer with a wire lead that allows the probe to stay inserted in the meat while it cooks in the oven. The base unit displays the rising internal temp and sounds an alarm at the target temperature so you don’t have to continually open the oven to check.
Proper Handling
Always wash hands, utensils, and surfaces after handling raw chicken to avoid cross contamination with pathogens. Chicken should be cooked to safe internal temps promptly after purchasing or thawing. Store raw chicken below 40°F until ready to cook.
After cooking, leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours. Reheat cooked chicken to 165°F before serving again. When reheating chicken in the microwave, rotate and stir periodically to distribute heat evenly and ensure no cold spots. Verify it reaches 165°F in all areas.
Doneness Cues Beyond Temperature
While temperature is the only way to confirm safety, properly cooked chicken exhibits some additional visible signs. The juices should run clear rather than pink when pricked with a fork. The meat near bones may still show a pinkish tinge, but should not be translucent or jelly-like. Well-done chicken breast meat will be opaque and white throughout, without any bright pink coloration. The surface of properly roasted whole chickens will be deeply golden brown.
Get It Right Every Time
The bottom line is the safest, most foolproof way to ensure chicken reaches the ideal finished temperature for both safety and optimal texture is by using a high-quality digital food thermometer. Avoid overcooking or eating undercooked chicken by verifying the minimum safe internal temperature of 165°F in the deepest part of the meat. With the right thermometer and technique, you’ll cook chicken perfectly every time.
Is 165°F for Chicken Necessary? Bacterial Death Depends on Temperature and Time
Ok, so most people know about 165°F (74°C), but what most people don’t know is that food safety (bacterial die-off) is a function of both temperature and time. You can achieve the exact same bacterial death by holding your chicken at lower temperatures for longer times with the exact same assurance of safety.
The USDA provides guidelines for industry on food safety and uses pasteurization tables to indicate how long it takes to kill enough bacteria at a given temperature. Below you can see one such table for medium-lean chicken.
➡Advanced thermal thinking: carryover cooking in chicken
If you’re concerned about holding it at 157°F (69.4°C) for 31 seconds, you certainly needn’t be: carryover cooking will make sure your meat is safe!
Most people don’t realize that when you take a chicken breast off of the heat, the residual heat in the outermost layers will cause the internal temp of chicken to keep rising, moving toward a temperature equilibrium in the whole piece.
This is advanced thermal thinking because it requires more judgment—it entails a dynamic target with two variables: the temperature of the cooking environment and the mass of the meat being cooked.
Meat cooked in a hotter environment will have more carryover because there will be more thermal energy in the outer layers that will be pumped into the center. Hotter cooking means more carryover cooking: chicken cooked in a smoker at 250°F (121°C) will have much less carryover than a spatchcocked chicken roasted at 425°F (218°C).
A large piece of chicken, say a whole bird, will have a lot more thermal mass that can move heat into the center, meaning the internal temperature for whole chicken will rise more than on a small piece. A breast experiences less carryover than a whole bird does, and a wing even less.
What that means for you is that you might set an even lower doneness temperature on your ChefAlarm when you roast a whole chicken than you would if you were just baking some breasts. As you get used to monitoring temperatures, you will gain a sense for how carryover works in various situations and be able to set your alarms better to get exactly the results you want.
How To Check A Roasted Chicken’s Temperature
FAQ
Is chicken done at 165 or 180?
How to check body temperature of chicken?
Also measuring deep body temperature by inserting a thermometer in the cloaca will give an accurate reading.
Can I pull chicken at 145?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) instructs us to cook meat to a safe internal temperature: namely, 165 degrees for poultry and 145 for beef and pork.
Where to check the temperature of a whole chicken?
The general rule on where to check the temperature of a whole chicken is to insert it into the thickest part of the meat, specifically the breast area. A whole chicken is made up of several parts and each of these parts varies in the amount of time they take to cook.
What temperature should chicken be cooked to?
Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C) to ensure food safety. This temperature ensures that any harmful bacteria present in the chicken are killed, making it safe to eat. Now that we’ve established the importance of temperature control, let’s dive into where to check the temperature of chicken.
How do you know if Chicken is cooked properly?
To ensure chicken is properly cooked, the best practice is to use a food thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken, away from bone, as this is where the meat takes longest to cook. This method gives you an accurate reading of whether the chicken has reached the safe internal temperature of 165°F.
How do you know if Chicken is cooked without a thermometer?
To determine if chicken is done without a thermometer, you can check its color and texture. Fully cooked chicken should be white throughout and juices should run clear when you cut into it. If you see any pink color or bloody juices, the chicken likely needs more cooking time. Another method is the ‘poke test.’
How do you read a chicken thermometer?
Stab your thermometer about 2 in (5.1 cm) into the chicken, making sure that the end of the thermometer stays near the middle of the piece and isn’t touching fat or bone. Wait about 30 seconds, or until your thermometer reading becomes steady, to get an accurate temperature reading.
Why do you need a food thermometer to cook chicken?
Cooking chicken to this temperature not only ensures safety but also helps achieve optimal taste and texture. To accurately check the internal temperature, it’s important to use a food thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken, avoiding bones, which can give false readings.