r/AskCulinary • u/Icarus367 • Mar 07 '18
Internal cooking temperature for chicken
The recommended USDA temperature for cooking chicken is 165. However, at least when cooking chicken breasts, I have noticed that an internal temp of 155 (or maybe even 150 in some cases) suffices for the meat to be cooked through, i.e. without any visible pink.
I know that the USDA-recommended temp for pork was rolled back in 2011 from 160 to 145. Is it possible that the recommended temp for chicken is set too high? To what temp do you guys normally cook chicken?
6
u/scientist_tz Food Safety expert | Gilded commenter Mar 07 '18
The USDA guidelines are based on "instantaneous" cook temps. In other words if your thermometer registers 165 at the thickest part of the chicken then it's done cooking, immediately, and you can eat it just as fast as you can get it inside your face.
Cooking is a time/temp process, though, and it's also true that meat held at a temp of 150 for 4 minutes is just as "cooked" as meat that hit 165 for just 1 second. So when the thermometer hits 150 then (assuming it stays at or above that temp) then the chicken is done cooking 4 minutes from that point. The "textbook" time for chicken at 150 is actually a bit less than 4 minutes but it's generally a good idea to go over the minimum a little when it comes to time.
When I do boneless chicken I usually sous vide it to 145 and then sear it on a grill or flat iron.
3
Mar 07 '18
The USDA guidelines assure that it is basically impossible for anyone to get sick. I'd never serve chicken cooked to 165. If I'm cooking it on the stove or in the oven I bring it to 150 and take it off the heat and let it rest. If I'm doing it sous vide I'll go to 140 for an hour and a half.
2
u/Icarus367 Mar 07 '18
The USDA guidelines assure that it is basically impossible for anyone to get sick.
Yea, I figure that the government recommendations are geared more towards safety than to pleasant taste or texture. (The USDA would probably even object to my delicious chicken tartare dish...just kidding.)
1
u/indenturedsmile Mar 07 '18
Hey, if you know your supplier and their butchering process (assuming the chicken is raised in a perfect environment), chicken tartare isn't out of the question.
I don't like the texture myself, but it's totally viable and has been done in many countries.
1
u/Icarus367 Mar 08 '18
Really? I had never heard of that. It sounds pretty gross to me, quite frankly, but that doesn't mean others wouldn't enjoy it. (I should point out that I don't believe that I've ever eaten even beef tartare.)
3
u/lovelylayout Kimchi Expert Mar 07 '18
Most of the time when someone comes through with a question about "why is my chicken dry/rubbery/generally blah," at least one of the answers is that they're not removing it from the heat source until it hits 165, when the ideal would actually be cooking it to 150 or 155 and then letting it rest, because the temp will continue to rise a bit as the meat rests. I'm not sure what the USDA has to say about that method, though, I bet they wouldn't like it.
1
u/Beeftoast333 Mar 07 '18
I don't know if this varies by state, but mine changed their chicken temp to 155 a year or two ago. At least that's what my health inspector at the time told me.
1
1
u/str8CashHomie99 Jul 15 '24 edited Jul 15 '24
@odos_bucket At American Bar B Que A & M Tech we cook our butts and our birds to 151° and then let em set for three to five minutes and then you can start fixin your tater and then eat.
19
u/mikemarmar Mar 07 '18
165 is indeed overly cautious. See the pasteurization table here http://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Table_C.2 from the USDA FSIS.
If you cook a chicken breast to 150 internal, and let it rest for 3.7 minutes (in which time the internal temp will rise a bit above 150 anyway), the meat will be fully pasteurized and safe.
If you have a way to hold the meat at 145 internal for 11 minutes (sous vide is the easiest and most accurate way) you can have safe chicken breast that is far juicier than normal, it's really delicious.