Do you know how to tell if your meat is done cooking? You can’t always tell by looking, and different meats have different recommended internal temperatures.
This post contains referral links. This post was sponsored by Indiana’s Family of Farmers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Use a Meat Thermometer
Cooking meats fully is the best way to avoid food poisoning like Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Yersinia.
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The best way to know if your meat has been fully cooked is to use a meat thermometer. Chicken can be particularly tricky to get right. You can find some great tips on how to use a meat thermometer in this article.
When did you get your meat thermometer? Have you ever checked to make sure it is right? It’s a good idea to check your thermometer’s accuracy once a year – and fix it if you need to!
Recommended Internal Temperatures
As you can see from the chart above, different meats have different cooking temperatures. These temperatures are the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommended minimum internal temperatures. These temperatures are the minimum temperatures you should cook meats to in order to ensure food safety.
If you were to cook a steak to 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), it would be very over-cooked. But if you were to only cook a chicken breast to 145 degrees F (63 degrees F), it would most definitely be under-cooked. So learn these temperatures, and use your thermometer!
More Information
Get the scoop on ground beef, pork, turkey, and chicken here.
Wondering about steaks and pork chops? All the details are right here.
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Free Printable for Is It Done Yet?
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