On May 24, USDA made some important changes in their recommended cooking temperatures for meats. Here’s what you need to know:
Cooking Whole Cuts of Pork: USDA has lowered the recommended safe cooking temperature for whole cuts of pork from 160 ºF to 145 ºF with the addition of a three-minute rest time. Cook pork, roasts, and chops to 145 ºF as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source, with a three-minute rest time before carving or consuming. This will result in a product that is both safe and at its best quality—juicy and tender.
Cooking Whole Cuts of Other Meats: For beef, veal, and lamb cuts, the safe temperature remains unchanged at 145 ºF, but the department has added a three-minute rest time as part of its cooking recommendations.
Ground Meats: This change does not apply to ground meats, including beef, veal, lamb, and pork, which should be cooked to 160 ºF and do not require a rest time.
Poultry: The safe cooking temperature for all poultry products, including ground chicken and turkey, stays the same at 165 ºF.
What Is Rest Time?
“Rest time” is the amount of time the product remains at the final temperature, after it has been removed from a grill, oven or other heat source. During the three minutes after meat is removed the heat source, its temperature remains constant or continues to rise, which destroys harmful bacteria.
It’s just as safe to cook cuts of pork to 145 º F with a three-minute rest time as it is to cook them to 160 ºF, the previously recommended temperature, with no rest time. The new cooking recommendations reflect the same standards that the agency uses for cooked meat products produced in federally inspected meat establishments, which rely on the rest time of three minutes to achieve a safe product.
Having a single time and temperature combination for all meat will help consumers remember the temperature at which they can be sure the meat is safe to eat.
How Do You Use a Food Thermometer?
Place the food thermometer in the thickest part of the food. It should not touch bone, fat, or gristle. Start checking the temperature toward the end of cooking, but before you expect it to be done. Be sure to clean your food thermometer with hot soapy water before and after each use.
Note: There are three important temperatures to remember when cooking meat or eggs at home: Eggs and all ground meats must be cooked to 160°F; poultry and fowl to 165°F; and fresh meat steaks, chops and roasts to 145°F. Use a thermometer to check temperatures.
Safe internal cooking temperatures vary depending on the type of meat but are commonly around 145°F (65°C) for whole meats and 160–165°F (70–75°C) for ground meats. This includes traditional meats like chicken and beef, as well as wild game.
Take your food off the heat and insert a clean thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat or poultry. It is fully cooked when the temperature reaches 75ºC. The thickest part of the meat is usually the centre (for example, of a burger or sausage).
Cook raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before cutting or consuming.
Cook beef, pork, veal, and lamb roasts, steaks, and chops to at least 145° F (63° C), with a 3 minute rest time. Cook ground beef, veal, lamb, and pork to at least 160° F (71° C). Cook ground poultry to 165° F (74° C). Cook all poultry to minimal safe internal temperature of 165° F (74° C).
Milk Receive at 45°F (7°C) or lower. Cool the milk to 41°F (5°C) or lower in four hours. Shell eggs Receive at an air temperature of 45°F (7°C) or lower. Hot food Receive hot TCS food at 135°F (57°C) or higher.
It's best not to use running water to avoid spreading germs around. For beef, venison and lamb steaks and joints cooked rare, all parts of the outside of the meat should be seared. All other meat products should be cooked until piping hot throughout, with no pink colour in the centre.
We all want to prepare food that is safe to eat. But once we determine meat is cooked to a safe temperature we must continue to monitor doneness to ensure eating quality. A properly calibrated meat thermometer is the only reliable way to measure internal temperature and ensure both food safety and quality.
Using a food thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure safety and to determine desired "doneness" of meat, poultry, and egg products. To be safe, these foods must be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy any harmful microorganisms that may be in the food.
For safety, the USDA recommends cooking hamburgers and ground beef mixtures such as meat loaf to 160°F (71.1°C) as measured with a food thermometer. Cook all organ and variety meats (such as heart, kidney, liver and tongue) to 160°F (71.1°C).
The temperature range in which disease causing bacteria grow best in TCS food is called the temperature danger zone. The temperature danger zone is between 41°F and 135°F. TCS food must pass through the temperature danger zone as quickly as possible.
By law, raw meat must be kept frozen at a minimum of -18℃ in order to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and protect consumers from illness. This is just a minimum; anything warmer than this and the meat would not be safe to sell.
The USDA recommends that chicken and poultry be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 F for at least 30 seconds.2 However, due to carry over cooking, if you pull the chicken breast once it reaches an internal temperature of approximately 162 F, the chicken will retain heat and continue to rise in temperature ...
Steaks should always be cooked on high temperatures to sear the outside and trap the juices and flavor inside. Steaks should almost always be cooked on a grill or in a pan on high heat: all cooking guidelines below are for one-inch thick steaks. Rest your steak for five minutes under aluminum foil before eating.
The lower the heat and the longer you cook your meat the more beneficial it is for the meat's interior. You are retaining more juices, more flavour and more of its weight (hence less shrinkage) compared to cooking it on a higher heat.
This range of temperatures is often called the "Danger Zone." That's why the Meat and Poultry Hotline advises consumers to never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90 °F, food should not be left out more than 1 hour.
Introduction: My name is Trent Wehner, I am a talented, brainy, zealous, light, funny, gleaming, attractive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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