Make sure to thoroughly cook the chicken when roasting a whole chicken, baking chicken thighs in the oven, or preparing the crispiest, juiciest fried chicken for Sunday dinner to protect guests from foodborne illnesses. When the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F, it is safe to eat and ready for the dinner table.
Where To Probe a Whole Chicken
Prior to taking the internal temperature, stay away from touching any bone. All meat cuts, including ribs, pork butt, and pork shoulder, fall under this category. It can be simple to unintentionally brush up against bone because a whole chicken includes its entire skeleton.
Bone conducts heat differently than flesh. This means that taking the temperature from a bone-dense area will result in an inaccurate reading, especially if you are touching the bone itself.
If you take the temperature in a large pocket of fat, the same rules still hold true. Although it’s not as dangerous with chicken as it is with cuts like beef brisket and pork butt, it’s still important to be aware of.
The best place to probe a whole chicken is the thickest portion of the breast. To find it, use your fingers to measure about three-quarters along the breast, toward the drumstick. Stick the probe in about 1-1/2 to 2 inches deep and wait for the numbers to stop moving.
When the thermometer reads 165 degrees on the breast, place it in the thickest part of the thigh. The bird is prepared to be removed from the smoker if it reads 180 degrees.
A Chart of Minimum Internal Temperatures for Beef, Poultry, and Other Meats Body
Here are some tips for using a meat thermometer to make sure the safe minimum internal temperature of meat is reached, taking the guesswork out of cooking. In this manner, you can determine when something is ready, at its best flavor, and also safe to eat.
At certain temperatures, meat and poultry are cooked and juicy, but if they are cooked for a long time, they become dry and tough. It has been customary to visually inspect the interior color of the meat as it cooks to determine when a bird is finished roasting; the redder the color, the rarer the meat. But this involves guesswork, which is neither accurate nor safe!.
Instead, it’s recommended that you use a meat thermometer to guage when your pork roast, chicken breast, or other cut of meat is truly ready to be served. According to the USDA, different meats must reach different temperatures to be considered safe. (Consult the chart below for minimum internal temperatures.)
How to Use a Meat Thermometer in a Large Piece of Meat
Use a meat thermometer whenever you’re cooking a sizable piece of meat, such as an entire chicken or turkey, a roast, or a large ham. Do not touch any bones with the thermometer; instead, place it in the thickest part of the meat. You won’t get an accurate reading because bone warms up more quickly than meat.
You can insert it before you start cooking if you have an oven-safe thermometer like this one (I like the thermometer but disagree with the cooking temperatures printed on it – print a cheat sheet here). This method is my favorite because you can easily check the temperature without repeatedly poking holes in the meat and you know the thermometer is in the right place.
If you have a probe thermometer, that’s even better way. Insert the thermometer before you start cooking, set the monitor on your counter, and just check out the display. I set the alarm on mine so I know when the meat reaches the right temperature.
You will need to check the meat several times to ensure that it is fully cooked if you don’t have an oven-safe thermometer. Simply remove the meat from the oven, place the thermometer in the thickest part, and then take the temperature once it has settled. Put the meat back in the oven if it isn’t quite done and check on it later. The most time-consuming method, which also runs the risk of slightly drying out the meat, is this one.
FAQ
How do you put a thermometer in a chicken breast?
Various safe cooking temperatures for poultry are listed in current federal recommendations, including 180°F for whole chickens and 170°F for breasts. The key temperature for safety, according to the USDA, is 165°F.
Is chicken done at 165 or 180?
Insert the thermometer into the inner thigh area of whole poultry (turkey or chicken), close to the breast but not touching bone. Put the thermometer into the thickest part of any ground meat (such as meat loaf).
Where is the thermometer on a chicken?
Place the thermometer in the thickest part of the food. Allow the thermometer to remain in the meat for approximately 10 seconds for the temperature to be recorded. (Remove the thermometer from the food after checking the temperature).
