Cooking Chicken Internal Temperature

Cooking chicken correctly eliminates nasty illness causing bacteria such as Salmonella and Listeria. Therefore ensuring that your chicken has reached the correct temperature to eliminate any remnants of these bacteria is crucial.

The old fashioned way of judging what temperature should chicken be cooked at is to probe the thickest section of the meat usually around the thigh or breast area and observe the resulting flowing juices. If they are clear to view and translucent the chicken is done, if they are slightly pink or worse still, red then further cooking is required.

Nowadays though with the onset of technology touching the confines of our kitchens most cooks have the use of a meat thermometer. These inexpensive heat sensing kitchen gadgets serve to inform you with a degree of accuracy, the internal temperature of any meat you wish to insert the probe into. Therefore the most reliable method of checking whether or not your chicken is cooked correctly is to use a meat thermometer.

Using a meat probe is very straight forward indeed however one point to remember is to ensure that when probing meat for the temperature you do avoid the bones of the cut (if it is a bone in cut). The temperature reading can be inflated due to the heat conductance of bones which results in a false reading. Thankfully, the probes are designed as such that it is very easy to insert (they have a very sharp tip) and therefore are easy to avoid hitting any bones.

You can get the Silicone Meat Thermometer 2″ Dial one I use, it is cheap and can be inserted into the meat at the start of cooking and left, saving you from having to reinsert the probe! withstands temperatures of over 500°F.

Your chicken cooking temperature and times are to roast your chicken to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Cooking times are 20 minutes per lb (450 g) adding an additional 10 to 20 minutes at the end of the cooking time. As mentioned above, probe the chicken into the thigh area avoiding the bones and deep into the breast area. Also worthy to note that your chicken will continue to cook even after you have removed it from the oven or grill meaning you can even remove the meat from the heat source a few degrees below the desired temperature. Leave the meat probe in the carcass and keep an eye on the temperature to ensure it reaches its target. Enjoy your cooking.