When cooking meat it’s important to check that it is cooked thoroughly to protect yourself and others from food poisoning. Meat products that are minced or skewered along with poultry and pork products must always be cooked through to the centre. These meats include turkey, chicken, burgers, sausages and kebabs.
Use a meat thermometer to check that such meat is cooked to 75ºC. Cooking meat properly kills the bacteria that cause food poisoning.
How to use a meat thermometer
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 thetemperaturereaches 75ºC.
The thickest part of the meatis usually the centre (for example,of a burger or sausage). Ina whole chicken or turkey, the thickest part is between the breast and the leg.
You can use a digital or dial meat thermometer.
Always make sure you wash the meat thermometerthoroughly afterwards.
What if I don’t have a meat thermometer?
If you don’t have a meat thermometer, there are three visual checks that must done.Pierce the thickest part of the meat with a fork or skewer and check that:
The juices run clear
It is piping hot all the way through (it should be steaming)
When you pierce the thickest part of the meat with a fork or skewer, the juices should run clear. For a whole chicken or other bird, the thickest part is the leg between the drumstick and the breast. Cut the meat open with a clean knife to check it is piping hot all the way through – it should be steaming.
Always use a food thermometer to check whether meat has reached a safe minimum internal temperature that is hot enough to kill harmful germs that cause food poisoning. Some meats also need rest time after cooking.
Using a food thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure safety and to determine the doneness of meat, poultry, and egg products. To be safe, these foods must be cooked to an internal temperature high enough to destroy any harmful microorganisms that may be in the food.
“Insert the probe tip into the thickest middle part of the food, avoiding bones and fat,” recommends Lalor. “Inserting the probe into a cold spot or hot spot can result in improperly cooked food.”
Look: Red meat should be bright red — that's when it's at its freshest. If it turns purple or brown-ish, it is probably still safe to eat, but it has been exposed to some oxygen. ...
Touch: Press the meat firmly with your finger. ...
Smell: Smell the meat to make sure it doesn't have a strong odour.
When establishing your cooking times, it will be necessary to check for doneness. The most reliable method is to use a clean, accurate meat thermometer. Insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat, but not touching fat, gristle, or bone.
Because doneness and safety cannot be judged by color, it is very important to use a food thermometer when cooking ground beef. To be sure all harmful bacteria are destroyed, cook all ground beef products to an internal temperature of 160 °F throughout. Ground beef can be pink inside after it is safely cooked.
The color of cooked ground beef can be quite variable. At 160 degrees F, a safely cooked patty may look brown, pink or some variation of brown or pink. When a patty is cooked to 160 degrees F throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.
The USDA recommends bringing all red meat to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit before consumption because most bacteria will be eliminated by this point. In raw meat, though, these bacteria may still be present and could even have spread and multiplied.
Appearance: Red meat cooked to a medium state will have a nice brown crust and the interior will be slightly brown to light pink toward the center. Although the center is pink, it should not be as bright red or rosy as rare cooked meat.
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