{"id":577,"date":"2021-09-28T10:18:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T10:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookingenie.com\/content\/?p=577"},"modified":"2021-09-28T10:18:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T10:18:28","slug":"complete-guide-cooking-meat-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.cookingenie.com\/content\/blog\/complete-guide-cooking-meat-safely\/","title":{"rendered":"A Complete Guide to Cooking Meat Safely"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many foods that can cause illness<\/u><\/a><\/em> when handled incorrectly, but one of the most common instances of serious foodborne illness comes from the undercooking or mishandling of meat. Raw meat is often full of fecal matter from the animal, which can contain a host of bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens. Because of this, it is crucial to handle raw meat carefully and cook it to a safe temperature to kill as many pathogens as possible. If not, an undercooked piece of meat can easily get someone sick.<\/p>\n

While this may sound simple, there are some intricacies to cooking meat safely, and not all meats are safe to eat at the same temperature. Here are some of the key things to remember when cooking meat and how some of the most popular meats need to be cooked in order to be safe to serve.<\/p>\n

Keep raw meats separate from other foods\u2014including other meats<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s common sense that the juices from raw meat should stay away from fresh produce but it\u2019s also good practice to keep raw meat away from other raw meat. As you\u2019ll see with the minimum required internal temperatures, not all meats are safe at the same time. Chicken, for example, needs to be cooked more than steak. So, if you get the juices from raw chicken over your steak, the steak may be cooked all the way through, but the residual juice from the chicken may not be.<\/p>\n

Also be sure to use separate cutting boards and utensils for different kinds of meat, wash your hands after handling raw meat, and disinfect any surfaces the meat may have come into contact with.<\/p>\n

Minimum required internal temperatures<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Poultry, like chicken and turkey requires the most cooking, while pork, beef, lamb, and seafood requires less. Note that ground meat of any kind requires more cooking than a whole piece of the same meat. This is because ground meat, with an increased surface area and the potential to come from more than one individual animal, has more exposure to bacteria. To take the temperature of a protein, insert a clean, sanitized thermometer into the thickest <\/em>part of the meat and wait for the thermometer to read a temperature. For many meats, the meat needs to hold that temperature for a given period of time before it\u2019s considered safe.<\/p>\n

Also note that after you remove your meat from the heat, it will continue to cook for several more minutes in a process known as carry-over cooking<\/em>, which will raise the internal temperature 5-10\u2070F, so if your meat is a couple degrees under the minimum required internal temperature when you measure it, it\u2019ll be safe to serve by the time you eat it.<\/p>\n

The following are the minimum required internal temperatures for different proteins.<\/p>\n

Poultry\u2014Including whole or ground chicken, turkey, or duck: 165\u2070F for at least 15 seconds<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This also includes any stuffing inside of a bird (think thanksgiving) as well as any casseroles, stuffed pastas, or stuffed chicken breasts. When temping whole birds, make sure to insert the thermometer underneath the thigh, which is the thickest part of the bird.<\/p>\n

Ground meat\u2014Including beef, pork, lamb, veal, and ground seafood: 155<\/strong>\u2070F for 15 seconds<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Note that a medium burger is 140-145\u2070F, and a well-done burger is 160\u2070F.Eating a burger less than well-done could increase your chances of getting sick, which is why restaurants have the note at the bottom of their menus denoting the increased risk of foodborne illness from consuming undercooked meat.<\/p>\n

Injected meat\/brined meat\u2014Including brined hams and roasts injected with flavor: 155\u2070F for 15 seconds<\/h4>\n

Eggs that are meant to be held hot: 155<\/strong>\u2070F for 15 seconds <\/strong><\/h6>\n
Eggs that are to be served immediately: 145<\/strong>\u2070F for 15 seconds <\/strong><\/h6>\n

Chops\/steaks of red meat\u2014Including beef, lamb, veal, and pork: 145<\/strong>\u2070F for 15 seconds <\/strong><\/h4>\n

All of these meats will be a little pink at this temperature, but they\u2019re safe to eat. A medium-rare steak is between 130-135\u2070F, so there is a higher risk associated with eating steak under medium.<\/p>\n

Whole roasts of pork, beef, veal, or lamb: 155<\/strong>\u2070 for 4 minutes <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Make sure to insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the roast. Because roasts are much bigger, the temperature needs to hold much longer to ensure it\u2019s cooked through.<\/p>\n

Whole seafood\u2014Including whitefish, shellfish, and crustaceans: 145<\/strong>\u2070F for 15 seconds<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This applies to whole pieces of fish and shellfish\/crustaceans such as shrimp, crab, and lobster. With bivalves such as mussels or clams, there is no need to measure temperature, they are safe when the shells open.<\/p>\n

The bottom line <\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, cooking meat to safe temperatures is a very simple, but very important task in the kitchen. Having a digital thermometer makes everything easier. If you\u2019re unsure of how the meat needs to be cooked, it\u2019s always better to err on the side of caution and slightly overcook a piece of meat than to get someone sick. When you book a chef from CookinGenie<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, you can trust that they\u2019ll cook your meat so that it\u2019s not only safe to eat, but also delicious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many foods that can cause illness when handled incorrectly, but one of the most common instances of serious foodborne illness comes from the undercooking or mishandling of meat. Raw meat is often full of fecal matter from the animal, which can contain a host of bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens. Because of this, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14,74],"class_list":["post-577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-food-safety","tag-meat-safety"],"yoast_head":"\nA Complete Guide to Cooking Meat Safely - CookinGenie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While this may sound simple, there are some intricacies to cooking meat safely, Here are some of the key things to remember when cooking meat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Complete Guide to Cooking Meat Safely - CookinGenie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While this may sound simple, there are some intricacies to cooking meat safely, Here are some of the key things to remember when cooking meat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.cookingenie.com\/content\/blog\/complete-guide-cooking-meat-safely\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CookinGenie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T10:18:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Complete Guide to Cooking Meat Safely - 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