A good read regarding safe chicken temps

minniemoh

I'm sure many of the Thermapen owners here already got this via their email blasts but I thought I would share this for the rest of the egghead crowd. Seems like questions about this come up every few weeks. 

http://blog2.thermoworks.com/2012/02/bloody_chicken/?utm_source=Nl-2016Sep17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=PorterhouseSteakBlogPost&utm_content=inbox&utm_campaign=Sep2016-Cooked-Chicken-cs

Photo Egg

Was a great read...

SemolinaPilchard

Good article. That is the reason that chicken in restaurants are usually very dried out. 

Wardster

So the bird can be eaten at 155* if it's held that temp for 60 seconds.  I tend to pull it around there anyway.  That was a good read and I had just deleted it in my email without looking.  Thanks min

Carolina Q

These statements seem contradictory...

"...a final cooked temperature of 155°F (68°C) in chicken will only need to stay at that temperature for just under 60 seconds in order for the meat to be safe."

"The leg pictured to the right was cooked to the recommended range of 170-175°F (77-79°C) (as verified with a Thermapen®Mk4). Leg meat needs to be cooked to higher temperatures than the leaner and more delicate breast meat because it contains more connective tissue that needs time at high temps to dissolve properly."

"A probe inserted into the thermal center of a chicken breast, leg, or thigh should read 165°F (74°C) when it’s time to eat."

RedSkip

155 F for 60 seconds OR 165 F for an instant.

175 F is to break down the collagen and has nothing to do with bacteria.

Dobie

RedSkip said:

155 F for 60 seconds OR 165 F for an instant.

175 F is to break down the collagen and has nothing to do with bacteria.

This ^^^^^
The bacteria dies at different rates over time depending on temp.
I pull mine in the mid 150's in the breast and let stand 5 minutes.   

CTMike

Regardless of what the article says, I need my chicken to have no pink and clear juices. Maybe it's conditioning, but I treat my chicken like hamburger, no pink. 

gdenby

CTMike said:

Regardless of what the article says, I need my chicken to have no pink and clear juices. Maybe it's conditioning, but I treat my chicken like hamburger, no pink. 

After I started SV-ing meats, I tried standard store bought chix cooked still pink, but long enough that there was certainly no poisoning hazard. Didn't mind the pink, but the texture was most unpleasant. Breast meat was gooey?-slimy? just not nice. So 155 is my base line.

minniemoh

The point in the article about cooking dark meat to a higher temp definitely rings true in our house. We typically will take thighs and drumsticks to 185-190 so the meat pulls nicely from the bone - it still stays moist at that temp too. I don't care for the rubber texture of dark meat at 165-175 range.

lkapigian

By Fresh Proteins --who knows how long Grocery Store Proteins have hovered in the 40-140 range being warmed re cooled frozen etc...Bad food really starts there..Heck, some of the best proteins I have eaten are raw

Little Steven

Carolina Q said:

These statements seem contradictory...

"...a final cooked temperature of 155°F (68°C) in chicken will only need to stay at that temperature for just under 60 seconds in order for the meat to be safe."

"The leg pictured to the right was cooked to the recommended range of 170-175°F (77-79°C) (as verified with a Thermapen®Mk4). Leg meat needs to be cooked to higher temperatures than the leaner and more delicate breast meat because it contains more connective tissue that needs time at high temps to dissolve properly."

"A probe inserted into the thermal center of a chicken breast, leg, or thigh should read 165°F (74°C) when it’s time to eat."

That's why I cook them upside down

bboulier

Very interesting.   Thanks for the link.

GATraveller

Interesting. Gracias.