Meat Cooking Temperatures

This isn't the most difficult lesson in the ServSafe book, but it's the hardest one you actually have to know in the real world.  (The four pages of specific foodborne illnesses, causes, symptoms, and sources is way harder to remember and only really matters if you're a healthcare professional.)  It's the only page in the textbook that I have bookmarked.

What may surprise you is that you don't have to cook a turkey to 185º.  Please, for the love of the bird, don't cook it to 185º.  That's the Butterball people covering their butts.  And you'll see that there is a length of time attached to each temperature.  So, if a roast or bird is going to rest and continue to cook, you can pull it even earlier.  I think I'm posting this not so you'll cook meats long enough, but so that they will not end up overcooked.

• Poultry (whole and ground): 165º for 15 seconds
• Stuffing or stuffed meat (including fish): 165º for 15 seconds
• Soups and casseroles: 165º for 15 seconds
• Ground mammal or fish: 155º for 15 seconds, 150º for 1 minute, or 145º for 3 minutes
• Injected or brined meats: 155º for 15 seconds
• Mammal steaks: 145º for 15 seconds
• Mammal roasts: 145º for 4 minutes
• Fish fillets or steaks: 145º for 15 seconds
• Any meat cooked from raw in the microwave: 165º, and allow to rest for 2 minutes before serving

What these numbers also bring to light is the need for an accurate food thermometer in every kitchen.  You can get a digital one for $10 at Target that will last at least two years unless you drop it in the dish water or give it to one of my co-workers.  Really cool infrared ones that never touch the food will run you considerably higher.  If you don't mind calibrating a thermometer, your basic bi-metallic is the least expensive way to go, and they last the longest.

Think of the temperature list as an excuse to get a new kitchen gadget.