Safe Internal Cooking Temperatures for Meat, Poultry and Fish
The internal temperatures that tell you chicken, pork, beef, fish and ground meat are cooked safely, and when to pull them early for juicier results.
- Fish and seafood145°F / 63°C
Many cooks pull salmon at 125°F for a moist center
- Pork chops, tenderloin, whole cuts of beef145°F / 63°C
Then rest 3 minutes
- Ground beef, pork and sausage160°F / 71°C
No resting shortcut for ground meat
- Chicken and turkey (all cuts)165°F / 74°C
Thighs are most tender at 175°F
Color and cooking time are unreliable ways to tell whether meat is done. Pink chicken can be fully cooked and grey pork can still be underdone. The only reliable test is temperature, measured in the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer.
The temperatures below follow USDA guidance. Meat keeps cooking for a few minutes after it leaves the heat, which is called carryover cooking, so for the juiciest results you can take larger pieces off the heat a few degrees early and let the rest bring them up to temperature.
How to do it
Use an instant-read thermometer
A digital probe gives a reading in 2 to 3 seconds. Dial thermometers are slower and less accurate in thin pieces.
Measure the thickest part
Push the probe into the center of the thickest part, avoiding bone, which reads hotter than the meat around it.
Check more than one piece
On a full pan, check the largest piece; pieces near the edges of the pan cook faster than those in the middle.
Rest before serving
Rest whole cuts for 3 to 5 minutes. The temperature rises a few degrees and the juices settle back into the meat.
Common mistakes
- Cutting into meat to check it lets juices run out; use a thermometer instead.
- Testing too close to the bone gives a falsely high reading.
- Following time alone: ovens, pans and piece sizes vary too much.
