Introduction
I swear I look up the minimum temperatures for meat and fish all the time. So I wanted to compile them all here mainly for myself, but also if anyone else needs a guide of what temperature to cook each piece of meat to.
List
Beef
Chicken
Pork
Salmon
Shrimp
Tilapia
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Turkey
Note about Temperature and Time
The temperatures given above are the minimum internal temeratures of certain meats to be considered safe to consume. However, the killing of bacteria is a function of not just temperature, but also time.
The USDA's guidelines use what's called a 7-log10 curve. If a piece of chicken were to start with 10,000,000 salmonella bacteria when raw, it's considered save to eat when only 1 is remaining. This is the purpose of the 7-log10 curve; there is a 1/107 chance that salmonella would be left on the cooked piece of meat.
In order to reach this safety margin, you have to cook your chicken to a specific temperature for a specific time. The below table outlines the time it takes for 99.99999% of bacteria to be killed.
If you prefer graphs to tables, you can view the curve below, courtesy of Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats. As you can see, it takes exponentially less time for the bacteria to die as the temperature increases.
Assuming that you can't devour a chicken breast in under 14 seconds, you're safe cooking chicken to temperatures just shy of 165F. That way, you can avoid having a dry piece of meat, while also being perfectly save to consume. When in doubt, buy an instant meat thermometer.
Sources
I swear I look up the minimum temperatures for meat and fish all the time. So I wanted to compile them all here mainly for myself, but also if anyone else needs a guide of what temperature to cook each piece of meat to.
List
Beef
- Ground beef: 160F
- Steaks
- Rare: 120F
- Medium Rare: 130F
- Medium: 140F
- Medium Well: 150F
- Well Done: 160F
Chicken
- Chicken breast: 165F
- Chicken thighs: 180F
- Ground chicken: 165F
Pork
- Ground pork: 160F
- Whole cuts
- Medium Rare: 145F
- Medium: 150F
- Medium Well: 155F
- Well Done: 160F
Salmon
- Rare: 120F
- Medium Rare: 125F
- Medium: 130F
- Medium Well: 135F
- Well Done: 140F
Shrimp
- Shrimp: 145F
Tilapia
- Tilapia: 145F
Turkey
- White meat: 165F
- Dark meat: 180F
- Ground turkey: 165F
Note about Temperature and Time
The temperatures given above are the minimum internal temeratures of certain meats to be considered safe to consume. However, the killing of bacteria is a function of not just temperature, but also time.
The USDA's guidelines use what's called a 7-log10 curve. If a piece of chicken were to start with 10,000,000 salmonella bacteria when raw, it's considered save to eat when only 1 is remaining. This is the purpose of the 7-log10 curve; there is a 1/107 chance that salmonella would be left on the cooked piece of meat.
In order to reach this safety margin, you have to cook your chicken to a specific temperature for a specific time. The below table outlines the time it takes for 99.99999% of bacteria to be killed.
| Temperature | Time |
|---|---|
| 136F | 68.4 minutes |
| 140F | 27.5 minutes |
| 145F | 9.2 minutes |
| 150F | 2.8 minutes |
| 155F | 47.7 seconds |
| 160F | 14.8 seconds |
| 165F | Instant |
If you prefer graphs to tables, you can view the curve below, courtesy of Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats. As you can see, it takes exponentially less time for the bacteria to die as the temperature increases.
Assuming that you can't devour a chicken breast in under 14 seconds, you're safe cooking chicken to temperatures just shy of 165F. That way, you can avoid having a dry piece of meat, while also being perfectly save to consume. When in doubt, buy an instant meat thermometer.
Sources