Perfectly Cooked Chicken

43 Comments

  1. Now I’m confused. How can you cook a whole chicken using 2 different temperature guidelines. If you pull your bird with the breast temp at 157 degrees, even with carryover cooking the thighs will not reach 175. And if they did, your breast would be way overdone according to your 157 target.

    1. David,
      Cooking a whole bird is a true puzzle, in that regard. How does one get tender dark meat but juicy white meat? I recommend taking a look at our guidelines for cooking a whole turkey, which has the exact same problem. Take a read here.

    2. You might try spatchcocking your bird.
      In my experience this method results in both dark and white meats get to their respective temps at the same time.

  2. pork need to be at 200 for fibers to break down and make that bone pull out, why is dark chicken temp 175 for that to happen and not 200?

    Also, if I read the chart it seems 157 for 31 seconds is a no brainer for better chicken, but if you were going to go 165 temp it would take more than 31 seconds to get from 157 to 165, so basically once your chicken hits 157, by the time you get a plate and remove from grill, and the chicken would get hotter before cooling, IE residual temp increase considered, its reallly done at 157 degrees …..make sence? would you agree?

    1. Jt,
      The connective tissues in chicken thighs are neither as tough nor as prevalent as those found in tough mammalian muscles like brisket or ribs. Cooking to 175°F does a great job of making them tender and delicious.
      As for your second question, I think I’ve answered it in my response to Jim’s query. If not, please feel free to contact me.

  3. Great info…but to be clear can you define “carry over cooking?” Would be pulling the chicken from the heat source (resting) for 31 seconds and letting the chicken breast come up to 165 degrees ? Thank You, all the info is really good food for thought (pun intended) ?

    1. Jim,
      Carryover cooking is when the temperature in the thermal center rises after being removed from heat. It will not always necessarily get you to 165°F. If you have a chicken breast and cook it to 157°F, it might get up to 165°F during carryover cooking (if you cooked it over VERY high heat), but it probably won’t. The 31 seconds makes it safe even if it only stays at 157°F the whole time.
      In sous vide cooking, for instance, your meat may reach the target temperature and neve move another degree higher. There is no carryover cooking, but you’d want to hold it at the target temperature for the appropriate time.
      Carryover is something to be aware of so you don’t overcook and dry out your meat.

  4. Great article! The time/temperature ratio is a great tool. This information should be included with every grilling appliance sold at the big box stores. It may save someone from a lifetime of bad chicken…

  5. Fantastic and informative article, as always! Just one question .. how exactly are you “holding” the chicken at 157 degrees? Thanks!!

    1. Diane,
      Great question. Really, we mean that you just need to make sure the temperature doesn’t drop in the center, but to keep that from happening, it’s a good idea to cover the meat in foil during the pasteurization time. For longer rests (lower temps), placing the meat in a warm oven will keep the internal temp from dropping.

    1. Patti,
      The USDA wheels grind exceedingly slowly. Current research supports the information given here, but the USDA does not put out new or even updated regulations with any frequency.

  6. I have read many, many cooking articles over the years but this is THE BEST one to explain the nuances of cooking chicken. Thanks, Thermoworks!

  7. Hi, the temperature that you give was for the chicken meat. What if the temperature of chicken leg achieved 79.9C and above but the bones still have runny red bone marrow. Is still safe to eat or must be cooked until dark brown colour bone marrow?

  8. I personally think your article is fascinating, interesting and amazing. I share some of your same beliefs on this topic. I like your writing style and will revisit your site.

  9. Thank you for such an informative article.

    I am a little confused about a couple of things, though.

    First question: you make sure the temperature of the chicken remains no lower than 157 degrees for 31 seconds. Thirty-one seconds at 157 degrees corresponds to the table for meat that is 7 percent fat. Is that about the fat percentage of chicken breast?

    Second question: another article on this web site recommends a pull temperature of 145 degrees for chicken. Is that simply the preference of that writer?

    The article is here:
    https://blog.thermoworks.com/chicken/thermal-tips-simple-roasted-chicken/

    Thank you again.

    1. Sources vary, but 7-9% fat for the breast is about right, so 31 seconds is close either way.

      As for the other article, yes, that’s is a preference. The carryover in that recipe can dry things out, so pulling it at 145°F will get you up to a safe temp that won’t dry out.

  10. Thank you. This is great information. My question is how would I hold my chicken at a certain temperature? If I wanted to cook chicken to 150 for three minutes, how would I do that?

    1. Good question. In general, food temperatures will continue to rise for a while when removed from heat—carryover cooking. If you were to put a leave-in probe like ChefAlarm in your meat when it reaches 150°F, and reset the min/max function, you could set the built-in timer for 3 minutes and then look at the min/max. Chances are good that after 3 minutes the temperature will have gone up and then possibly back down a little, but won’t have dropped below 150. Covering the food with foil will help to hold more heat in, too.
      150°F is pretty reliable for a whole chicken, but if you’re doing a thin cutlet, which cools much more quickly, go with a higher temp, 157°, for instance.

  11. When you say “hold” the chicken at the temp does it mean the temp cant climb? Because from the chart it looks like if i start a timet for 1 min when the chicken hits 154F then im good just so long as the chicken doesnt drop in temp. Right?

    1. Yes, the point is to make wure the temp doesn’t go BELOW. Depending on the cut and temp, you can usually either just let it sit, or maybe cover it with some foil. Temp rising is just fine.

  12. Great article! Chicken has always been a challenge because it does come out overcooked if you wait til the center reaches 165. But I was always a little nervous taking it off early.

  13. I have a slow cooker with a temperature probe. So if I cook chicken on low in the slow cooker, can I assume that reaching 160 and leaving it in there just a little longer is safe? (The slow cooker is “holding” the temperature?

  14. I just bought a dehydrator with the intention of preparing dehydrated chicken strips (sliced to about 1/4 inch width) as a treat for my pets. I can set my dehydrator at 165 degrees (I checked with an oven thermometer to ensure the machine reaches and holds that temp.) I’ve found conflicting information online about whether the chicken needs to be cooked before dehydrating. Since it will be heated to 165 degrees during the dehydration process (which takes from 4 to 5 hours), do I need to cook the chicken before placing it in the dehydrator or is it safe to use raw strips?

  15. I used my new sous vide unit to cook chicken breasts. Based on the tables on this site, I wanted to cook the breasts at the lowest temperature that would assure safety.

    The parameters I chose were 145°F (62.8°C) for the the sous vide bath. The bath came up to set temperature as expected. The breast that I was cooking weighed ~ 100 grams.

    The procedure that I used was to then place the bagged breast into the bath and allow the chicken to come to the bath temperature of 145°F (62.8°C).

    From the table, the “holding time” should have then been 9:54 after achieving the sous vide bath temperature, The chicken never reached the bath temperature of 145°F (62.8°C). It only made it to 58°C.

    Should I have set the sous vide bath temperature higher than the desired internal temperature of the chicken?

    1. Yes, and this is something most people don’t realize. Always set your sous vide to a temperature about 5°F higher than your target doneness to account for the asymptotic rise in temperature towards the end of cooking.

  16. Thank you for this article and the fact you’re still responding to questions. I grilled chicken last night and watched the temp. I waited till it reached 165 before pulling. Today, I recalled that there are time vs temp considerations and found your article in my search. Referring to chicken breasts and considering the outer “layers” of the breast will be higher than 165F when the center is somewhat cooler, is there a temperature you recommend to not let any part of the breast get hotter than? I know grill temperatures are subjective and built-in grill thermometers aren’t the most accurate, but is there an indicated temperature that you recommend to keep the grill at that is a good compromise between cooking time and overall breast temperature?

    1. The only way to keep ANY of the breast form overcooking is to cook it in an immersion circulator (sous vide). But a lower, slower temperature will get you more evenly-cooked meat with less extreme temperature gradients. 325°F is not a bad way to go. Any lower and the skin gets more rubbery.

  17. As a physician with an undergraduate degree in microbiology, and a penchant for cooking, I have always been fascinated by the discussion of the need for meat to be cooked to a certain temperature to be safe to eat.

    Yes, it is true that time and temperature will kill bacteria. It is also true, that the interior of a solid piece of meat is essentially sterile and that bacterial contamination of as solid piece of meat is limited to the surface. If you do not cut the flesh (or cavity) or poke holes into the center of the meat. bacteria and contaminants will be confined to the surface and perhaps a few millimeters of depth.

    Having lived in Japan for several years, I have eaten plenty of raw chicken sashimi. I was horrified at first until I realized that is it only the surface that is potentially contaminated. Chicken sashimi is dipped into boiling water for a few seconds to thermally kill surface bacteria. The interior is raw and perfectly safe to eat.

    Ground meat is another issue. That mixes the potentially contaminated surface into the center. Anything ground or significantly “slashed” (tandoori chicken) needs to be cooked to make sure that the interior is at appropriate temperatures for the appropriate time.

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