Here's the situation: your thermometer reads 165°, but that meat still looks pretty darn pink. What do you do? According to the USDA, looks can be deceiving.
Salmonella is still a very real concern when it comes to cooking chicken, turkey, and other poultry. It gets knocked into our heads again and again that poultry is safe to eat only when its juices run clear, when the meat is no longer pink, and when it registers at least 165° in the thickest part of the thigh.
But of those, only temperature is the real indicator of a fully-cooked chicken. The USDA says that as long as all parts of the chicken have reached a minimum internal temperature of 165°, it is safe to eat. Color does not indicate doneness.
The USDA further explains that even fully cooked poultry can sometimes show a pinkish tinge in the meat and juices. This is particularly true of young chickens whose bones and skin are still very permeable. Pigment in the bone marrow can color the surrounding tissue and make the bones themselves look very dark. Hemoglobin in the muscles can likewise react with air during cooking to give the meat a pinkish color even after cooking. The chicken's feed and whether it's been frozen can also affect the final color.
Even knowing this, it's startling to cut into a chicken and see pink. Reprogramming the automatic association between pink chicken and under-cooked chicken is going to take some work.
What are your thoughts?
• Safe Food Handling: The Color of Meat and Poultry from the USDA
Related: A Little Pink: USDA Lowers Temperature Guidelines for Cooking Pork
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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Good to know; I've thrown out a couple of thermometers thinking they were inaccurate. Now to get past the look of pink poultry!
after getting sick from what appeared to be a slightly underdone chicken, i'm kindof paranoid. i'll stick parts in the microwave to speed-cook them the rest of the way, where "the rest of the way" means no pink anywhere.
My hubby is a nut about slightly pink chicken, so I've had times where I cook it a good 10 degrees or more over the recommended temperature and subsequently choked down dry chicken at the dinner table. I always knew it was temperature that indicated 'doneness', but it's great to have some ammunition for my argument now! Thanks!
Are you letting it rest or cutting right into it and seeing pink?
Before throwing out what may be a perfectly good thermometer, try sticking it onto some boiling water. 100deg Celsius lets you know it's still working...
This doesn't help much for the few times you cook chicken, see pink and check and it ISNT done. Usually my easy answer is chuck the plate in the microwave for a minute to "finish it off" but by that point, it never comes out like you hope if it was undercooked.
This brings me back to my thanksgiving bird that was 172 in the thighs and 165 in the breast, but still slightly pink in spots. I'm convinced my MIL was suspicious of my bird, especially as hers are usually VERY VERY VERY done, and in bone dry. So much so my FIL told he to stick to chicken (which is still really dry). This pink phenomenon can indeed be a worrisome thing.
I cook all the way to 175 because that's when big homegrown chickens (6-9 lb) are the most tender (fall-off-the-bone tender). Otherwise can be tough. I never cooked store chicken in my life though, not sure.
That chicken in the picture is beautiful, I want to cook that right now!
@Charlotte - Let it rest and then carve it up! Before learning about all this, I would get really frustrated when I saw still-pink meat (especially around the bones and joints) when I KNEW that bird was cooked to at least 165! I would end up saving those pieces for stock instead of serving them.
My husband and I have both suffered the misfortune of biting into not-quite-done chicken. It's disgusting, even if you don't get sick. We generally cook our chicken to more like 175 or 180. Sometimes it comes out dry, but mostly there's no problem with the moistness.
(Also we have given up on being able to fry chicken. Every time we do, it burns on the outside before the inside even gets warm...)
I have been wondering about this for a long time. The other thing I've had happen is the thermometer reading well over 165, but red bits floating inside the juices that collect inside the cavity of the chicken. Red throws me even more than pink! I've read alternatively that (a) it's a result of the bird being frozen and is nothing at all to worry about or (b) it's undercooked and perhaps even though I allowed plenty of time to defrost, it's not defrosted in the center. Still trying to figure that one out, but this post is helpful!
165 works every time, for me. But I always wondered why it was still pink even if it was cooked! Great post!
I was taught about the hemoglobin in the flesh making it pink by a poultry farmer in Virginia years ago (and also at culinary school later on). But no matter how often I tell my germ-freak friend that the thermometer says 165 throughout the thickest portion of the breast, she still refuses to eat it. Oh well. More chicken for me :P
PERFECT Timing. Every time I make Thomas Keller's roast chicken it is delicious, but freaks me out a bit because it is a little pink. Afraid of totally poisoning my family, I usually end up boiling most of it and we only eat a few non-pink pieces. I was just about to google this!
This happened to me two days ago and I was all freaked out. Thanks for the post!
At home, I'll take a little bit of pink because I know the proper temperature was reached. At a restaurant, absolutely not. I was at The Cheesecake Factory scarfing down Chicken Carbonara and discovered a pink piece of chicken. I had them remake it w/o chicken even though they ensured me it would be cooked. Of course, I still ended up getting sick for a week afterward.
Very true. Many of the chickens we have for roast are pink after good cooking. Usually in the thigh area. I've had a fright once or twice but my mother reassures me it's normal. A tad chewy but it tasted fine and I lived to tell the tale.
If you've been cooking a more than reasonable time, your oven isn't broken and the chicken is by no means raw... you're probably ok to go.
merricontrari, I love fried chicken way too much not to explain. The way to keep the chicken from burning on the outside and not being done on the inside when you fry is to: 1) Don't fry singly. The pan, not deep fryer, should be full. 2) The oil is very hot when you add the chicken, but soon after you get all the chicken in the pan, cover the pan and turn the heat down to medium (or even medium low depending on your stove 3) Let the chicken cook through until the flesh of the upper side, visible under the flour coating, has turned white. 4) Turn up the heat and remove the cover. 5) Flip the chicken and let it brown on the other side.
Remove and test. Juicy but done on the inside, beautiful on the outside. For an even better texture, do as the West Indians to the raw chicken. Soak in lemon juice and salt for 20 min. or so. Then rinse, season and proceed.