Meat is a part of the people’s eating plan worldwide. People kill a number of animals every day for the production of meat food.
Because meat is a good source of calories, especially protein, it also provides several nutrients a body needs, such as zinc, iodine, essential fatty acids and vitamins, especially vitamin B12.
It’s good to add meat weekly to your meals as the central part of a balanced diet. The famous dishes made with meat include steak, Bar BQ, roast, and many more.
So, it’s better to eat unprocessed, lean cuts, and according to the recommended serving size to avoid health issues.
In this article you’ll learn about desired meat temperatures for cooking different types of meat, and safely and preventing the action of pathogens in it to cause foodborne illnesses or food poisoning.
What’s a Meat Temperature Chart?
A meat temperature chart helps to achieve the best way to eat meat. It contains information about the required internal temperature ranges in Celsius and Fahrenheit to cook specific types of meat properly and avoid undercooking.
The meat doneness chart is applicable to all kinds of meat, such as beef, lamb, fish, and poultry. Just like other foods, any raw meat contains bacteria on its surface.
The improper handling of meat and incorrect temperature for cooking the flesh can not sufficiently stop the pathogenic microorganisms from causing food poisoning. Heating the meat is insufficient if the desired internal temperature doesn’t reach the microorganisms still in it.
A minimum cooking temperature for food is essential for getting the correct degree of doneness of meat. In fact, some consumers like their meat cooked a bit rare. On the other hand, if you are ensuring 100% safety, the meat should be cooked well to provide the customers with safe and healthy food.
For highly susceptible customers like pregnant women, elders, people with weak immune systems, and kids, serving undercooked food is dangerous and causes foodborne illness.
However, meat contains many harmful bacteria, which can cause serious diseases. Hence, cooking meat at the desired temperature before eating it is crucial.
Many food experts say that meat cooked for longer and at the correct temperature is considered safe and enough to kill harmful pathogens.
Cooking safe meat means making it disease free and ideal for customers’ consumption. Safe cooking temperatures of meat vary depending upon the different types.
| Meat | Internal Temperature |
|---|---|
| Poultry | 165 °F |
| Poultry ground | 165 °F |
| Beef ground | 160 °F |
| Beef steak/roast | 145 °F |
| Lamb and mutton | 135-145 °F |
Beef Temperature Chart
Beef is the most diverse meat in cooking. It’s due to the large range of doneness levels. There are five different levels of cooking beef that range from 125ºF/52ºC at its lowest to 165ºF/74ºC at its highest. The key to getting the correct doneness of beef for your customers is determining its perfect internal temperature.
When you are cooking beef, it’s important to measure the steak temperature so that you would know the exact temperature of beef cuts. Below we will go through the five different levels of beef cooking temperatures and a temperature chart for beef items.
| Meat Type | Internal Temperature | Cooking Time |
|---|---|---|
| Roast beef | 160°F | 17-20 minutes |
| Boneless rib roast | 145 °F | 30 minutes |
| Ground beef | 155 °F | 15 seconds |
| Beef Bar BQ | 149 °F | 12 minutes |
| Beef steak | 135 °F | 3.5 minutes per side |
Rare Temperature
This cooking level requires the lowest safe temperature for cooking beef. It includes cooking the beef to a doneness level of the internal temperature to be 125ºF/52ºC. Moreover, the rare doneness of beef gives a red, bloody inside and seared outside.
The main point to keep in mind for rare doneness levels is that around 75% of the inside should remain blood red. While the taste should be more juicy and tender.
Medium Rare Temperature
This doneness level is done by cooking the meat at 140ºF/60ºC. This is similar to rare cooking, because it also has reddish pink, and is bloody inside.
The difference lies in the outer layer which is more cooked and colored but still seared. The taste is juicy and tender.
Medium Temperature
This doneness is the most common and USDA recommended temperature because it lies between rare and well done. It requires the internal temperature of beef at 150ºF/66ºC to achieve medium temperature.
You can expect the inside to still give a pink color, but it’s more colored outside because of cooking on a high temperature.
It gives a slightly less juicy and a tougher texture in taste. A medium doneness level of beef cooking is the best choice for those who cannot make up their mind to what doneness level they should prefer.
Medium Well Temperature
As we all know, the higher the temperature, the more the doneness color will change. The temperature required for medium well cooked beef is 160ºF/71ºC.
This doneness level almost cooks a beef brownish with a very light pink color inside and fully colored outside. Additionally, this doneness level still provides a slight juicy, and quite chewy taste of the beef.
Well Done temperature
This is the final doneness level which cooks the beef at the highest temperature. If you want the best results, you have to cook the beef to an internal temperature of 165ºF/74ºC to achieve a well doneness level .
The inside of the meat is fully brown and very colored as the meat is cooked to its full taste potential.
This level of doneness is best for those who do not like undercooked beef. People prefer this kind of beef to eat which provides an almost leathery taste.
Conclusion
Meat is the most eaten food item and famous for many occasions. Meat comes in the form of beef, chicken, mutton, lamb, and many more. A lot of people eat meat because of the variety of items made with it and the delicious flavor it provides, and also due to the culture.
Meat is the most nutritional food, and has a complex cooking nature as well. Because of the high moisture content of meat, it is an ideal medium for the growth of bacteria which can cause food poisoning.
The accurate temperature and time can stop the growth of these pathogens and make it good for customer’s eating. For achieving the right texture of meat, a meat temperature chart is available to help you choose the correct internal temperature for your meat doneness.