We all love a well-cooked chicken meal. How do you know if your chicken is well-cooked? Have you ever tasted an overcooked chicken? Can undercooked poultry meat expose you to food-borne illnesses? Are you wondering what the perfect temperature for cooking chicken is? The solution to all these problems is learning how to calibrate a meat thermometer.
Cook chicken
The majority of people love a well-cooked chicken meal. Protect your family from salmonella infection caused by consuming undercooked poultry meat. All poultry have salmonella bacteria in their bodies. The chances of raw chicken containing salmonella bacteria are high. It does not mean that you should avoid eating chicken because this bacterium is killed if the food is cooked to a high enough temperature. The recommended temperature for cooking chicken is 165℃. The chicken size and internal temperature determine how long the chicken will bake in the oven. Check out the chicken temperature chart to know if the meat is well-cooked.
Measuring the actual chicken’s temperature is a sure way of knowing if it’s properly cooked. Avoid relying on physical indicators of chicken doneness by:
- Press to check for its firmness. The chicken will dry out if you rely on the chicken’s firmness. It is because, by the time the chicken is firm, the meat protein will have squeezed out most of its water.
- The chicken juice should run clear. Cut the chicken to confirm. The chicken’s juices will completely run out.
- Check if the insides are no longer pink. Checking meat’s color can be misleading since this could indicate pH change.
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Meat thermometer
It is an efficient and easy way to know if your chicken is well-cooked. Follow these steps to calibrate a meat thermometer:
- Insert the thermometer into the thick chicken parts like thigh and breast. Do not insert it into the fat and bone. It is safe to eat the chicken if the temperature reads165℉. The chicken’s juice should run clear. If the chicken’s juice runs pink, the chicken is not fully-cooked.
- If it is not fully cooked, return the chicken to the heat source and check every 5 minutes.
- Use hot soapy water to clean the thermometer after use.
Calibrate thermometer
An instant digital thermometer helps to determine if the chicken is cooked thoroughly. To know if the chicken is well cooked, use a thermometer to check its temperature. A calibrated thermometer gives accurate results. Check the thermometer’s package instructions to learn how the calibration works. Digital thermometers have reset buttons for calibration. A calibrated thermometer enables you to get accurate temperature readings. Extremely cold and high temperatures are used to calibrate a thermometer.
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Conclusion
Salmonella bacteria present in undercooked chicken meat can lead to food-borne illnesses. The chicken should be cooked to 165℃ to kill these bacteria. Do not look out for indicators like meat color, firmness, and how the juices run as it can be misleading. It is essential to know how a thermometer works properly and how to calibrate a meat thermometer. This article highlights how a meat thermometer helps to measure the temperature of a chicken. Calibrate your thermometer to get accurate temperature readings.