Safe Cooking Temperatures for Chicken, Beef, Pork, Mince and Fish

You cannot judge whether food is safe to eat by how it looks. A chicken breast can be brown outside and pink in the middle, or perfectly white and still undercooked. The only reliable check is a thermometer, and the right target depends on the food.

The temperatures below follow guidance from the Food Safety Information Council in Australia. They apply to the centre of the thickest part of the food.

The chart

For beef and lamb, cook them longer than 63°C if you prefer them more done. Higher temperatures are safe too; they just give a firmer texture.

Why minced meat and poultry are different

On a whole steak, bacteria sit mainly on the surface, and searing kills them. When meat is minced, those surface bacteria are mixed all the way through, so a burger can be unsafe in the middle even though it looks brown outside. The same goes for sausages and meatballs.

Poultry is different again. Bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter can be spread through the whole bird, so chicken always needs to reach 75°C, whether it is whole, in pieces or minced.

How to use a meat thermometer

1. Use a digital probe thermometer. They are cheap and quick.
2. Insert it into the centre of the thickest part, away from bone, which gets hot first, and away from the pan or tray.
3. Wait for the reading to settle. It should stop moving after a few seconds.
4. Check more than one spot in a large roast or whole chicken.
5. Clean the probe with hot soapy water between uses, especially between raw and cooked food.

Resting meat

Resting is not just about juiciness. Meat keeps cooking after you take it off the heat, and holding it at temperature for a few minutes also helps make it safe.

• Steaks, chops and small cuts: rest 3 to 5 minutes, loosely covered.
• Roasts: rest 10 to 20 minutes, loosely covered with foil.

Use a thermometer reading before resting, and expect the temperature to rise a few degrees as it sits.

Handling raw meat safely

• Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat food, in the shopping trolley, the fridge and on the bench. Store raw meat on the bottom shelf, so juices cannot drip onto other food.
• Use separate boards and knives for raw meat and for salad and cooked food, or wash them in hot soapy water between jobs.
• Do not wash raw chicken. The splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen. Cooking kills the bacteria.
• Wash your hands with soap and water after touching raw meat, and before touching anything else.
• Thaw meat in the fridge, not on the bench.

When you cannot use a thermometer

If you have no thermometer, cut into the thickest part and check that the meat is cooked right through, with no pink and no raw juices. That is an acceptable fallback for chicken pieces, sausages and burgers, but it is not as reliable as a thermometer. A thermometer costs very little and is worth owning.

Related guides

See also our guides to how long leftovers last and freezing and reheating meals.