Key takeaways
- Steaks, roasts and chops of beef, pork, lamb, veal and goat: 145°F (63°C), then a 3-minute rest.
- Ground meat and sausage, egg dishes, and rabbit and venison: 160°F (71°C).
- All poultry, casseroles and reheated leftovers: 165°F (74°C).
- Fish: 145°F (63°C), or until the flesh is no longer translucent and separates easily with a fork.
- Use a food thermometer; NIST suggests checking it in boiling water, which is 100°C (212°F) at sea level.
Steaks, roasts and chops are safe at 145°F (63°C) plus a 3-minute rest, ground meat at 160°F (71°C), and all poultry and leftovers at 165°F (74°C). The US government's food-safety chart sets a safe minimum internal temperature for each kind of food, hot enough to kill the germs that cause food poisoning. This guide sets out the full chart from FoodSafety.gov, explains rest times and thermometers, and shows the figures in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.
The minimum-temperature chart by food
| Food | Safe minimum internal temperature | Rest time |
|---|---|---|
| Beef, bison, veal, goat and lamb: steaks, roasts, chops | 145°F (63°C) | 3 minutes |
| Pork: steaks, roasts, chops | 145°F (63°C) | 3 minutes |
| Raw ham | 145°F (63°C) | 3 minutes |
| Ground meat and sausage (beef, pork, lamb and others) | 160°F (71°C) | None |
| Rabbit and venison, wild or farm-raised | 160°F (71°C) | None |
| Egg dishes, such as frittata or quiche | 160°F (71°C) | None |
| All poultry, including ground poultry, giblets and stuffing inside poultry | 165°F (74°C) | None |
| Casseroles, with or without meat | 165°F (74°C) | None |
| Leftovers, any type | 165°F (74°C) | None |
| Precooked ham, to reheat | 165°F (74°C) | None |
| Fish, whole or fillet | 145°F (63°C) | None |
Some foods are judged by sight instead. The chart says raw eggs should be cooked until the yolk and white are firm; shrimp, lobster, crab and scallops until the flesh is pearly or white and opaque; and clams, oysters and mussels until their shells open during cooking. Fish can also be cooked until the flesh is no longer translucent and separates easily with a fork. Cooked hams packaged in USDA-inspected plants may be reheated to 140°F (60°C).
Why rest time matters
FoodSafety.gov explains that rest time lets the innermost parts and juices of certain meats become fully and safely cooked after they leave the heat. That is why a steak at 145°F still needs its 3 minutes before you cut it.
Converting the numbers
To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 and multiply by 5/9. A worked example: 165°F becomes (165 − 32) × 5 ÷ 9 = 73.9°C, which the chart rounds to 74°C. Likewise 160°F is 71.1°C (71°C) and 145°F is 62.8°C (63°C). Going the other way, multiply Celsius by 9/5 and add 32: 74°C is 165.2°F.
Using a thermometer properly
FoodSafety.gov's advice is to always use a food thermometer. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service explains why: colour and firmness are often used as signs that food is cooked, but they are not indicators of safety. In one USDA study, 21% of participants relied on visual cues such as colour and grill marks to decide whether hamburger patties were done. A few habits make the reading trustworthy:
- Check the thermometer first. FSIS notes most food thermometers read accurately to within 2 to 4°F. NIST, the US standards agency, suggests a simple check: put the probe in boiling water, which is 100°C (212°F) at sea level, compare the reading, and allow for the difference.
- Measure the thickest part, away from bone, fat or gristle, as FSIS advises. For thin foods, insert the probe through the side until it reaches the centre.
- Check each piece, because pieces reach temperature at different times, and check large or irregular foods such as roasts in several places.
- For a whole bird, FSIS says to check three places: the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing and the thickest part of the breast, avoiding the bone.
The temperatures either side of cooking
Cooking temperatures sit inside a wider set of rules. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service calls 40°F to 140°F the "danger zone", the range in which bacteria grow most rapidly, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. Hot food should be kept at 140°F or above until served, and cooked food refrigerated within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. When leftovers come back out, reheat them to 165°F, and bring sauces, soups and gravies to a rolling boil. Meal prep food safety covers cooling and reheating, and food storage times how long cooked food keeps.
Recipes, servings and the thermometer
Because FSIS advises checking each piece and checking large foods in several places, the thermometer reading, not the recipe's cooking time, is what tells you a dish is done. Easy Recipes & Meal Planner, one of our health and nutrition apps, scales ingredient amounts and nutrition to the servings you choose, but a thermometer is still the only way to know a dish has reached its safe temperature. Kitchen measurement conversions covers the other numbers in a recipe.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What temperature should chicken be cooked to?
What temperature is pork safe to eat?
What is rest time for meat?
What temperature should leftovers be reheated to?
Sources
- Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature (opens in a new tab)FoodSafety.gov, US Department of Health and Human Services — accessed
- Leftovers and Food Safety (opens in a new tab)USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service — accessed
- "Danger Zone" (40°F - 140°F) (opens in a new tab)USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service — accessed
- Kitchen Thermometers (opens in a new tab)USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service — accessed
- Metric Kitchen: Culinary Measurement Tips (opens in a new tab)National Institute of Standards and Technology — accessed
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