Safe meat temps: 145, 160, 165 °F, read at the thickest part.
Color, firmness and grill marks can’t tell you when meat is safe to eat. A food thermometer can, as long as the tip sits in the right spot. USDA’s chart mostly comes down to three numbers: 145 °F for whole cuts and fish, 160 °F for ground meat and egg dishes, and 165 °F for all poultry, leftovers and casseroles.
Our take: learn the three numbers and one placement rule. Near the end of cooking, push the probe into the thickest part of the food, away from bone, fat and gristle. Give steaks, chops and roasts of beef, pork, veal and lamb at least 3 minutes of rest after they reach 145 °F. Check a whole turkey in three places. Every so often, dunk the thermometer in ice water; it should read 32 °F. [S1] [S3] [S4]
Three numbers, one spot
The numbers, food by food
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says to cook food to these minimum internal temperatures, measured with a food thermometer, before you take it off the heat. You can cook past them if you like your food more done. FoodSafety.gov, the federal food-safety site, publishes nearly the same chart, with a few extra foods and visual cues for shellfish. [S1] [S2]
Choose a food to highlight its number below.
Steaks, chops and roasts of beef, pork, veal and lamb, plus bison and goat on FoodSafety.gov’s list. Let the meat rest at least 3 minutes before you cut or eat it. [S1] [S2]
Ground beef, pork, veal and lamb, and sausage made from them. FoodSafety.gov lists rabbit and venison at 160 °F too. Ground chicken or turkey, and poultry sausage, go to 165 °F. [S1] [S2]
All poultry: breasts, legs, thighs, wings, ground poultry and giblets. Check the thickest part of each piece, avoiding the bone. [S1] [S3]
Check a whole bird in three places: the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing and the thickest part of the breast. Stuffing must reach 165 °F at its center, and FSIS suggests baking it in a separate dish. [S3] [S4]
Fish, whole or fillet. FoodSafety.gov also accepts the visual test: the flesh is no longer translucent and separates easily with a fork. [S1] [S2]
FSIS lists 145 °F for fish and shellfish. FoodSafety.gov gives visual cues instead: shrimp, lobster, crab and scallops are done when the flesh is pearly or white and opaque, and clams, oysters and mussels when the shells open. [S1] [S2]
Raw ham, fresh or smoked: 145 °F, then rest 3 minutes. Reheating a fully cooked ham: 140 °F if it was packaged in a USDA-inspected plant, and 165 °F for any other cooked ham. [S1] [S2]
Where the probe goes
A reading only counts if the sensor is in the right place. FSIS says to put the thermometer in the thickest part of the food, away from bone, fat or gristle. The center of the food is usually the coolest part, so that’s the spot to read. [S3] [S5]
- Roasts, steaks and chops: go into the thickest part. For a roast, aim midway into the meat. A large or oddly shaped roast gets checked in several places. [S3]
- Burgers, sausages, thin chops and thin chicken breasts: slide the probe in through the side until the sensing area sits in the center. To keep your fingers away from the heat, FSIS suggests moving the piece onto a clean spatula or plate first. [S3]
- Every piece: pieces of different sizes finish at different times, so FSIS says to check each one. [S3]
- Whole poultry: innermost thigh, innermost wing and thickest part of the breast, avoiding the bone. [S3] [S4]
- Egg dishes: the center of the dish, plus a few other spots in case of hot spots. [S3]
Depth matters too. FSIS says your thermometer’s instructions should tell you how far in it needs to go. Without them, look for a small dimple on the stem, which marks one end of the sensing area. A dial instant-read thermometer averages the temperature along roughly the bottom 2 to 3 inches of its stem, which is why it needs to go in sideways on a thin burger. [S3]
Rest time, and why color lies
The 3-minute rest is listed only for steaks, chops and roasts of beef, pork, veal and lamb, plus raw ham. FoodSafety.gov says the rest lets the innermost parts and juices finish cooking safely. Neither chart gives a rest time for fish, poultry or ground meat. For a whole turkey, FSIS suggests 20 minutes of standing before carving, but that one is for quality: it lets the juices set and makes carving easier. [S1] [S2] [S4]
FSIS says color and firmness aren’t reliable signs that food is safe. Ground beef can brown on the outside before it’s hot enough inside, and a burger that reads 160 °F is safe whatever its color. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts it the same way: you can’t tell by color and texture, except for seafood. [S3] [S7]
Where sources differ
Celsius rounding: FSIS lists 145 °F as 62.8 °C, while FoodSafety.gov rounds it to 63 °C. Use whichever scale your thermometer shows. [S1] [S2]
Ground meat: FSIS lists ground meats at 160 °F and ground poultry separately at 165 °F. If a blend has any poultry in it, we’d use 165 °F. [S1]
Shellfish: FSIS gives a number (145 °F) and FoodSafety.gov gives visual cues. Both are above. With small shellfish like shrimp, the visual cues are the easier check. [S1] [S2]
Check your thermometer’s accuracy
FSIS says most food thermometers read within 2 to 4 °F, and suggests checking yours with ice water. Fill a large glass with ice cubes, add drinking water and stir. Put the stem at least 2 inches into the mix without touching the sides or bottom, wait at least 30 seconds, and read it while it’s still in the water. It should say 32 °F. [S3]
Enter the reading to compare it with the 32 °F target.
If it’s off, FSIS says to adjust it following the maker’s instructions; many thermometers have a calibration nut under the dial. If yours can’t be adjusted, FSIS says you may need to replace it. Boiling water works for checking high readings: 212 °F at sea level. At high altitude water boils lower, at least 2 °F and perhaps as much as 5 °F lower, and FSIS points you to your local Cooperative Extension office or health department for your exact boiling point. [S3]
Wash the thermometer by hand with hot, soapy water, or as the maker says; FSIS says most shouldn’t be immersed. Some plastic faces can melt if they get too close to heat. Don’t leave a thermometer in food while it cooks unless the maker says it’s built for that. [S3]
Which kind of thermometer
FSIS sorts home thermometers by speed and by whether they can stay in the food. These are its figures; we didn’t time any thermometer ourselves. [S3]
| Type | Reading time | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Digital thermocouple | 2 to 5 seconds | Fastest. Reads thin and thick foods. Not left in while cooking. Can be calibrated. |
| Digital thermistor | About 10 seconds | Reads thin and thick foods from the tip. Not left in. Some can be calibrated. |
| Dial instant-read | 15 to 20 seconds | Needs 2 to 2½ inches of depth, so thin foods go in sideways. Not left in. |
| Oven-safe dial | 1 to 2 minutes unless left in | Stays in a roast or turkey while it cooks. Not for food under 3 inches thick. |
| Wireless or smart probe | Live while cooking | Stays in, at least 1 inch deep in the thickest part. FSIS says smart models can be calibrated. |
| Oven cord probe | About 10 seconds | Stays in; the base sits outside the oven. Can’t be calibrated. |
| Pop-up timer | Pops at a set point | FSIS says they’re reliable within 1 to 2 °F, and still advises checking with a regular thermometer. |
For steaks, chops and burgers, we’d reach for a fast digital instant-read, since it handles thin food. A leave-in probe makes more sense for a roast or a turkey. Shopping for one? Our instant-read thermometer buying guide covers one model. [S3]
Serving and leftovers
Keep cooked food at 140 °F or above if you aren’t serving it right away, refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour if it’s above 90 °F), and reheat them to 165 °F. In a microwave, cover and rotate the food, follow the standing time, then check it in several places, since microwaves leave cold spots. [S5] [S6]
Before you serve
Quick answers
My chicken is still a little pink at 165 °F. Is it safe?
FSIS says color isn’t a reliable sign of safety, and it gives poultry one number: 165 °F. Go by a reading taken in the thickest part, away from the bone. [S1] [S3]
Can I cook past these temperatures?
Yes. FSIS calls them minimums and says you can cook food hotter for personal preference. [S1]
Does a pop-up timer in a turkey count?
FSIS says to check the thigh, wing and breast with a food thermometer as well, and all three should reach 165 °F. [S4]
Do I need to rest chicken or burgers?
The federal charts don’t list a rest time for them. The 3-minute rest is listed only for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal and lamb, and for raw ham. [S1] [S2]
Should I stuff the turkey?
FSIS says stuffing the bird isn’t recommended for the best safety and suggests baking the stuffing in a casserole dish. If you do stuff it, the center of the stuffing has to reach 165 °F. [S4]
Are brands ranked here?
No. This guide covers federal guidance on cooking temperatures and thermometer use. We don’t rank or endorse thermometer models here, and we didn’t test any. [S3]
Sources
USDA FSIS, FoodSafety.gov and CDC guidance, checked October 21, 2026. Recommendations here are our editorial reading of that guidance; no hands-on results are claimed.
- S1 · USDA FSIS: Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart
- S2 · FoodSafety.gov: Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature
- S3 · USDA FSIS: Food Thermometers
- S4 · USDA FSIS: Let’s Talk Turkey, Safely Roasting a Turkey
- S5 · FoodSafety.gov: 4 Steps to Food Safety
- S6 · USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety
- S7 · CDC: Preventing Food Poisoning