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Know your Safe Cooking Temperatures

and other "done-ness" indicators in cooking

safe cooking temperatures chart

The safe cooking temperatures chart above shows the quantifiable way to determine "done-ness" in your cooking (and grilling). There are also some qualifiable ways to observe the stages of cooking to "done", that I am about to get into. But I want to caution you a bit first.

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Knowing and monitoring temperatures is the single BEST way to determine "done-ness" in your cooking, especially for the novice to intermediate cook. That said, this is the place where I am always encouraging experimentation and I won't stop now. So - it is also helpful to understand the qualifiable signs of various stages of "done-ness". This way you can begin to monitor and observe these signs for yourself as you practice and enhance your own cooking. Fair enough?

The three observations I discuss above are:

Touch: If your muscle memory is good enough, remember how the item felt when it was raw, then press the cooked item with your finger. The cooked item should have a firm texture, resist pressure and spring back quickly when pressed with your finger. This is a very imprecise method and should only be used when a thermometer cannot, such as with smaller items like shrimp and scallops.

Looseness of the joints: When bone-in poultry is done, the leg will begin to move freely in its socket.

Color of the juices: Beef, poultry, pork and fatty fish (like salmon) show they are done when the juices run clear or show just a trace of pink. White fat will rise from salmon. This degree of "done-ness" is known in French as “a point”.

Temperature Conversions

Use this handy tool for quick temperature conversions:

Important Temperture Equivalents

In addition to understanding safe cooking temperatures, it is also helpful to understand some important temperature threshholds in cooking:

Freezing Point of Water:

Boiling Point of Water:

Steam Point of Water:

Bottom line: To convert a Celsius measurement into a Fahrenheit, Multiply by 9, divide by 5 and add 32. To convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32, multiply by 5, and divide by 9.

Chef Todd Mohr

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