The only reliable way to know when grilled meat is done is to check its internal temperature with a digital thermometer in the thickest part. These are the safe minimums recommended by the USDA in the United States: poultry 74 °C (165 °F); minced (ground) meat such as burgers and sausages 71 °C (160 °F); whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal 63 °C (145 °F), followed by a three-minute rest; and fish 63 °C (145 °F). Chicken and minced meat must always be cooked through. With whole cuts such as steak, how pink you like it is largely a question of texture and taste. Below are the charts, how to use a thermometer properly, and the mistakes behind dry or undercooked meat.
Why colour, touch and time let you down
Most of us learnt to judge meat by eye, but grilling makes that especially unreliable.
- Colour misleads in both directions. Minced beef can turn brown inside before it is safely cooked, and grilled or smoked poultry can stay pink when it is perfectly done. Smoke from wood or charcoal can fix a pink band in the outer layer of meat; our smoke ring explainer covers why.
- The touch test takes years to learn. Pressing a steak and comparing it with the flesh of your palm works for cooks who grill dozens of steaks a week. For everyone else it is guesswork.
- Cooking times are only estimates. Thickness, starting temperature, wind, the heat of the coals and whether the lid is closed all change how long meat takes.
Safe minimum internal temperatures
These follow USDA guidance and are measured in the thickest part of the meat.
| Meat | Minimum internal temperature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken, turkey, duck and other poultry (whole, pieces or minced) | 74 °C (165 °F) | Check the thickest part of the breast and the thigh |
| Minced beef, pork, lamb and veal (burgers, sausages, kofta) | 71 °C (160 °F) | Always cooked through |
| Whole cuts of beef, lamb and veal (steaks, chops, joints) | 63 °C (145 °F) | Rest for at least 3 minutes |
| Whole cuts of pork (chops, tenderloin, loin) | 63 °C (145 °F) | Rest for at least 3 minutes |
| Fish | 63 °C (145 °F) | Or until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily |
If you are in the UK, the Food Standards Agency frames its advice a little differently. It asks for poultry, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs to be cooked until steaming hot all the way through, with no pink meat and juices that run clear, and it uses 70 °C (158 °F) held for two minutes as a benchmark. Whole cuts of beef and lamb, such as steaks, can be served pink as long as the outside is properly cooked. Guidance varies between other countries too, so if you are cooking for young children, older people, anyone pregnant or anyone with a weakened immune system, follow your local advice and lean towards cooking through.
Steak doneness: a matter of taste
In an intact whole cut of beef or lamb, bacteria sit mainly on the surface, which the grill cooks thoroughly. That is why many people happily eat steak pink in the middle. (It does not apply to rolled joints or mechanically tenderised steaks, where the surface has been pushed inside.) The USDA still recommends 63 °C (145 °F) as the minimum, so anything below that is a personal choice. Use this chart for steaks, lamb chops and joints, and never for burgers or poultry.
| Doneness | Take off the heat at | After resting | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | 47–49 °C (117–120 °F) | 50–52 °C (122–126 °F) | Deep red, barely warm centre |
| Medium-rare | 52–54 °C (126–129 °F) | 55–57 °C (131–135 °F) | Warm red-pink centre |
| Medium | 57–60 °C (135–140 °F) | 60–63 °C (140–145 °F) | Pink centre, firmer |
| Medium-well | 63–65 °C (145–149 °F) | 65–68 °C (149–154 °F) | A trace of pink |
| Well done | 68 °C (154 °F) | 70 °C (158 °F) and above | No pink, firm throughout |
Carryover cooking and resting
Meat keeps cooking after it leaves the grill, because the hot outer layers carry on pushing heat towards the centre. A thin steak might rise by only a degree or two; a thick steak or a joint can rise by 3–5 °C (5–10 °F) or more. That is why the chart suggests taking meat off a little before your target.
Resting also lets the juices settle, so less of them end up on the board. Give steaks and chops about 5 minutes, and larger joints and whole chickens 10 to 20 minutes, loosely covered with foil. For whole cuts, the USDA's three-minute rest is part of the safety guidance, not just a nicety.
How to use a meat thermometer properly
- Use a digital instant-read thermometer. It gives a reading in seconds, so the lid is not open for long. For long cooks, a leave-in probe with a wired or wireless display lets you keep watch without opening the grill at all.
- Find the thickest part. Push the tip into the centre of the thickest section, away from bone, fat and gristle, which all give misleading readings.
- Go in from the side on thin food. For burgers, chops and chicken breasts, insert the probe horizontally through the edge so the tip sits in the middle rather than poking out underneath.
- Check more than one spot. Food at the edge of the grill cooks differently from food in the middle. On a whole chicken, check the thickest part of the breast and the inner thigh.
- Test the thermometer now and then. Stand the probe in a glass packed with ice and a little cold water; it should read 0 °C (32 °F). If it does not, recalibrate it if the model allows, or allow for the difference.
Low-and-slow cuts play by different rules
Brisket, pork shoulder, beef short ribs and pork ribs are safe to eat long before they are pleasant to eat. They are full of connective tissue that only softens after hours of gentle heat, so pitmasters take them far beyond the safe minimum: pulled pork and brisket are typically cooked to around 90–96 °C (195–205 °F), and ribs are judged as much by how they bend as by a number. For these cuts, the thermometer tells you when to start checking for tenderness, not when to stop. Setting up a grill for this kind of cooking is covered in our guide to direct vs indirect grilling.
Common mistakes
- Testing the thinnest piece. Check the largest piece on the grill; if that is done, the rest will be.
- Touching bone with the probe. Bone conducts heat differently and gives a false reading.
- Cooking burgers like steak. Mincing spreads surface bacteria right through the meat, so burgers need 71 °C (160 °F) in the centre, however good the beef.
- Ignoring carryover. Take a thick steak off exactly at your target and it will be a stage past it by the time you eat.
- Cutting in to check. It lets juice run out and still does not tell you the temperature.
- Putting cooked meat back on the plate that held it raw. Use a clean plate and clean tongs.
Putting it into practice
BBQ Grill Secrets is built around the fire and the timings, and a thermometer is what turns a timing into a result you can trust. Good dishes to practise on are the Perfect Grilled Chicken Breast, the Classic Backyard Cheeseburger, the Grilled Pork Tenderloin and the Reverse-Seared Thick Pork Chops. You can also browse chicken recipes in the finder.
Questions people ask
Is pork safe if it is still slightly pink?
Under USDA guidance, whole cuts of pork such as chops and tenderloin are safe at 63 °C (145 °F) after a three-minute rest, and they may still look faintly pink. UK guidance has traditionally asked for pork to be cooked until there is no pink meat, so follow your local advice. Minced pork, including sausages, must reach 71 °C (160 °F) whatever it looks like.
My chicken reached 74 °C but looks pink near the bone. Is it safe?
If the thickest part has reached 74 °C (165 °F), it is safe by USDA standards. Pinkness near the bone is common in young birds, and grilling or smoking can leave meat pink near the surface. Check a couple of spots to be sure.
Do I really need a thermometer?
For chicken, burgers and anything thick, yes. A basic digital thermometer is inexpensive, lasts for years, and takes away the guesswork that leads to both undercooked and overcooked food.
How long should I rest a steak?
About five minutes is enough for most steaks, a little longer for very thick ones. Rest it on a warm plate, loosely covered, and slice it just before serving.