Meat Temperature Chart: Doneness, Carryover, Sous Vide

Wall chart

Pull → rest → final · 13 proteins

How to read a row: Pull is the temperature to take the meat off heat at. Rest is how long carryover needs to reach Final: the temperature it actually lands on, which is either a doneness preference or a food-safety minimum. Where final is below the USDA whole-muscle minimum of 145°F/63°C, that is a stated personal choice, not an official safe minimum. See Safety minimums.

Beef steak, 1″

PULL: 130°F / 54°C
REST: 5 min
FINAL: 132°F / 56°C

Medium-rare. Below the 145°F/63°C safety minimum: accepted because searing the intact exterior kills surface pathogens, since the interior was never exposed.

Beef roast, thick

PULL: 125°F / 52°C
REST: 20 min
FINAL: ~133°F / 56°C

Rare-to-medium-rare center. Large mass carries over further than a steak; pull earlier.

Ground beef patty

PULL: 160°F / 71°C
REST: none
FINAL: 160°F / 71°C

FSIS minimum, no safe lower option. Grinding distributes surface bacteria through the whole patty.

Pork chop, 1″

PULL: 140°F / 60°C
REST: 3 min
FINAL: 145°F / 63°C

The 2011-revised FSIS minimum: still pink and juicy, not the old 160°F well-done standard.

Pork shoulder, pulled

PULL: ~203°F / 95°C
REST: 30–60 min wrapped
FINAL: same

Texture endpoint (probe-tender collagen), not a safety number, and miles above the 145°F floor. See Low & slow.

Chicken breast, boneless

PULL: 160°F / 71°C
REST: 5 min
FINAL: 165°F / 74°C

Thin, lean cut: modest carryover. Pulling exactly at 165°F usually overshoots and dries it out.

Chicken thigh, bone-in

PULL: 175°F / 79°C
REST: 5 min
FINAL: ~180°F / 82°C

Well above the 165°F minimum by choice: thigh connective tissue wants a higher endpoint for texture, not safety.

Whole bird, roasted

PULL: breast 160°F / thigh 170°F
REST: 20–30 min tented
FINAL: breast 165°F / 74°C

Two zones cook unevenly; probe both. See Poultry specifics for why.

Turkey breast, bone-in

PULL: 155–158°F / 68–70°C
REST: 20 min
FINAL: 165°F / 74°C

Large mass: carryover of up to 10°F/5.5°C in ~15 minutes is documented for thick turkey breast, so pull earlier than instinct suggests.

Lamb chop / rack

PULL: 130°F / 54°C
REST: 5 min
FINAL: ~135°F / 57°C

Medium-rare. Same whole-muscle logic as beef steak applies.

Duck breast, skin-on

PULL: 130°F / 54°C
REST: 5–10 min
FINAL: ~140°F / 60°C

FSIS classifies duck as poultry (165°F minimum). Medium-rare duck breast is a widespread culinary convention reflecting duck's different Salmonella prevalence profile; it is not a USDA-sanctioned safe minimum.

Fish fillet

PULL: 140°F / 60°C
REST: none needed
FINAL: 145°F / 63°C

FSIS standard is 145°F or "opaque and flakes easily with a fork": the visual test, not just the number.

Shrimp

PULL: opaque, firm, C-shaped
REST: none
FINAL: same

FSIS gives shellfish no distinct numeric target on the consumer chart: pearly-opaque flesh is the standard, reached almost instantly given the small mass.

Doneness ladder for beef & lamb

6 bands · sous vide convention

Bands follow the sous vide-era convention (Anova/ChefSteps time-and-temperature guides), which is tighter than older steakhouse charts; other reputable sources place boundaries up to 5°F apart. Ground beef has no equivalent ladder: it must reach 160°F/71°C throughout regardless of preference.

Carryover cooking

Rise after heat is removed · 8 combinations

Carryover scales with two things: how much mass is holding heat, and how steep the temperature gradient was going in. A thin cut loses heat to the air almost as fast as the surface stops cooking; a thick roast keeps driving heat inward for many minutes after it leaves the oven.

Pull-temperature adjustment by mass & method8 ROWS

Cut / method	Typical rise	Practical rule
Thin steak or chop (≤1″), hot pan/grill	0–3°F / 0–1.5°C	Often negligible: pull at or just under target.
Boneless chicken breast, thin	~0°F	May not rise at all; pull close to the true final temperature.
Pork chop (1″), pan-seared	2–4°F / 1–2°C	Pull a few degrees under the 145°F target.
Thick steak/chop (1.5–2″), reverse sear	3–5°F / 2–3°C	Pull the sear step early; the low-temp phase already did most of the cooking.
Large roast (prime rib, loin), 325–350°F oven	~5°F / 3°C	Standard rule of thumb: pull 5°F below the target and let it coast there.
Large roast, low oven (225–250°F)	~5°F / 3°C	A gentler gradient means even a big roast carries over about the same as at higher heat.
Turkey breast / whole turkey, 325–350°F oven	up to 10°F / 5.5°C	Largest mass on this chart: documented rise of ~10°F in about 15 minutes. Pull well below 165°F.
Brisket / pork shoulder, low & slow	not carryover-driven	Doneness is a texture endpoint (probe-tender), not a temperature to coast toward. See Low & slow.

Source: Meathead Goldwyn, AmazingRibs.com, "Carryover Cooking": https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/carryover-cooking/. These are directional ranges, not a physical constant: actual rise depends on the specific oven, thermometer placement and how long the meat sits before carving.

USDA/FSIS safety minimums

The floor, stated plainly

Safe minimum internal temperaturesFSIS SAFE TEMPERATURE CHART

Category	Minimum	Rest
Beef, pork, lamb, veal: steaks, chops, roasts (whole muscle)	145°F / 63°C	3 minutes
Ground meats: beef, pork, lamb, veal	160°F / 71°C	none
Fresh ham (cook-before-eating)	145°F / 63°C	3 minutes
Precooked ham, reheated (USDA-inspected plant)	140°F / 60°C	none
Precooked ham/poultry, reheated (not USDA-inspected)	165°F / 74°C	none
All poultry: whole, parts, ground	165°F / 74°C	none
Egg dishes (casseroles, quiche)	160°F / 71°C	none
Fish (fin fish)	145°F / 63°C, or opaque & flakes easily	none
Shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops)	flesh pearly/opaque and firm, no distinct FSIS number	none
Leftovers & casseroles, reheating	165°F / 74°C	none

Source: USDA FSIS, "Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart": https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart, and "Hams and Food Safety": https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-catfish/hams-and-food-safety. The 145°F/63°C whole-muscle minimum and 3-minute rest replaced a 160°F pork standard on May 24, 2011. The previous number still circulates widely and is out of date.

Why ground meat is different

Grinding distributes any surface bacteria through the entire volume. A whole steak's interior was never exposed, so searing the outside handles the risk; ground meat has no unexposed interior, so the whole mass must reach 160°F/71°C.

Why whole-muscle rare is treated as safe

The 3-minute rest at 145°F/63°C is not a rounding convenience: FSIS states temperature holds or keeps rising during that window, which is what actually delivers the pathogen reduction, the same principle used in inspected processing plants.

Shape only, not to precise scale: see the full table below for exact minutes at each degree. The curve is the whole point. A lower temperature is not unsafe, it just needs a hold time nobody skips accidentally.

Pasteurization hold time: beef, pork, lamb (whole muscle)FSIS APPENDIX A · 7-LOG₁₀ SALMONELLA REDUCTION · 17 ROWS

°F	°C	Minimum hold time
130	54.4	121 min
132	55.6	77 min
134	56.7	47 min
136	57.8	32 min
138	58.9	19 min
140	60.0	12 min
142	61.1	8 min
144	62.2	5 min
145	62.8	4 min
146	63.3	182 sec (~3 min)
148	64.4	115 sec (~1.9 min)
150	65.6	72 sec (~1.2 min)
152	66.7	46 sec
154	67.8	29 sec
156	68.9	19 sec
158	70.0	0 sec
160	71.1	0 sec

Source: USDA FSIS Appendix A, "Compliance Guidelines for Meeting Lethality Performance Standards for Certain Meat and Poultry Products" (7-log₁₀ column), mirrored at https://www.michiganfoodsafety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/USDA-Appendix-A-Time-and-Temperature-Combinations.pdf. This is the actual mechanism sous vide relies on: hold time substitutes for temperature, all the way down to 130°F.

Danger-zone note (§Holding & reheating has the full rule): the come-up time through 50–130°F/10–54°C counts against you. Appendix A's guarantees assume the product does not linger for hours getting up to temperature, which is exactly why an unattended slow cooker or an oven left too low is a real risk even if the final number looks fine.

Sous vide time & temperature

Baldwin pasteurization tables · 23 rows

These are minimum pasteurization times for food safety at the stated temperature and thickness, starting from a refrigerated 41°F/5°C core, not a recommendation to cook that long for texture. Treat the minimum as a floor, never an upper limit: sous vide's other advantage is that most of these temperatures can hold for hours past the minimum without overcooking, unlike a stovetop.

Chicken/turkey breastTHICKNESS × TEMPERATURE · 12 ROWS

Thickness	Temperature	Minimum time
10 mm	140°F / 60°C	55 min
10 mm	145.5°F / 63°C	30 min
10 mm	149°F / 65°C	20 min
20 mm	140°F / 60°C	1 hr 15 min
20 mm	145.5°F / 63°C	50 min
20 mm	149°F / 65°C	40 min
30 mm	140°F / 60°C	1 hr 30 min
30 mm	145.5°F / 63°C	1 hr 15 min
30 mm	149°F / 65°C	55 min
40 mm	140°F / 60°C	2 hr 30 min
40 mm	145.5°F / 63°C	2 hr
40 mm	149°F / 65°C	1 hr 45 min

Thickness is the shortest dimension of the piece, not weight. Table 4.1 covers 1 million-fold reduction of Listeria and 10 million-fold of Salmonella.

Beef, pork & lambTHICKNESS × TEMPERATURE · 11 ROWS

Thickness	Temperature	Minimum time
10 mm	131°F / 55°C	2 hr
10 mm	140°F / 60°C	40 min
20 mm	131°F / 55°C	2 hr 30 min
20 mm	140°F / 60°C	1 hr 15 min
30 mm	131°F / 55°C	3 hr
30 mm	140°F / 60°C	1 hr 30 min
30 mm	149°F / 65°C	1 hr 15 min
40 mm	140°F / 60°C	2 hr
40 mm	149°F / 65°C	1 hr 30 min
50 mm	140°F / 60°C	2 hr 30 min
50 mm	149°F / 65°C	2 hr

Source (both tables): Douglas E. Baldwin, "A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking," Tables 4.1 & 5.1: https://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html. Beef/pork/lamb targets ≥5-log₁₀ Listeria, ≥6.5-log₁₀ Salmonella, ≥5-log₁₀ E. coli reduction.

Reading the minimum vs. the mistake: a 20 mm chicken breast at 140°F needs 1 hr 15 min minimum. Pulling it at 45 minutes because "the app said 140°F" skips the pasteurization step entirely. The temperature alone never pasteurizes; the paired time does.

Low & slow: the stall isn't a plateau to fight

Brisket & pork shoulder

Shape of a typical cook, not a timer. Total duration depends on pit temperature, cut size and how long the stall runs, which varies cook to cook.

Why the stall happens

As surface moisture evaporates, it cools the meat at roughly the same rate the pit is adding heat. Internal temperature holds nearly flat, often for hours, typically somewhere in the 150–170°F/66–77°C band.

What wrapping changes

Wrapping in foil or butcher paper ("the Texas crutch") traps surface moisture so it stops evaporating, removing the cooling effect and pushing the temperature climbing again. It does not add heat itself.

Why "done" is a feel, not a number

Collagen converts to gelatin over time at high sustained temperature; brisket and pork shoulder are judged probe-tender, meaning the probe should slide in with almost no resistance, commonly around 200–204°F/93–96°C, but the texture, not the number, is the actual endpoint.

Ribs use bend, not probe-tender

The same collagen logic applies, but the practical test is the bend/crack test on the rack rather than a probe, since rib meat is too thin to probe reliably.

Poultry specifics

Breast vs. thigh, whole-bird probing

Breast (165°F/74°C target) and thigh (higher by choice, for texture) finish at different rates. Probing only one risks either a dry breast or an underdone thigh.

Why breast and thigh diverge

Thigh meat is darker, fattier and more connective-tissue-rich; it stays moist and tender well past 165°F, so many cooks pull it to 175–185°F for texture. Breast dries out quickly above its 165°F minimum.

Pop-up timers overcook

They are fixed to breast-adjacent fat and calibrated conservatively; by the time they pop, the breast is typically well past 165°F.

The pink-near-the-bone myth

Pink meat next to bone in young birds is usually residual myoglobin/marrow pigment leaching into the bone-adjacent tissue during fast cooking, not a sign of undercooking, provided the measured internal temperature met the 165°F/74°C minimum.

Brining changes the carryover math

A brined bird holds more water, which changes how fast it comes up to temperature and how much it carries over. Probe by temperature, not by the clock you used for an unbrined bird.

Fish & shellfish

6 groups · parasite note for raw prep

Doneness by species group6 ROWS

Group	FSIS minimum	Common preference (culinary, not a safety minimum)
White flaky fish (cod, halibut, tilapia)	145°F / 63°C or opaque, flakes easily	Cooked through, little preference range below the minimum.
Salmon & other fatty fin fish	145°F / 63°C or opaque, flakes easily	Often served 120–130°F/49–54°C, translucent-pink center, below the FSIS minimum by deliberate choice.
Tuna, served rare/seared	145°F / 63°C for a fully cooked piece	Commonly seared surface-only, red/raw center: a raw-fish risk profile, not a "cooked to a lower number" one.
Shrimp, lobster, crab	flesh opaque and pearly, firm, no distinct FSIS number	Same visual endpoint; overcooking toughens quickly past done.
Scallops	opaque throughout, firm, no distinct FSIS number	Often seared to opaque-but-still-moist center; texture, not a temperature, is the practical target.
Mussels, clams, oysters (cooked)	cook until shells open; discard any that stay closed	Shell-opening is the standard doneness signal, not a thermometer reading.

Source: USDA FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart. Fish and shellfish both cite 145°F/63°C or the visual "opaque and flakes" test; shellfish does not get its own distinct number on the consumer chart.

Raw/undercooked fish (sushi-grade, ceviche, tartare): parasite destruction, not a cooking temperature. FDA Food Code §3-402.11 requires freezing at one of: −4°F/−20°C or below for 7 days; −31°F/−35°C or below until solid, then held at −31°F or below for 15 hours; or −31°F/−35°C or below until solid, then held at −4°F or below for 24 hours. This is a freezer specification, not a home-freezer default: most home freezers don't reach −31°F and many don't reliably hold −4°F. Exemptions include certain large tuna species and farm-raised fish fed formulated feed. "Sushi-grade" itself has no legal definition; it is a marketing term, not a food-safety standard. Source: FDA Food Code §3-402.11, reproduced in state adoptions e.g. https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/washington/WAC-246-215-03425.

Thermometers

4 types · calibration checks

Instrument types4 ROWS

Type	Response time	Best for	Limitation
Instant-read (digital probe)	2–5 sec	Spot checks on thin cuts, quick verification	Not left in the food; repeated piercing loses juice.
Leave-in wired probe	continuous	Roasts, whole birds, oven/grill/smoker monitoring	One fixed point only, misses uneven zones unless multiple probes are used.
Infrared (IR gun)	instant	Surface/griddle/oil temperature, not food doneness	Reads surface only; cannot measure internal temperature at all, and a reflective or wet surface further skews the reading.
Dial/bimetal	15–30 sec	Ovens, low-cost general use	Slow, often less accurate; needs the stem inserted 2–3″ deep to read correctly, which rules out thin cuts.

Ice-point calibration

Pack a glass with crushed ice, top with water, stir, insert the probe without touching the glass: it should read 32°F/0°C. Adjust or replace if it's off by more than a couple of degrees.

Boiling-point calibration

At sea level, boiling water reads 212°F/100°C. Boiling point drops with elevation, roughly 1°F for every 500 ft of elevation gain, so account for altitude before assuming the thermometer is wrong.

Probe placement rule

Insert into the thickest part, away from bone and fat pockets, without letting the tip touch the pan or grate. Bone conducts heat differently and a touched surface reads hotter than the food.

No brand recommendations here

Accuracy claims vary by model and lot; verify any specific thermometer against the ice-water check above rather than trusting a spec sheet.

Holding, danger zone & reheating

40–140°F / 4–60°C

Bacteria grow fastest inside this band: the reason "just warm" holding is unsafe even though it feels cooked.

2-hour rule

Perishable food should not sit in the danger zone more than 2 hours total; cut that to 1 hour if the ambient temperature is above 90°F/32°C.

Hot holding

Keep hot food at 140°F/60°C or above continuously: "keep hot foods hot," not just cooked once and left to drift.

Reheating

Leftovers and casseroles must reach 165°F/74°C when reheated, regardless of the temperature they were originally cooked to.

Sous vide holding looks like a violation and isn't

Holding food at, say, 140°F/60°C for hours is inside the danger-zone range by the numbers, but it is a controlled pasteurization hold at a validated time-temperature pair (see Sous vide). The rule is written for unmonitored, uncontrolled holding, not a calibrated water bath running a known lethality table.

Source: USDA FSIS, "Danger Zone (40°F–140°F)" and "How Temperatures Affect Food": https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/danger-zone-40f-140f. The FDA Food Code applies a related but distinct 4-hour time/temperature-control provision to retail and food-service operations; the 2-hour figure above is FSIS's consumer-facing rule.

Common mistakes

7 stop conditions

Cooking to final instead of pull temperature

Ignoring carryover means a turkey breast or thick roast overshoots by up to 10°F past the intended final temperature.

Probing through to the pan or bone

A grate- or bone-touching tip reads hotter than the meat and produces a false "done" reading.

Trusting the oven's own probe without calibration

Run the ice-water check first: a built-in probe can be off by several degrees out of the box.

Resting a thin steak until it's cold

Thin cuts carry over almost nothing and lose their sear-crisp exterior the longer they sit; rest briefly, not by a fixed long timer borrowed from a roast.

Applying the whole-muscle rare rule to ground meat

A rare burger has no unexposed interior: the 160°F/71°C ground-meat minimum has no safe lower option, unlike a steak.

Using the pre-2011 pork number

160°F pork is safe but dry and outdated; 145°F/63°C plus a 3-minute rest has been the FSIS standard since May 2011.

Treating a sous vide minimum time as a maximum

The Baldwin/FSIS tables give a floor for pasteurization, not a ceiling. Pulling at the minimum time on a whim, rather than after it, skips the safety margin entirely.

Sources

Accessed 2026-09-05

USDA FSIS, Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart: core minimums for meat, poultry, eggs, fish and leftovers.
USDA FSIS, Hams and Food Safety: fresh vs. precooked ham reheating minimums.
USDA, "Cooking Meat? Check the New Recommended Temperatures" (2011): the pork revision to 145°F + 3-minute rest.
CIDRAP, "USDA: 145 degrees is safe temp for pork": independent contemporaneous coverage of the 2011 revision.
USDA FSIS, Ground Beef and Food Safety: why ground meat needs a higher single-number minimum.
USDA FSIS, Danger Zone (40°F–140°F): 2-hour/1-hour rule and bacterial growth rate.
USDA FSIS, How Temperatures Affect Food: hot-holding minimum.
USDA FSIS Appendix A, Time and Temperature Table for Cooked Beef/Pork (not Poultry): full 130–160°F lethality table.
USDA FSIS, Time-Temperature Tables for Cooking Ready-to-Eat Poultry Products: chicken/turkey lethality tables by fat percentage.
Douglas E. Baldwin, A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking: Tables 4.1 (poultry) and 5.1 (beef/pork/lamb) pasteurization data.
Anova Culinary, Sous Vide Time and Temperature Guide: beef/lamb doneness band convention.
Meathead Goldwyn, AmazingRibs.com, Carryover Cooking: rise-by-mass-and-method data.
FDA Food Code §3-402.11 (Parasite Destruction), as adopted in Washington state code: raw fish freezing requirements.