Use a thermometer because there’s nothing worse than handing a guest or family member a beautiful piece of art on a paper plate consisting of potato salad handcrafted from your grandmothers recipe, slaw that you so carefully shredded, golden corn on the cob grilled to perfection and a chicken leg with skin so crispy and grill marks so defined that you want to slap yo mama. Oh, what a proud moment, your chin gets higher and your chest sticks out a little more with every ooh and aah that you hear as everyone ogles your masterpiece. Then as they start to devour your delectable delights you hear those dreaded words. “Is this blood? I think my chicken is still raw.” and like the wave, at a sporting event you hear the echoes around the table, “yeah mine too.” and your moment of glory suddenly turns into a moment of horror. All you want to do is tell your mother you’re sorry for slapping her.
Tip 1: Use a Thermometer
This situation could’ve easily been avoided, simply by using a meat thermometer. Always check the internal temperature of the meat.
You should always check the internal temperature of your meat when grilling. Especially if you are grilling chicken or pork. This is to ensure the food is cooked to the safe recommended temperature. Since undercooked pork or poultry can cause serious foodborne illness that can lead to hospitalization or even death.
Tip 2: How to check the temperature
When checking the internal temperature you want to check it in the center of the meat close to the bone if there is one. I prefer to use an instant-read thermometer for this because you can tell where the center of the meat is with a simple technique.
Here are the steps
- Get as close to the middle of the meat as you can judge, you don’t have to be exact but the closer the better.
- Slowly insert the thermometer into the meat, you will notice the temperature start to rise.
- As you get closer to the center you will notice the temperature start to drop and as you get close to going through the other side the temperature will start to rise again.
- Once the temperature starts to rise again back the thermometer out until it starts to drop and that is the center of the meat this is where your temperature should be the recommended value.
This is not an exact science so I suggest repeating these steps from a couple of different angles just to be sure.
Note: This technique works best on thicker cuts of meat.
Internal Temps For Meat:
Steak:
Rare: 130ºF to 135ºF
Medium Rare: 140ºF to 145ºF
Medium: 155ºF to 160ºF
Well Done 165ºF to 170ºF
Pork Chops:
155ºF to 160ºF
Chicken:
165ºF to 175ºF
Click here to see the USDA internal temperature chart
I hope the easy charcoal grilling tip I shared with you today was helpful. More to come soon!
Check out some grilling recipes here!
As Always,
Thanks for stopping by and
Happy Grilling!!!
Aundrey F,
Please feel free to comment below. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
