Rare, medium-rare, medium, or well-done? When cooking meat, a few degrees can make all the difference between a tender, juicy cut… and meat that’s a little overcooked.
Rather than relying solely on color, cooking time, or the well-known technique of pressing the meat with your finger, the internal temperature remains the best indicator of doneness.
And contrary to what you might think, not all meats follow the same rules. Some whole cuts can be served pink, while poultry and ground meats require more care.
In this article
- Internal Temperature: The Best Guide for Cooking
- Beef: Rare, Medium, or Well-done?
- Veal
- Lamb
- Pork: It doesn't have to be completely white
- Poultry: Here, we don't want it to be rare
- Duck
- What about ground meat?
- Why the Color of Meat Can Be Misleading
- How do you properly take the temperature of meat?
- Residual Cooking: Your Meat Continues to Cook Off the Heat
- Why should you let meat rest?
- Some Mistakes to Avoid When Using a Thermometer
- A small tool that makes a big difference
Internal Temperature: The Best Guide for Cooking
A recipe may call for cooking a steak for 3 minutes on each side or a roast for 45 minutes, but these guidelines are only approximate.
The thickness of the cut, its temperature before cooking, the heat of the grill, the type of pan, and even the shape of the meat can significantly affect the time required.
Internal temperature, on the other hand, tells you what’s actually happening inside the meat.
That’s why a meat thermometer is particularly handy: it lets you check doneness without having to cut into the meat and lose some of its juices.
Beef: Rare, Medium, or Well-done?
For a steak, roast, or rib of beef, the internal temperature allows you to achieve the desired level of doneness with reasonable precision.
As a culinary guide:
Rare: about 50 to 52 °C — center is red and very juicy
Medium-rare: about 54 to 57 °C — center is pinkish-red
Medium: about 60 to 63 °C — center mostly pink
Well-done: about 70 °C and above — very little or no pink in the center
Please note, however: these temperatures describe culinary doneness levels and do not necessarily correspond to minimum food safety recommendations.
For whole cuts of beef, official recommendations may vary depending on the type of cut and the desired doneness. For people who are more vulnerable to foodborne illnesses, cooking the meat more thoroughly is generally recommended.
Veal
Veal has a tender texture that can quickly become dry if overcooked.
For a rib, tenderloin, or roast, the following guidelines generally apply:
Medium-rare: about 60 to 63 °C
Medium: about 63 to 68 °C
Well-done: about 70 °C and above
As with beef, the desired temperature depends on the cut being prepared and the applicable food safety guidelines.
Lamb
Leg, rack, chops… lamb is often best enjoyed when the center is still slightly pink.
As a culinary guide:
Rare: about 55 °C
Medium-rare: about 57 to 60 °C
Medium: about 60 to 63 °C
Well-done: about 70 °C and above
For a leg or rack of lamb, a meat thermometer is especially useful, since the outside can be nicely browned while the center remains much less cooked.
Pork: It doesn't have to be completely white
For a long time, the tendency was to cook pork until there was absolutely no trace of pink left.
The result: chops and tenderloins that were sometimes much drier than necessary.
Today, a slight pinkish hue does not necessarily mean the meat is undercooked. The internal temperature is a much more reliable indicator than color alone.
For whole cuts such as chops, tenderloin, and roasts, generally aim for an internal temperature of at least 63 °C, followed by a resting period, while taking local food safety recommendations into account.
For further cooking:
Pink and juicy: around 63 to 65 °C
Medium: around 66 to 68 °C
Well-done: 70 °C and above
Poultry: Here, we don't want it to be rare.
Chicken, turkey, and other poultry require extra care.
Unlike a beef steak, poultry should not be served rare. Depending on the cut and applicable food safety guidelines, safe temperatures may also vary.
For a breast or other poultry cut, 74 °C is a common minimum internal temperature guideline.
For a whole bird, check for doneness in the thickest parts, particularly the breast and thigh, without touching the bones with the thermometer.
And above all, don’t rely solely on the color of the meat or the juices: the thermometer remains the best indicator.
Duck
Duck is a somewhat special case. In classic cuisine, duck breast is often served medium-rare, with cooking temperatures comparable to those of certain red meats:
Rare: about 55 to 58 °C
Medium-rare: about 58 to 60 °C
Medium: approximately 60 to 63 °C
Well-done: 70 °C and above
However, it is important to distinguish between gourmet cooking and food safety recommendations. Since duck is a type of poultry, cooking it to a higher temperature is recommended to reduce microbiological risks, particularly for vulnerable individuals.
Duck legs, on the other hand, are generally cooked for much longer. The goal here is tender meat that falls off the bone easily, rather than a pink center.
What about ground meat?
This is an important distinction. A whole steak and a hamburger should not be treated the same way.
In a whole cut of meat, any microorganisms that may be present are mainly found on the surface and are directly exposed to heat during cooking.
When meat is ground, this surface is mixed into the entire mixture. Microorganisms can therefore end up in the center.
That’s why ground meat generally needs to reach a higher internal temperature than whole steaks. For ground beef, pork, veal, or lamb, generally aim for an internal temperature of 71 °C. For ground poultry, aim for 74 °C.
In other words, a hamburger isn’t just a small steak: from a food safety perspective, the rules are different.
Why the Color of Meat Can Be Misleading
The color of meat depends on many factors: its pH, age, cooking method, the presence of certain pigments, and even its exposure to smoke.
Meat can therefore appear pink even though it has reached a safe temperature. Conversely, it may look fully cooked even though its internal temperature is still too low.
Color provides a clue. A thermometer provides a measurement.
How do you properly take the temperature of meat?
To get a reliable reading, insert the probe into the thickest part of the meat, ideally all the way to the center.
Avoid touching:
- a bone;
- a large area of fat;
- the baking sheet, grill, or skillet;
- an empty cavity inside a whole bird.
For a relatively thin steak, it may be easier to insert the thermometer from the side so that the tip actually reaches the center.
For a large roast or a whole bird, ideally check the temperature in several places, since cooking isn’t always perfectly even.
Residual Cooking: Your Meat Continues to Cook Off the Heat
Removing meat from the grill or oven does not immediately stop the cooking process.
The heat accumulated on the outside continues to move toward the center for a few minutes. This is called residual cooking.
Depending on the size and thickness of the cut, the internal temperature may still rise by a few degrees while resting.
For some large cuts, this increase can be particularly significant.
That’s why you can sometimes remove meat a few degrees before the desired final temperature, then let it finish cooking while resting.
Be careful, however: when a minimum temperature is specified for food safety reasons, make sure the meat actually reaches the recommended temperature.
Why should you let meat rest?
Resting isn’t just about taking advantage of residual heat.
During cooking, muscle fibers contract and moisture redistributes within the meat. Allowing it to rest for a few minutes before slicing helps minimize the amount of juice that immediately runs off onto the cutting board.
For a steak, 5 to 10 minutes may be enough.
A large roast or a substantial cut may require 15 to 30 minutes, depending on its size.
You’ll usually notice the difference when you cut into it.
Some Mistakes to Avoid When Using a Thermometer
Taking the temperature too close to the bone
Bone conducts heat differently than meat and can give a reading that doesn’t reflect the actual temperature at the center of the meat.
Measuring in only one spot
For a large cut, check several areas to identify the least cooked part.
Cutting into the meat to check
In addition to being much less accurate, constantly cutting into a steak or roast causes more juices to escape.
Forgetting to clean the probe
After touching raw or undercooked meat, clean the thermometer thoroughly before using it again on cooked food.
Relying solely on the cooking time listed in a recipe
Two steaks of the same weight may have different thicknesses and require very different cooking times.
A small tool that makes a big difference
A meat thermometer isn’t just for large roasts or professional chefs.
It’s probably one of the simplest tools for achieving more consistent results: a chicken that’s cooked through without being unnecessarily dry, a pork tenderloin that’s still juicy, or a steak cooked exactly the way you like it.
Because at the end of the day, the number of minutes in the pan is just a guideline. It’s the internal temperature that really tells you how your food is coming along.
