Low and slow chicken safe temperature still 160F?

[dlaslo]

One way I cook chicken is I put dark and white meat pieces in the smoker and when almost cooked, lather the sauce on. Later, when 160F in the breast, I put them on the gas grill for a couple of minutes and put some grill marks on them.

I put a probe in one of the breasts and always wait forever for the magic 160F temperature. I watch the probe temperature stay on one temperature for minutes at a time on the way to 160. But the magic number of 160 is for short times in the oven at higher temperatures. The safe temperature is really a function of time and temperature ala sous vida.

So why can't we cook to a lower, juicier temperature? Like 150? Too risky? I've pulled chicken breasts early and the insides appear cooked through and through with a pink smoke ring.

[shify]

I prefer my chicken breast around 155 if not a few degrees lower.

But yes you are right that it’s a function of time and temp. The FDA recommends 165 cause at that temp chicken is pasteurized instantly. In other words if you pull the chicken off the instant it hits 165 and then cool it down or eat it immediately you will still have killed off all (or effectively all) of salmonella. At 155 it takes around a minute. Since you rest you meat after cooking and you get carry over cooking, I’m not worried about my chicken breast spending 1 min at 155 degrees. See the article from thermoworks for more details

https://blog.thermoworks.com/chicken/chicken-internal-temps-everything-you-need-to-know/

[Waiting for the Worms]

I agree. This article from Serious Eats has a nice chart that shows the relationship between time and temp for chicken. Long story short, if you hold it above 150° for 3 minutes, you're good to go. This article is geared to sous vide, but the heat source doesn't matter. The important thing is that you measure the temp at the coldest spot on your bird. I make sure to check several places to make sure I'm in the right spot.
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food...chicken-breast

[Starsky]

I haven't gotten sick yet!

[bbqLuv]

No pink for me. Like my chicken cooked done. 155*f with carry-over cooking works for me now that I have a digital temperature thingy, Thermapen Thermometer?

[Huskee]

I was going to link you to a reputable chart showing time:temp ratios, but willxfmr already did. We tend to think of the "safe" temps for various meats, but safe temps are really the "instant kill" temp. We can use lower, more palatable temps if they're held there for the proper time. I prefer breast meat to be 150ish, so much juicier. Dark meat I happen to prefer 180-190 or it's slimy to me.

[lostclusters]

Cook your chicken the way you prefer of course. But I believe the preferred method here for most is hot and fast. 385 - 400+ F grate temp, 155 F IT breast and 170 F thigh, usually will yield moist white meat and crispy bite through skin. BBQ sauce could be glazed on at the appropriate time in the cook near the end. The idea is that low and slow cooking with long cook times tends to dry out white meat.

And yes 150ish F held for 15 minutes is safe according to FDA guidelines.

Change 1: At least I thought it was 15 minutes. After consulting several references it may not take that long. IowaGirl what is the logarithmic scale time for 155 F? It looks like 47.7 seconds.

[rickgregory]

Yeah, you're fine a bit lower. I wouldnt go much lower though (like 140) since it would be hard to hold it there in a grill/smoker... and that texture is too soft for most.

Keep in mind that dark meat tends to feel a little slimy unless cooked to 170 or so. Not a safety issue, a texture one.

165 is, as others have noted, the simple, safe temp. You have no worries at that temp and in restaurant setting, a) it's harder/impossible to monitor the length of time something spends at a lower temp unless it's sous vide and b) they serve a wide variety of people and it's safest to assume there are some folks with less robust immune systems there, so you err on the safety side.

[Troutman]

Really good advice from all, it's time and temperature. That's the one thing I learned after doing sous vide cooking, but it applies to all forms of cooking.

Was wondering though, has anyone tried sous vide chicken breasts finished in an air fryer? Now that's modern cooking at it's best !!

[Waiting for the Worms]

No, but now I'm going to.

[dlaslo]

My wife can taste a "boiled" flavor in sous vide meats that she detests so I'll have to wait until she visits relatives.

[dlaslo]

Great advice from all......Next chicken cook...I'm trying 155F in the breast. Test 1 at 225 smoker temp and test two at a higher smoker temp and a stopwatch to check the time at 150 ish and will report back.

[BarbecueBob]

I agree that a chicken breast at 150-155 F is juicy and safe but I did find that the legs and thighs can be stringy. Spatchcocking the chicken certainly improved that.

[fracmeister]

I cook chicken thighs sous vide in large batches but 2-6 in a vacuum sealed bag. Toss them all in ice water and then to the fridge. I take out the ones I need and cook them however. Under the grill with some sauce, in a mushroom cream sauce after browning in cast iron... I just freaking love chicken. But the whole birds I smoke at 350+ in the Oklahoma Joe to 155 in the white meat. Wings on the gasser. So many ways to eat the charred flesh of deceased poultry.

[fzxdoc]

What sous vide temp do you use?

K.

[Dewesq55]

I've been poaching marinated breast tenders for Barbara and her daughter in the sous vide at 145°F recently. I use the time chart on serious eats. They come out very tender and juicy.

I like dark meat considerably more done than 165°. When I do Malcom Reed's BBQ chicken recipe it's cooked on a time schedule and the leg quarters generally get up to between 175 and 180° and they are perfect.

[Huskee]

I'm with you. Dark meat, to me, is slimy an unpalatable at 160-165. I like it 180-190 myself. Even wings I prefer extra well done.

[fzxdoc]

Yup, that Serious Eats article was a eye opener for me. I immediately began fiddling with chicken breast sous vide temps.

I sous vided chicken breasts at 145° and was sort of creeped out by all that pink meat. They were tasty, just a bit creepy to me. So I went up to 158° which worked fine for small breasts (4 to 6 ounces) but the for DD size breasts, I found them too stringy. So next I'm going to try 147° or even 150° and see how I like them there.

Thanks for your input, Dewesq55 .

K.

[crazytown3]

I have been cooking chicken breasts sous-vide to 150F, which gives me a little room for a quick pan sear or something. I tried higher and lower sous-vide temps too, but 150F seems to be the magic number for me.