February 26, 2025 • 12 mins
I kept finding myself going back to Google constantly to remind myself about what temperature different foods needed to reach to be considered done. So I put them together here as a quick guide - for myself and for you!
Welcome to The From Scratch Body! I’m Liv - and I believe that anyone can cook. Since being diagnosed with endometriosis, I have been on a journey to find out what food makes me feel great. By cooking from scratch I have not only started feeling much better, but also fallen in love with cooking completely! Join me for my weekly food topic and recipe here on my podcast, and check out my website for the transcripts and more. Find me on Instagram, and on YouTube.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Liv (00:04):
You are listening to the From Scratch Body. I'm Liv, and
I believe that when we make ourown food from base ingredients,
our bodies will thank us. Iwanna help you with the skills,
the knowledge, and mostimportantly, the confidence you
need to make food at home inyour own kitchen on your terms
to fit your body. So every weekI share a health topic or a
(00:28):
recipe or both which will takeyou on a journey to effortless
cooking step by step and you canalways find the topics and
recipes in writing on my websitethe from scratch body dot com
Welcome back to the From ScratchBody. Today, we are talking
about food temperatures.
(00:50):
Is it done yet? I kept findingmyself going back to Google
constantly to remind myselfabout what temperature different
foods needed to reach to beconsidered done. And my husband
always asks me as well, what'sthe temperature for chicken
again? So I thought for myself,for him, for other people who
have the same issue, I've puttogether a quick guide. This is
(01:14):
also on my website if you wannahave it ready.
You can print it out if youlike. Now when you're doing a
steak or even baking a loaf ofbread, understanding these
temperatures, is, you know, insome cases, it's crucial for
your health, obviously, becauseyou don't wanna eat food that's
not thoroughly cooked. But inother instances, it's just very
helpful to avoid disappointment.The latter, you know, bread
(01:37):
being a great example of thisbecause if you're eating some
bread that's a little bitunderdone, it's probably not
gonna be detrimental to yourhealth, but it's really
disappointing if you've madelike a massive beautiful looking
loaf, and it could have donewith another 5 minutes in the
oven. And if you just put, youknow, a meat thermometer in
there, a food thermometer inthere to check the temperature,
(01:59):
it could have told you that itneeded a bit longer so you don't
have to sort of tuck into thebread and see, it's a bit
underdone.
So it's about safety, but it'salso about flavor. It's about,
you know, avoidingdisappointment, basically, when
you've put in the work ofcooking something from scratch.
So this is helpful in manydifferent ways. I've gone
through some of the most commonthings here that you you really
(02:23):
need to know the temperaturefor. I've done beef, pork, fish,
chicken and turkey, basicallypoultry, and bread.
So I'm gonna just list theseout. It's a bit much to maybe
try and remember in your head,but I'm gonna run through them.
But they are, as I say, also onthe website. So if you wanna do
a printout of it and put itinside one of your kitchen
(02:45):
cupboards doors or something, itmight be handy to, to come back
to this one. And for my lovelyAmerican listeners, I have, of
course, included Fahrenheit.
So here we go. Beef being first.Preferences with beef vary a
lot. You know, some people lovejuicy, nearly rare steaks, and
(03:07):
others prefer a more textured,well done steak. So you have a
few options here, but you haveto keep in mind this is
important that a steak that'sserved on the rarer side, more
rare side, needs to be qualitymeat and it needs to be handled
properly by people who know whatthey're doing.
So if you feel like you're notthe one to do this, you know, be
(03:30):
honest with yourself about this.Maybe be realistic about the
fact that you can have a lovelysteak at home, that's lovely and
juicy and tender without itneeding to be rare or medium
rare. So just, you know, if youif you sear the steak well,
meaning that you cook it at hightemperature first so you seal
(03:51):
the fat inside, that reallyhelps our juiciness, and you can
still do it, you know, medium,medium well or more on the
cooked side and it's still niceand tender. That being said,
here are the temperatures thatthe Internet tells me. Rare is
50 to 55 degrees Celsius, that's120 to 130 Fahrenheit.
(04:12):
Medium rare, 55 to 60 Celsius,which is 130 to 140 Fahrenheit.
Medium is 60 to 65 Celsius, 140to 150 Fahrenheit. Medium well
is 65 to 70, 150 to 160Fahrenheit, and well done is
above 70 degrees internally.That's 160 Fahrenheit and above.
(04:37):
I recently did steak for myhusband, my baby, and myself,
and we learned that, because Idid really, really nice steak if
I do say so myself, but it was,you know, slightly pink inside
and I thought, can babiesactually have, steak that's a
little bit pink inside?
And looking at it online,searching and googling a little
(04:59):
bit, I learned that it's finefor them to have steak that's a
bit pink on the inside if it's63 degrees Celsius or above. So,
if if that's something that'sinteresting to you, that's a
little extra bonus, temperaturethere. For pork, this is a bit
more, straightforward. Porkshould be cooked thoroughly to
(05:20):
kill any harmful bacteria, But,of course, you don't wanna
overcook it because it can leadto dryness unless you don't mind
it being a bit drier. But if youaim for a blush of pink in the
center, then you're kind of onthe right track.
But if you wanna check theinternal temperature, medium,
done pork is 63 degrees Celsiusor above. That's a 145
(05:42):
Fahrenheit, and well done is 71degrees Celsius, 1 60 Fahrenheit
or above if you wanna beabsolutely safe and sure about
that. With fish, fish variesobviously because there are so
many different types of fish andthey behave slightly differently
when you cook them. But thegeneral rule is cook fish until
(06:02):
the flesh is opaque and easilyflakes with a fork. Now fish is
generally done around 60 to 65degrees Celsius, which is 140 to
150 Fahrenheit, but it variesslightly depending on the type
and thickness of the fish.
So for fish, I definitely wouldsay speaking from, experience
that it's more about the thetexture and you can quite easily
(06:25):
see that it's cooked throughbecause it looks so different.
And, yes, go for that flakinesswith fish, and then you will be
quite confident that it iscooked through. For chicken and
turkey, I've done these togetherbecause it's exactly the same
temperatures. Whole chicken orturkey is 74 degrees Celsius or
(06:46):
above, 165 Fahrenheit. Chickenbreasts or turkey breast is 68
to 74 degrees Celsius.
It's done. So that's 155 to 165Fahrenheit. Chicken thighs and
wings, turkey thighs, turkeywings is also 74 and above just
(07:07):
like a whole, chicken or wholeturkey. Now, personally, I will
always go to 74 degrees Celsiusminimum for all poultry even if
it's just a chicken breast,which which this guide is
telling me is 68 is enough. ButI do find that, 74, I feel like,
is a safe minimum for me, 165Fahrenheit.
(07:31):
I don't feel like it's it's gotthe chance to get dry at that
temperature. So I wouldpersonally, to be safe, go to 74
degrees there. Now for bread,people kind of sometimes forget
that you can stick a meatthermometer in a bread and check
if that's done, as well. And itreally depends on what kind of
(07:51):
bread. If you're doing a softbread, then somewhere between 88
to 99 degrees Celsius, 190 to210 Fahrenheit, will mean that
it's done.
More crusty bread, 96 to a100 4degrees Celsius, so that's 205
to 220 Fahrenheit, and quickbreads like a banana bread, for
(08:12):
example, which is more like acake. You just need to get it
above 88 degrees Celsius. That's190 Fahrenheit. When I was doing
a lot of sourdough, which I wasdoing last year especially, I
learned that the perfect innertemperature because I didn't
wanna waste, you know, asourdough loaf when I'd made
that. So I I checked, you know,scoured the Internet for, you
(08:34):
know, what's the righttemperature for this bread to be
done.
And what I kept coming acrosswas between 96 to 98 degrees
Celsius, which is quite a smallmargin, of course, but around
there was the perfecttemperature for it to be done,
and I really found that to be agreat guide for sourdough loaf.
So, I guess that would kind ofcount as crusty bread, which is
(08:56):
96 to a 104, as I said. But,yeah, 96 to 98 is perfect for a
loaf of sourdough in myexperience. Mastering these
(09:17):
internal cooking temperatureswill help you feel confident in
what you're serving up to notjust yourself but to others as
well. And whether you're anovice in the kitchen or an
experienced home cook,understanding these temperatures
will make things a lot easier.
Now how do you test thetemperatures? As I say, a
thermometer, normally called ameat thermometer, though it
(09:38):
doesn't have to be used just onmeat, is one of the most helpful
tools you can get in the kitchenin my experience. I use mine so
much. There are super smart onesthat cost a lot and come with
things like, a complimentary,you know, smartphone app and
stuff like that. But, honestly,I I would say that a simple one
(09:59):
for 10 to £20 or, you know, yourcountry's equivalent to that
price normally does the trick.
There are also old school onesthat you can stick in the meat
and keep in the oven, like in awhole chicken, for example.
Maybe your parents will have oneof those at home that they don't
use a lot, and you can, you canborrow that or, you know, you
(10:20):
can get one in, secondhand shopor something. And there are
others that you can stick in tojust test when you take the food
out. Remember to clean your meatthermometer thoroughly after
each use. An important note isthat temperatures are a bit of
trial and error and experiencein the kitchen, and what I mean
by that is that a lot of foodcontinues to rise in temperature
(10:43):
after they're taken out of theoven.
This is resting or carryovercooking, which I'll have to talk
about more, at some other stage,I think, because there's a bit
of science to it, and I'm notsure if I fully understand it
myself. But, basically, foodcontinues to rise in temperature
internally after you've taken itout of the oven because it is
(11:06):
gonna be hotter on the outsideand that food carries over and
in more internally, so it willwarm up after you've taken it
out as well. So this is anotherthing to take into account when
you wanna get something at theright temperature, but don't get
too bogged down in those detailsnow and instead just get cooking
because you will learn by doing.If I missed anything or if you
(11:30):
have any useful tips to add whenit comes to food doneness,
please do email me atliv@thefromscratchbody.com or
you can message me on socialmedia as well. And I will be
here next week.
(11:53):
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode. There are tons
of recipes for you to try on mywebsite, my YouTube channel, and
also on social media channels.Just search for the from scratch
body, and you'll find me. Saveuseful topics and inspiration
for the future, and try to havefun and experiment when you cook
at home. And remember, cook fromscratch, and your body will
(12:14):
thank you.
I'll catch you next week.
You are listening to the From Scratch Body. I'm Liv, and
I believe that when we make ourown food from base ingredients,
our bodies will thank us. Iwanna help you with the skills,
the knowledge, and mostimportantly, the confidence you
need to make food at home inyour own kitchen on your terms
to fit your body. So every weekI share a health topic or a
(00:28):
recipe or both which will takeyou on a journey to effortless
cooking step by step and you canalways find the topics and
recipes in writing on my websitethe from scratch body dot com
Welcome back to the From ScratchBody. Today, we are talking
about food temperatures.
(00:50):
Is it done yet? I kept findingmyself going back to Google
constantly to remind myselfabout what temperature different
foods needed to reach to beconsidered done. And my husband
always asks me as well, what'sthe temperature for chicken
again? So I thought for myself,for him, for other people who
have the same issue, I've puttogether a quick guide. This is
(01:14):
also on my website if you wannahave it ready.
You can print it out if youlike. Now when you're doing a
steak or even baking a loaf ofbread, understanding these
temperatures, is, you know, insome cases, it's crucial for
your health, obviously, becauseyou don't wanna eat food that's
not thoroughly cooked. But inother instances, it's just very
helpful to avoid disappointment.The latter, you know, bread
(01:37):
being a great example of thisbecause if you're eating some
bread that's a little bitunderdone, it's probably not
gonna be detrimental to yourhealth, but it's really
disappointing if you've madelike a massive beautiful looking
loaf, and it could have donewith another 5 minutes in the
oven. And if you just put, youknow, a meat thermometer in
there, a food thermometer inthere to check the temperature,
(01:59):
it could have told you that itneeded a bit longer so you don't
have to sort of tuck into thebread and see, it's a bit
underdone.
So it's about safety, but it'salso about flavor. It's about,
you know, avoidingdisappointment, basically, when
you've put in the work ofcooking something from scratch.
So this is helpful in manydifferent ways. I've gone
through some of the most commonthings here that you you really
(02:23):
need to know the temperaturefor. I've done beef, pork, fish,
chicken and turkey, basicallypoultry, and bread.
So I'm gonna just list theseout. It's a bit much to maybe
try and remember in your head,but I'm gonna run through them.
But they are, as I say, also onthe website. So if you wanna do
a printout of it and put itinside one of your kitchen
(02:45):
cupboards doors or something, itmight be handy to, to come back
to this one. And for my lovelyAmerican listeners, I have, of
course, included Fahrenheit.
So here we go. Beef being first.Preferences with beef vary a
lot. You know, some people lovejuicy, nearly rare steaks, and
(03:07):
others prefer a more textured,well done steak. So you have a
few options here, but you haveto keep in mind this is
important that a steak that'sserved on the rarer side, more
rare side, needs to be qualitymeat and it needs to be handled
properly by people who know whatthey're doing.
So if you feel like you're notthe one to do this, you know, be
(03:30):
honest with yourself about this.Maybe be realistic about the
fact that you can have a lovelysteak at home, that's lovely and
juicy and tender without itneeding to be rare or medium
rare. So just, you know, if youif you sear the steak well,
meaning that you cook it at hightemperature first so you seal
(03:51):
the fat inside, that reallyhelps our juiciness, and you can
still do it, you know, medium,medium well or more on the
cooked side and it's still niceand tender. That being said,
here are the temperatures thatthe Internet tells me. Rare is
50 to 55 degrees Celsius, that's120 to 130 Fahrenheit.
(04:12):
Medium rare, 55 to 60 Celsius,which is 130 to 140 Fahrenheit.
Medium is 60 to 65 Celsius, 140to 150 Fahrenheit. Medium well
is 65 to 70, 150 to 160Fahrenheit, and well done is
above 70 degrees internally.That's 160 Fahrenheit and above.
(04:37):
I recently did steak for myhusband, my baby, and myself,
and we learned that, because Idid really, really nice steak if
I do say so myself, but it was,you know, slightly pink inside
and I thought, can babiesactually have, steak that's a
little bit pink inside?
And looking at it online,searching and googling a little
(04:59):
bit, I learned that it's finefor them to have steak that's a
bit pink on the inside if it's63 degrees Celsius or above. So,
if if that's something that'sinteresting to you, that's a
little extra bonus, temperaturethere. For pork, this is a bit
more, straightforward. Porkshould be cooked thoroughly to
(05:20):
kill any harmful bacteria, But,of course, you don't wanna
overcook it because it can leadto dryness unless you don't mind
it being a bit drier. But if youaim for a blush of pink in the
center, then you're kind of onthe right track.
But if you wanna check theinternal temperature, medium,
done pork is 63 degrees Celsiusor above. That's a 145
(05:42):
Fahrenheit, and well done is 71degrees Celsius, 1 60 Fahrenheit
or above if you wanna beabsolutely safe and sure about
that. With fish, fish variesobviously because there are so
many different types of fish andthey behave slightly differently
when you cook them. But thegeneral rule is cook fish until
(06:02):
the flesh is opaque and easilyflakes with a fork. Now fish is
generally done around 60 to 65degrees Celsius, which is 140 to
150 Fahrenheit, but it variesslightly depending on the type
and thickness of the fish.
So for fish, I definitely wouldsay speaking from, experience
that it's more about the thetexture and you can quite easily
(06:25):
see that it's cooked throughbecause it looks so different.
And, yes, go for that flakinesswith fish, and then you will be
quite confident that it iscooked through. For chicken and
turkey, I've done these togetherbecause it's exactly the same
temperatures. Whole chicken orturkey is 74 degrees Celsius or
(06:46):
above, 165 Fahrenheit. Chickenbreasts or turkey breast is 68
to 74 degrees Celsius.
It's done. So that's 155 to 165Fahrenheit. Chicken thighs and
wings, turkey thighs, turkeywings is also 74 and above just
(07:07):
like a whole, chicken or wholeturkey. Now, personally, I will
always go to 74 degrees Celsiusminimum for all poultry even if
it's just a chicken breast,which which this guide is
telling me is 68 is enough. ButI do find that, 74, I feel like,
is a safe minimum for me, 165Fahrenheit.
(07:31):
I don't feel like it's it's gotthe chance to get dry at that
temperature. So I wouldpersonally, to be safe, go to 74
degrees there. Now for bread,people kind of sometimes forget
that you can stick a meatthermometer in a bread and check
if that's done, as well. And itreally depends on what kind of
(07:51):
bread. If you're doing a softbread, then somewhere between 88
to 99 degrees Celsius, 190 to210 Fahrenheit, will mean that
it's done.
More crusty bread, 96 to a100 4degrees Celsius, so that's 205
to 220 Fahrenheit, and quickbreads like a banana bread, for
(08:12):
example, which is more like acake. You just need to get it
above 88 degrees Celsius. That's190 Fahrenheit. When I was doing
a lot of sourdough, which I wasdoing last year especially, I
learned that the perfect innertemperature because I didn't
wanna waste, you know, asourdough loaf when I'd made
that. So I I checked, you know,scoured the Internet for, you
(08:34):
know, what's the righttemperature for this bread to be
done.
And what I kept coming acrosswas between 96 to 98 degrees
Celsius, which is quite a smallmargin, of course, but around
there was the perfecttemperature for it to be done,
and I really found that to be agreat guide for sourdough loaf.
So, I guess that would kind ofcount as crusty bread, which is
(08:56):
96 to a 104, as I said. But,yeah, 96 to 98 is perfect for a
loaf of sourdough in myexperience. Mastering these
(09:17):
internal cooking temperatureswill help you feel confident in
what you're serving up to notjust yourself but to others as
well. And whether you're anovice in the kitchen or an
experienced home cook,understanding these temperatures
will make things a lot easier.
Now how do you test thetemperatures? As I say, a
thermometer, normally called ameat thermometer, though it
(09:38):
doesn't have to be used just onmeat, is one of the most helpful
tools you can get in the kitchenin my experience. I use mine so
much. There are super smart onesthat cost a lot and come with
things like, a complimentary,you know, smartphone app and
stuff like that. But, honestly,I I would say that a simple one
(09:59):
for 10 to £20 or, you know, yourcountry's equivalent to that
price normally does the trick.
There are also old school onesthat you can stick in the meat
and keep in the oven, like in awhole chicken, for example.
Maybe your parents will have oneof those at home that they don't
use a lot, and you can, you canborrow that or, you know, you
(10:20):
can get one in, secondhand shopor something. And there are
others that you can stick in tojust test when you take the food
out. Remember to clean your meatthermometer thoroughly after
each use. An important note isthat temperatures are a bit of
trial and error and experiencein the kitchen, and what I mean
by that is that a lot of foodcontinues to rise in temperature
(10:43):
after they're taken out of theoven.
This is resting or carryovercooking, which I'll have to talk
about more, at some other stage,I think, because there's a bit
of science to it, and I'm notsure if I fully understand it
myself. But, basically, foodcontinues to rise in temperature
internally after you've taken itout of the oven because it is
(11:06):
gonna be hotter on the outsideand that food carries over and
in more internally, so it willwarm up after you've taken it
out as well. So this is anotherthing to take into account when
you wanna get something at theright temperature, but don't get
too bogged down in those detailsnow and instead just get cooking
because you will learn by doing.If I missed anything or if you
(11:30):
have any useful tips to add whenit comes to food doneness,
please do email me atliv@thefromscratchbody.com or
you can message me on socialmedia as well. And I will be
here next week.
(11:53):
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode. There are tons
of recipes for you to try on mywebsite, my YouTube channel, and
also on social media channels.Just search for the from scratch
body, and you'll find me. Saveuseful topics and inspiration
for the future, and try to havefun and experiment when you cook
at home. And remember, cook fromscratch, and your body will
(12:14):
thank you.
I'll catch you next week.
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