Cooking Using Temperature Instead of Time

Lesson

As we travel the country making notes, testing recipes, and learning barbecue tips from chefs, we’ve settled on one method that we recommend to all barbecue enthusiasts: cooking-to-temperature rather than the old-fashioned cooking-to-time.

What does cooking-to-temperature mean? You rely on the temperature of the meat to know when it’s done, rather than relying on a certain time period. It takes the guesswork out of grillin’ and smoking. To use the cooking-to-temperature method, you just need a good meat thermometer.

If someone tells you to cook a steak, for “4 to 5 minutes,” there are many ways that advice can go wrong. Cooking for 4 to 5 minutes assumes that each steak is the same thickness, that there is no heat loss from the barbecue itself, and allows for no temperature variables inside the barbecue, with the fuel you are using, or the outside temperature or humidity. All of these variables contribute to inaccuracies, raw or over-cooked food, and assorted culinary disasters.

Cooking-to-temperature provides a much more accurate means of checking the doneness of your food. Time is only a guideline. Temperature rules in barbecue. To use the cooking-to-temperature method, you just need a good meat thermometer.

Below you’ll find temperature guidelines for various types of meat.

Chicken

Chicken and other poultry (turkey, duck, game hen, etc.) should be cooked until the temperature in the breast reads 165°F, and in the thigh reads 170°F.

Steak

Rare Below 145°F
Medium-rare 145°F
Medium 160°F
Medium-well 165°F
Well Done 170°F

Chops

It is generally accepted that pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F. This is true for most cuts, including shoulder, butt, tenderloin, loin chops (bone-in or boneless), pork patties, cutlets, tenderloin medallions, and leg of pork. But certain cuts can be cooked to a lower temperature and remain safe to eat. Loin roasts, crown roasts, and uncured fresh hams can be cooked to 160°F. And a fully cooked ham, which only needs to be warmed up, can be heated to 140°F.

The secret to cooking it just right

What is the secret to getting a perfectly cooked piece of meat? Take it off the grill when it reaches approximately 10° less than the temperature you’re aiming for. Letting the meat rest, covered, for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the type of meat, will allow the temperature to rise that final 10° and reach your desired temperature.

Chops are the exception to this rule: they need to be cooked to 160°F, as they are too thin to increase in temperature after they’ve been removed from the grill.