Meat Doneness Temperature Chart
The USDA publishes minimum safe internal cooking temperatures for a reason: undercooked meat and poultry are a genuine foodborne illness risk, and this chart lists those official minimums alongside the rest times and carryover cooking behavior that determine when to actually pull food off the heat.
USDA minimum safe temperatures by meat type
Whole poultry, ground poultry, and poultry parts (chicken, turkey, duck): 165°F (74°C). This applies to all poultry regardless of cut, since poultry carries a higher risk profile than red meat and has no 'medium-rare' safe zone the way beef does.
Ground meats (beef, pork, veal, lamb): 160°F (71°C). Grinding meat spreads any surface bacteria throughout the interior, which is why ground meat needs a higher minimum temperature than a whole cut of the same animal.
Beef, pork, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops: 145°F (63°C), followed by a 3-minute rest. This is the USDA minimum for whole-muscle cuts, corresponding to a solid medium doneness rather than the well-done many people mistakenly believe is required for safety.
Fresh pork (whole cuts): 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest, the same standard as beef and lamb whole cuts, reflecting modern pork's much lower parasite risk compared to decades past.
Fish and shellfish: 145°F (63°C), or until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork for fish without a reliable thermometer read.
Egg dishes: 160°F (71°C) for dishes containing eggs like casseroles and quiches, ensuring any bacteria in the egg itself is eliminated.
Why the USDA requires a rest time for whole cuts
The 3-minute rest time specified for whole-muscle beef, pork, veal, and lamb cuts is not just for juiciness, it is part of the official safety guidance, since holding the meat at that temperature for the rest period is what completes the pathogen reduction the temperature alone starts. Cutting into meat immediately after hitting the target temperature, before the rest, skips part of the safety margin the standard is built around.
Ground meat and poultry do not have this same rest-time safety requirement built into their minimums, since those temperatures are set high enough to achieve the necessary safety margin instantly rather than relying on a hold period afterward.
Carryover cooking: why you often pull meat below the target
Meat continues cooking after it leaves direct heat because residual heat in the outer layers keeps conducting inward, a phenomenon called carryover cooking, and larger or denser cuts carry over more than thin ones, sometimes rising 5-10°F (3-6°C) after removal from heat. Experienced cooks account for this by pulling meat a few degrees below the final target temperature and letting carryover and resting bring it up to the safe minimum.
This is a technique for hitting a target doneness precisely, not a way to work around the USDA minimums: the meat should still reach and hold the full safe temperature by the time you serve it, carryover is simply the mechanism that gets it there without overshooting into a drier, more overcooked result.