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Understanding Meat Temperatures

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Have you ever been out at a restaurant eating and ordered a dish that requires you to tell your server how done you wanted your meat? Were you unsure of how to answer the question when first asked? Not everyone knows that you’re able to eat meat cooked at various temperatures, but knowing what’s safe to eat and what puts you at risk can be extremely important.

Temperature

Before you attempt to go out and order the rare or medium rare steak, you should first understand what you’re getting yourself into. The temperature at which your meat is cooked will determine a lot of things. It determines the color, and how juicy and tender your meat will be. There are several levels that you can have your meat prepared at. The levels are rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, well done and overcooked.

Identifying Meat Levels

Meat prepared at the rare level will appear to be cold with a red center and soft. At the medium rare level meat will have a warm and red center and be a bit more firm. To identify your meat as being medium it will be pink and firm, with a decent warm temperature. When medium well meat will appear to have only a small amount of pink coloring left in the middle. Meat that is prepared to be well done will be gray or brown and firm. The internal temperature of the meat will cause it to be a bit more dry than the other levels before it. Overcooked meats will be black throughout and prepared to a crisp.

FDA Regulations

It is important to know that the FDA has certain regulations towards meat preparation. It is mandated that meat be cooked to safe internal temperatures, and also that a clean food thermometer is used that goes straight into the meat but does not go through to the pan. The FDA also requires that beef, veal, lamb roasts and steak be cooked to 145 degrees fahrenheit. They require that pork products and ground meats be cooked to 160 degrees fahrenheit. Be aware of these guidelines and the health complications that can come from eating hardly cooked meat.

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Q: Understanding Meat Temperatures
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