What are the minimum cooking temperatures for meat?

Can you tell a burger is done by its color?

• The Food Code minimum is 155°F for 17 seconds. The source protocols cook burgers to 160°F for a safety margin.
• Color is not a test. A brown center can still be under temperature.
• Push a thin-tip thermometer in from the side to the center of the thickest patty in each batch.
• Sanitize the probe between batches.
• Use clean tongs and a clean platter for cooked patties, never the raw-meat platter.
• Add cheese only after the patty is at temperature.

Sources: Food Code 3-401.11(A)(2) · Source protocols: how to cook hamburgers to temperature (160°F protocol target)

Can a roast cook at a lower temperature?

Whole beef, pork, lamb or ham roasts can cook at a lower temperature if held there longer. Some pairs from the chart:

• 130°F for 112 minutes
• 135°F for 36 minutes
• 140°F for 12 minutes
• 145°F for 4 minutes
• 158°F instantly

The hold time may include the heat rise after the roast leaves the oven. Roasts cooked this way may be hot-held at 130°F or above.

Sources: Food Code 3-401.11(B) · Food Code 3-501.16(A)(1) · docs/source/research/buffet-and-dinner-service.md

Can you serve a steak rare or a burger to order?

• A whole, intact beef steak may be served rare if the top and bottom are seared to 145°F with a cooked color on all outside surfaces. Not for highly susceptible groups.
• Anything else served raw or undercooked (burgers to order, soft eggs, raw fish) needs a written consumer advisory on the menu or a table tent, and is not served at all to highly susceptible groups.
• Never undercooked ground meat on a children's menu, and never for highly susceptible groups: there this food is not served at all, and the advisory does not replace that.
• Fish served raw or undercooked must be frozen first to kill parasites, with records, or come with the supplier's written freezing statement.
• Foods like aioli, Caesar dressing or meringue that aren't cooked use pasteurized eggs, unless the eggs are cooked to 145°F for 15 seconds (broken to a customer's order, served at once) or 155°F for 17 seconds, or the food is raw-egg food served on request with the advisory. Not at highly susceptible places, where pasteurized eggs go in every recipe that combines eggs.
• The Raw or undercooked card on Do records the menu check and the eggs, with your initials and the time.

Sources: Food Code 3-401.11(C)–(D) · Food Code 3-603.11 · Food Code 3-801.11 · Food Code 3-402.11, 3-402.12 · Food Code 3-302.13

The rules behind it

• Cooking temperatures. Poultry 165°F, ground meat 155°F for 17 s (protocol 160°F), steaks/chops/fish 145°F, microwave 165°F and stand 2 minutes. Food Code 3-401.11, 3-401.12; R392-102-12(2)
• Whole roasts: cook chart and 130°F holding. Whole meat roasts reach a chart temperature and time (130°F for 112 minutes up to 145°F for 4 minutes, or 158°F instantly) in a preheated oven; roasts cooked this way may be hot-held at 130°F instead of 135°F. Food Code 3-401.11(B), 3-501.16(A)(1); docs/source/research/buffet-and-dinner-service.md · source
• Consumer advisory for raw or undercooked food. Animal food served raw or undercooked on request (burgers to order, rare meat, soft eggs, raw fish) needs a written disclosure and reminder on the menu or a table tent, except a whole, intact beef steak seared top and bottom to 145°F with a color change (3-401.11(C)); never ground meat on a children's menu; a variance from your health department is the other way (3-401.11(D)(4)); and where a highly susceptible population is served this food may not be served at all, and the advisory does not replace that (3-801.11(C)). Food trucks: customers who order it are told it is not cooked enough to be safe (R392-102-15(3)(h)). Food Code 3-603.11, 3-401.11(C)–(D), 3-801.11(C); docs/source/research/buffet-and-dinner-service.md; docs/source/research/menu-items.md AE1-AE10; R392-102-15(3)(h) · source
• Parasite destruction for raw or undercooked fish. Fish served raw or undercooked is frozen first (-4°F for 7 days, or -31°F options) with records kept 90 days, or a supplier's written freezing statement. Not needed for fish cooked to 145°F. Food Code 3-402.11, 3-402.12; docs/source/research/buffet-and-dinner-service.md; R392-102-12(2) (Part 3-4) · source
• Pasteurized eggs in uncooked egg foods. Use pasteurized eggs in foods like aioli, mayonnaise, Caesar dressing, meringue, eggnog and ice cream, except food cooked to 145°F for 15 seconds (eggs broken to a customer's order for immediate service) or 155°F for 17 seconds (eggs in a dish or batch), or raw-egg food served on request with the consumer advisory (not at a highly susceptible place). Where a highly susceptible population is served, pasteurized eggs also go in any recipe where more than one egg is broken and combined, unless it is one customer's serving cooked at once, baked all the way, or under a HACCP plan (3-801.11(B) and 3-801.11(F)). Food trucks: a variance with a commissary HACCP plan is the only way to use raw shell eggs in uncooked food (R392-102-11(6)(d)). Food Code 3-302.13, 3-401.11(A), (D), 3-801.11(B), (F); docs/source/research/menu-items.md AE1-AE10; R392-102-11(6)(d) · source