Question about poultry cooking

[Kaptain Kadian]

I have always cooked poultry to 165,but my brother sent me this article about cooking poultry in a sous vide. It has me rethinking my poultry cooking. I recently cooked some boneless turkey breasts to 165 and they turned out kind of dry. I didn't brine or inject them, which I usually do. What temps do you guys take poultry to? It appears to be perfectly safe to cook poultry to 150 and rest for 3 minutes and it would kill all the bacteria as long as the internal temperature stays over 150. Seems like that would make for a much juicier poultry. Thanks.
https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast.html

 

[16Adams]

187* on cookers
212* on stove

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

187* on cookers
212* on stove

That seems really high

 

[16Adams]

Totally agree with you. A product of my upbringing where nothing was smoked and everything was boiled broiled fried or grilled well done plus. )

I found a 12# Butter Ball @98cents#. I plan to cook it on the Primo this afternoon or tomorrow morning. I won’t remove it till it reads pretty high. I don’t use probes, just a Thermapen and I don’t poke until I’m fairly certain it’s alread what “normal” cooks would consider done.

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

Totally agree with you. A product of my upbringing where nothing was smoked and everything was boiled broiled fried or grilled well done plus. )

I had to eat a few hockey puck burgers from my grandpa as well

 

[16Adams]

Fat yellow hen and home made noodles.*I can remember being really young visiting my grandparents in NE Oklahoma. Granny would ask one of her boys to get a chicken. Out the door and a neck was rung, plucked and into the pot. Growing up fetching killing gutting cleaning your own critters , I kind of understand why they cooked everything well done.



*stomach cramps

 

[Blythewood BBQ'er]

I take it to 165 on the white meat and 185 on the dark. Never really have noticed any issues with being dry. Now my wife can make some dry chicken, but I don't know what temp she cooks to!:-o

 

[Joshw]

I would not try to convert sous vide cooking recipes, to other methods of cooking. Even if a chicken is safe to eat at 150, doesn't mean it is going to be good to eat. There are more things to consider, than moisture. If you bring it to just 150 for 1 minute, I am guessing you are going to have some fairly tough stringy chicken. Sous vide works because of the longer cooking time. Plus try convincing your guests, that the pink chicken you are serving them, is not raw.

 

[4ever3]

Like Adams I go to 185°’ish... Never a dry chicken, or a dry eye after the first bite...

 

[NickTheGreat]

I generally take birds to 155° or 160° but I also typically brine them.

I've also read you can take them to 150° and hold for at least 5 minutes and be okay. But I've never tried that personally.

 

[EdF]

I would not try to convert sous vide cooking recipes, to other methods of cooking. Even if a chicken is safe to eat at 150, doesn't mean it is going to be good to eat. There are more things to consider, than moisture. If you bring it to just 150 for 1 minute, I am guessing you are going to have some fairly tough stringy chicken. Sous vide works because of the longer cooking time. Plus try convincing your guests, that the pink chicken you are serving them, is not raw.

Right about not using SV temps for other kinds of cooking. With SV you get tenderness and pasteurization through a combination of time and temp.

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

Right about not using SV temps for other kinds of cooking. With SV you get tenderness and pasteurization through a combination of time and temp.

I agree, I typically do not eat them right away when I cook them. I typically vacuum seal them and freeze them. I then use the sous vide to reheat them for a few hours.

 

[JVM59]

I try to always wet brine my chicken pieces (Oakridge Game Changer) and cook the breast to 165, remove and serve.
Holiday Turkeys are dry brined (Naturrific Harvest Brine) and removed from the cooker when the breast temp. is 160. Rested for 30 minutes, sliced and served.

 

[Ag76]

https://www.aamp.com/documents/Time-TemperatureTablesforPoultry.pdf

 

[Displaced Texan]

I always do a minimum of 165, but I brine every time. I'm just nervous about poultry as I do not want to poison the family.

 

[EricD]

I've always taken to 165. I personally am not a fan of sous vide chicken. Its moist, but gets rubbery. Not a fan of that consistency.

 

[smoke ninja]

I'm always amazed at folks who intentionally over cook chicken out of fear, especially when they have the proper tools. some handle chicken like its plutonium thinking it will save them from "poisoning" their family. same guys who overcook chicken on purpose rinse the bird off in the sink splashing pathogens all over the place.

I pull white meat at 160 dark at 185+. mostly for texture, chicken doesn't scare me, salad does

 

[MeatyOakerSmoker]

The USDA recommends 165 for instantly killing bacteria but you can kill them just as well at lower temps for longer durations.

 

[Smoking Piney]

I take it to 165 on the white meat and 185 on the dark. Never really have noticed any issues with being dry.

Same here. Never had any issues with dry breast meat.

 

[ironmanerik]

https://www.aamp.com/documents/Time-TemperatureTablesforPoultry.pdf

Someone posted this a couple years ago, I haven't gone to 165 on breast since. Thighs 175-185, not for safety just a texture preference.