Page 112 - Turkey Book from Meathead

onfusion abounds over the proper temperature to
which you must heat turkey for safety and for maximum tenderness and juiciness. One of the problems is that the USDA changed the recommended minimum temperature for cooked poultry in 2006. Until then the USDA said we should cook white meat to 160°F and dark meat to 180°F, and if you were cooking a whole bird, take it all up to 180°F. The new USDA recommendation is 165°F for any and all parts of turkey and chicken. That means cookbooks published in 2006 or earlier are wrong. Worse, many celebrity cooks seem never to have gotten the word and it is common to hear them tell us to desiccate our birds by overcooking them to 180°F.
We say: Remove the turkey from the heat when the breasts hit 155°F. It will continue to rise to 160 to 165°F. At that temp it is perfectly safe. Any more and you will have cardboard.
Click here for a complete guide to the proper cooking temps for all meats, both USDA and restaurant chef recommendations.
C ERUTAREPMET GNIVRES