Meat Temperature Chart: Safe Temps & Doneness 2026

The USDA safe minimum temperatures

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service publishes one safe minimum internal temperature for each kind of meat, and the number is the temperature the thickest part has to reach. Beef steak, beef roast, pork chop, pork roast, lamb chop, fresh ham, and fish fillet all sit at 145°F (63°C), with a 3-minute rest for the steaks, roasts, and chops. Ground beef and egg dishes sit at 160°F (71°C) with no rest. Chicken breast, whole chicken and turkey, ground poultry, and casseroles and leftovers sit at 165°F (74°C) with no rest. Fully cooked ham reheats to 140°F (60°C) from a USDA-inspected plant; every other fully cooked ham reheats to 165°F. Shrimp and shellfish get no number at all: the USDA says to cook until the flesh is pearly or white, and opaque. The °C values are the USDA’s own rounded conversions (63, 71, 74, 60), and the temperatures are measured in the thickest part, away from bone and fat. The table below is the chart, in the USDA’s order.

At the default — beef steak, medium-rare, current temperature 70°F — the target is 133°F, the USDA safe minimum is 145°F, the rest is 3 min, the pull temperature is 128°F (133 − 5, lands at 133°F after rest), the degrees to go are 63°F, and the verdict is Below the USDA safe minimum of 145°F — your choice, not the USDA-safe result.

Beef-steak doneness bands

A steak’s doneness is a band, not a number, and the target is the band’s midpoint, rounded. Rare is 120–130°F and targets 125°F. Medium-rare is 130–135°F and targets 133°F (the midpoint is 132.5°F, rounded up). Medium is 135–145°F and targets 140°F. Medium-well is 145–155°F and targets 150°F. Well-done is 155–165°F and targets 160°F. The pull temperature is the target minus 5°F for cuts with a 3-minute rest, because carryover cooking adds about 5°F while the meat rests: pull a medium-rare steak at 128°F and it lands at 133°F. Cuts with no rest pull at the target itself. Doneness below 145°F is a personal choice below the USDA safe minimum — this page never presents rare or medium-rare as safe.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: beef steak, medium-rare, current internal temperature 70°F.

Line 1 — the target. Medium-rare is the 130–135°F band; its midpoint, rounded, is 133°F.

Line 2 — the USDA safe minimum. Beef steak is 145°F (63°C), with a 3-minute rest.

Line 3 — the pull temperature. The cut rests, so pull = 133 − 5 = 128°F; carryover cooking during the 3-minute rest lands it at 133°F.

Line 4 — the degrees to go. 133 − 70 = 63°F.

Line 5 — the verdict. 133°F is below 145°F, so the verdict is Below the USDA safe minimum of 145°F — your choice, not the USDA-safe result.

Reverse: 145°F on a beef steak is the medium-well threshold AND the USDA safe minimum — the lowest doneness that is USDA-safe. The highest doneness still below the USDA safe minimum is medium (target 140°F); medium-well (target 150°F) is the first USDA-safe doneness. Pull at 140°F and carryover cooking during the 3-minute rest lands at 145°F, the USDA safe minimum. A medium-rare steak at 120°F has 13°F to go (133 − 120); at 140°F it is 7°F past target (overshoot).

Every branch, checked

Beef steak, rare: target 125°F, pull 120°F, to-go 55°F, below-safe. The rarest band is 20°F under the safe minimum.

Beef steak, medium: target 140°F, pull 135°F, to-go 70°F, below-safe. Medium is the highest doneness still below the USDA safe minimum.

Beef steak, medium-well: target 150°F, pull 145°F, to-go 80°F, SAFE. The first USDA-safe doneness: the pull temperature is exactly the safe minimum.

Beef steak, well-done: target 160°F, pull 155°F, to-go 90°F, SAFE.

Ground beef: target 160°F, safe 160°F, rest 0, pull 160°F, to-go 90°F, SAFE. Ground meat has no doneness bands and no rest: it goes to 160°F and stays there.

Pork chop, medium-rare: target 133°F, safe 145°F, rest 3, pull 128°F, below-safe. Pork chops take the same bands as beef steak, and the same warning.

Chicken breast: target 165°F, safe 165°F, rest 0, pull 165°F, to-go 95°F, SAFE. Poultry has no doneness bands: 165°F is the only target.

Whole chicken / turkey: target 165°F, safe 165°F, rest 0, pull 165°F, to-go 95°F, SAFE. The whole bird takes the same 165°F as the breast.

Fish fillet: target 145°F, safe 145°F, rest 0, pull 145°F, to-go 75°F, SAFE. Fish pulls at the target: no rest, no carryover.

Shrimp & shellfish: target “opaque, pearly white”, safe “opaque”, rest 0, to-go “—”, verdict the USDA wording. There is no number to count down to, so the degrees-to-go shows “—”.

Ham, fully cooked: target 140°F, safe 140°F*, rest 0, pull 140°F, to-go 70°F, SAFE*. The asterisk is the USDA-inspected-plant condition: all other fully cooked hams reheat to 165°F.

Egg dishes: target 160°F, safe 160°F, rest 0, pull 160°F, to-go 90°F, SAFE.

Casseroles & leftovers: target 165°F, safe 165°F, rest 0, pull 165°F, to-go 95°F, SAFE. Leftovers reheat to the same 165°F as poultry.

Reverse — the other way round: 145°F is both the medium-well threshold and the USDA safe minimum; the highest below-safe doneness is medium (140°F), the first safe doneness is medium-well (150°F); pull at 140°F to land at 145°F; a medium-rare steak at 120°F has 13°F to go, at 140°F it is 7°F past target.

What the chart assumes

The chart assumes the temperatures are measured in the thickest part, away from bone and fat, with a food thermometer — colour and time are not a substitute. It assumes the °C values are the USDA’s rounded conversions (63, 71, 74, 60). It assumes carryover cooking adds about 5°F during a 3-minute rest for steaks, roasts, and chops, and that cuts with no rest pull at the target itself. It leaves out brining, dry-aging, and sous-vide pasteurisation times, which change the safety math. With a current temperature of 0°F, the medium-rare steak has 133°F to go. With a current temperature of 200°F, it is 67°F past target (to-go −67°F). Doneness below 145°F is a personal choice below the USDA safe minimum — the page never presents rare or medium-rare as safe. The fully cooked ham figure of 140°F carries the USDA-inspected-plant condition; all other fully cooked hams reheat to 165°F.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The cook grilling a medium-rare steak: they learn the target is 133°F and the pull is 128°F — so they know to take it off at 128°F and rest it 3 minutes, and they check the verdict (below the USDA safe minimum of 145°F) before serving it rare.
• The cook roasting a whole turkey: they learn the target is 165°F with no rest — so they know the bird pulls at 165°F itself, and they check the ground-poultry branch (165°F too) before trusting the stuffing temperature.
• The cook frying shrimp: they learn there is no number — the target is “opaque, pearly white” and the degrees-to-go shows “—” — so they know to watch the flesh, not the thermometer, and they check the fish branch (145°F) before assuming every seafood has a number.
• The cook reheating a fully cooked ham: they learn the target is 140°F with an asterisk — so they know the 140°F figure is for a USDA-inspected plant, and they check the footnote (all other fully cooked hams reheat to 165°F) before serving it.

Accuracy & limitations

The temperatures are the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service safe minimum internal temperatures, via FoodSafety.gov, verified against the USDA chart in October 2026: beef steak, beef roast, pork chop, pork roast, lamb chop, fresh ham, and fish fillet 145°F (63°C); ground beef and egg dishes 160°F (71°C); chicken breast, whole chicken and turkey, ground poultry, and casseroles and leftovers 165°F (74°C); fully cooked ham 140°F (60°C) from a USDA-inspected plant. The doneness bands are the standard steak bands with targets at the band midpoints, rounded: rare 125°F, medium-rare 133°F, medium 140°F, medium-well 150°F, well-done 160°F. What the chart cannot do is guarantee the meat: check the thermometer, because colour and time are not a substitute, and check the thickest part, away from bone and fat. It assumes carryover cooking adds about 5°F during a 3-minute rest and that cuts with no rest pull at the target itself. It leaves out brining, dry-aging, and sous-vide pasteurisation times. It is a temperature reference, not food-safety advice for your kitchen: when in doubt, cook to the USDA safe minimum. For the steak itself, see the steak doneness chart; for the turkey, see the turkey cooking time calculator.