Cooking Techniques: knife skills, sauces and baking

Safe temperatures you can rely on

In simple words

A thermometer tells the truth, but only if the thermometer is right. First we make sure it is right. Then we learn the numbers for the foods we cook most.

Before this course: Cooking Basics & Meal Prep (course 12.1). You already know clean, separate, cook and chill, the danger zone (4°C to 60°C), basic cuts, cooking methods, and meal prep. Here we go one step deeper: every technique in this course ends with a number you check.

Key facts

Food	Safe internal temperature
Ground beef, veal, lamb, pork (burgers, meatballs, sausages)	71°C (160°F)
Beef, veal, lamb steaks and roasts	63°C (145°F) medium-rare, 71°C (160°F) medium, 77°C (170°F) well done
Mechanically tenderized beef or veal	63°C (145°F), turning the steak over at least twice
Pork pieces and whole cuts (chops, roasts, ribs, ham)	71°C (160°F)
Poultry pieces (breasts, legs, thighs, wings), ground poultry, stuffing	74°C (165°F)
Whole poultry (chicken, turkey, duck)	82°C (180°F)
Frozen raw breaded chicken products (nuggets, strips)	74°C (165°F)
Egg dishes (frittata, omelette, quiche)	74°C (165°F)
Fish	70°C (158°F)
Shellfish and crustaceans	74°C (165°F)
Leftovers, hot dogs	74°C (165°F)

Insert the probe through the thickest part to the middle, not touching bone. For burgers go in through the side. Check each piece.
A digital thermometer is more accurate. Clean it in warm, soapy water before each use.
Throw away clams, mussels, oysters or scallops whose shells do not open.
Check your thermometer (common kitchen practice): in a glass of crushed ice with a little cold water, a good thermometer reads about 0°C (32°F). If it is off by a few degrees, read the manual to adjust it or replace it.

In your country

The safe internal temperatures in this lesson (for example 74°C for poultry pieces and 71°C for pork and ground beef) are Health Canada's guidance. Home food safety guidance comes from Health Canada.
Source: Health Canada, food safety: www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/general-food-safety-tips/food-

Check with a food thermometer: 145°F for whole cuts of beef, veal, lamb, pork and for fish (then rest 3 minutes); 160°F for ground beef and pork; 165°F for all poultry. Reheat leftovers to 165°F.
Source: FDA, Safe food handling: www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/safe-food-handling

No national rule found for home cooking or reheating temperatures. Check the Food and Drug Administration (fda.gov.ph) and the Department of Health (doh.gov.ph).
Source: Food and Drug Administration Philippines: www.fda.gov.ph

A provincial health commission (Sichuan), based on the WHO "five keys", says cook until the centre of the food reaches at least 70°C for at least 1 minute. This is a provincial page, not a national law.
Source: Sichuan Provincial Health Commission: wsjkw.sc.gov.cn/scwsjkw/jkys/2020/11/25/056ad903e12c4e9ea50efb207528c8

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) home guide: cook until the core reaches 75°C and stays there at least 1 minute. Bring soups and miso soup to a boil.
Source: MHLW, Home food poisoning prevention, six points (Japanese): www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/syokuch

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS): cook meat until the core reaches 75°C for at least 1 minute; seafood and shellfish 85°C for at least 1 minute.
Source: MFDS, food poisoning prevention (Korean): mfds.go.kr/brd/m_827/view.do?seq=3607

Step by step

Fill a glass with crushed ice and add a little cold water. Stir.
Put the clean probe in the middle without touching the glass. Wait for the reading.
A good thermometer reads about 0°C (32°F). If it is far off, follow the manual or replace it.
Wash the probe in warm, soapy water.
Pick one protein from the table and write its number on a card.
Insert the probe into the thickest part, away from bone, and read it.
Check: you can say the number for chicken pieces, ground meat, pork and fish without looking.

Watch on YouTube

Be Food Safe Canada: cook to recommended internal temperatureCPCFSE2010 · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Safe temperatures you can rely on

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host holding a digital thermometer over a glass of ice water] "Before you trust a thermometer, test it. Ice water should read about zero."
[Text on screen: Chicken pieces 74°C · Ground meat 71°C · Pork 71°C · Fish 70°C] "Health Canada's numbers: chicken pieces 74, ground meat 71, pork 71, fish 70."
[Screen: probe into the side of a burger] "Thickest part, away from bone. Burgers from the side."
[Host] "Wash the probe every time. Colour can fool you, a number cannot."

Try it now

Test your thermometer in ice water. Write a pocket card with the Health Canada numbers for the five foods you cook most. Keep it near the stove.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Cooking Techniques: knife skills, sauces and baking" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Safe temperatures you can rely on".

What the lesson teaches:
- Food - Safe internal temperature
- Ground beef, veal, lamb, pork (burgers, meatballs, sausages) - 71°C (160°F)
- Beef, veal, lamb steaks and roasts - 63°C (145°F) medium-rare, 71°C (160°F) medium, 77°C (170°F) well done
- Mechanically tenderized beef or veal - 63°C (145°F), turning the steak over at least twice
- Pork pieces and whole cuts (chops, roasts, ribs, ham) - 71°C (160°F)
- Poultry pieces (breasts, legs, thighs, wings), ground poultry, stuffing - 74°C (165°F)
- Whole poultry (chicken, turkey, duck) - 82°C (180°F)

The exercise I'm working on:
Test your thermometer in ice water. Write a pocket card with the Health Canada numbers for the five foods you cook most. Keep it near the stove.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Safe temperatures you can rely on" from the course "Cooking Techniques: knife skills, sauces and baking".

Here's what the lesson says:
A thermometer tells the truth, but only if the thermometer is right. First we make sure it is right. Then we learn the numbers for the foods we cook most.

The activity:
Test your thermometer in ice water. Write a pocket card with the Health Canada numbers for the five foods you cook most. Keep it near the stove.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

Health Canada, Safe internal cooking temperatures: www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/general-food-safety-tips/safe-

My notes

I learned this