If you enjoy eating chicken, you may be wondering if you can eat medium-rare chicken without getting sick. This is a commonly asked question, as many people like cooking chicken at home.
Many people also enjoy eating medium-rare meat instead of having it fully cooked. So it is not uncommon for people to wonder if they can apply this same cooking method to chicken like they would steak or hamburger.
Though it is always important to do your research thoroughly before attempting this, as certain meats need to be cooked to certain degrees. And you want to follow these rules as they are usually there for a good reason.
Keep reading to find out whether or not you can eat medium rare chicken as well as how to tell if your chicken is safe to eat.
You Shouldn’t Eat Medium-Rare Chicken
If you often make chicken at home, you may be wondering if you can eat medium rare chicken. This is something that you most certainly should not do, as all health resources firmly warn against eating chicken that is not fully cooked.
Chicken is a type of meat that you should not eat medium rare as it contains bad bacteria. The majority of chicken that you will buy will contain bad bacteria that will need to be eliminated through the cooking process.
If chicken is not fully cooked, that bacteria will not be eliminated, and you will most likely end up consuming it. Something that often results in you getting salmonella or food poisoning, depending on how severe the case is.
This is why you should never consume chicken that is not completely cooked through, as it is not worth the risk. Some people are able to do this and do not get sick, but your chances of getting sick are still very high.
The same rule applies to pork, which should always be cooked through and never be left medium rare in any instance. As there are certain kinds of meat that contain parasites and bacteria that you need to kill through cooking.
So it is always better to be safe than sorry and cook meats according to how they need to be cooked in order to be safe.
How to Know When Chicken Is Fully Cooked?
Now that you know that it is not safe to eat medium rare chicken, you may be wondering how to know when chicken is fully cooked. This is an important question to ask as you need to make sure that you are cooking your chicken completely through.
Most people rely on how the chicken looks, but this is actually an approach that you should try to avoid. As looks can be deceiving and chicken may not always be as done as it appears and vice versa.
For instance, sometimes your chicken may have a slightly pink tinge to it and yet it is fully cooked through. But by looking at it, you would have suspected that it was still raw and needed more cooking time.
So it is always better to make sure that your chicken is fully cooked in several different ways, not relying on just how it looks. As appearances are not always dependable when it comes to cooking different kinds of meat.
Internal Temperature
When you are cooking chicken, it is a good idea to invest in a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. This is without a doubt, the most reliable way to make sure that the chicken you are cooking is fully cooked through.
Chicken should have an internal temperature of 165° in order to be safe to eat. You can check this by inserting the meat thermometer into the center of the chicken to see what degree reading you get.
Ideally, you should be relying on this over any other method as it is the most reliable. Whether or not meat is safe to eat will depend entirely upon the internal temperature as that dictates how raw or cooked it is.
Firm to the Touch
Another way that you can test to see if your chicken is fully cooked is by tapping it with your finger. Chicken that is fully cooked should be firm and bouncy, not squishy, when you press on it.
If you are testing the inside of a piece of chicken, it should also be firm and bouncy but not squishy or slimy. The chicken should look the same all the way through and not have an area in the center that looks different or feels different.
Though it is always better to rely on checking the temperature of your chicken rather than trying to test it with your finger. As this can also be unreliable and difficult to tell if you are not very experienced with cooking chicken.
Is Eating Raw Chicken Dangerous?
While you most likely will not die from eating raw chicken, it is still very dangerous to do. You could easily get salmonella poisoning or a severe case of food poisoning if you were to eat raw chicken.
This can make you very sick, and in severe cases, can lead to you needing to go to the hospital for professional care.
Final Thoughts
If you enjoy cooking chicken at home, you will need to make sure that you are cooking the chicken, completely through, not leaving it medium rare. Chicken needs to be cooked completely in order for it to be safe to consume.
Chicken should have an internal temperature of 165° in order to be safe to eat. As this ensures that all bad bacteria have been killed throughout the cooking process.