How do you like your steaks cooked? For many of us, enjoying a piece of meat that has been cooked minimally is a favorite way to enjoy the flavor that these dishes offer. However, did you know that certain meats should never be served without being fully cooked?
Check out these three meats that you must fully cook, and discover why.
Chicken
Chicken should be fully cooked to an internal temperature of 165 F before being served. Why? Well, this meat has a low density, which allows plenty of bacteria to penetrate into the center of the meat. Serving undercooked chicken could lead to severe illnesses such as salmonella.
Pork
Pork is much more dense than chicken, but there’s another reason that you should avoid serving this meat without fully cooking it. Trichinosis, a parasitic intestinal disease commonly acquired by eating undercooked pork that causes severe problems in your GI tract, is the main reason why this meat should always be cooked to 145 F.
Duck
Duck meat, especially popular in Chinese cooking, is a meat with a similar composition to fish. The low density of its cells allows for bacteria to get in easily, making it necessary to elevate the center of the meat to at least 160 F for safe serving.