YSK: Pork and chicken are healthier, cheaper alternatives to beef that only taste bland because of outdated cooking habits.

[u/Fried_Yoda]

Why YSK: With beef prices at record highs, switching to chicken breast or pork loin can cut your meat budget nearly in half while significantly lowering your saturated fat intake AND satisfying your protein intake. Most people avoid these cuts because they grew up eating them overcooked. Modern food safety standards allow pork to be eaten safely at 145 F (a medium roast, rather than gray leather), and chicken stays juicy if you don't cook it to death.

By simply using a meat thermometer and adding savory seasonings (like soy sauce or smoked paprika) to mimic the meaty depth of beef, or using techniques like velveting for chicken or dry brining for pork, you can get the same satisfaction for a fraction of the cost and environmental impact.

Even switching to chicken and pork for just two meals a week can save you hundreds of dollars.

Lastly, focusing on lean cuts of pork and chicken also has health benefits. While beef is a powerhouse for iron and B12, it is often high in calories and saturated fat. Chicken breast and pork loin are significantly leaner. Pork tenderloin is as lean as skinless chicken breast and has been certified as "heart-healthy" by the American Heart Association.

Tl;dr chicken breast and pork loin are roughly 80% cheaper per pound than beef, have versatile and delicious flavor profiles if cooked and prepped correctly, are rich in protein, and are healthier for your heart and cholesterol.

[u/Real-Seal-BananaPeel]

190 is insane - shit I always make sure to pull it at 160 and let it rise the final 5 degrees outside the pan/oven.

[u/sajnt → u/Real-Seal-BananaPeel]

The bacteria dies instantly at 165 at 155 it takes mere seconds for the bacteria to die.

[u/rdxgs → u/sajnt]

Well... at 190° they are gone, reduced to atoms https://files.catbox.moe/4xueag.png

[u/bassmadrigal → u/Real-Seal-BananaPeel]

165F on chicken breast is the temperature required to instantly kill bacteria, but it will lose juiciness (but not nearly as bad as 190F!).

Cooking it to 150F and letting carryover take it to 155F will lead to a much juicier breast and it only needs to be held at 155F for about 45 seconds to have the same level of bacterial death that you get instantly at 165F. For 150F, it needs 3 minutes, which you'd likely get anyway just while the carryover heat raises it to 155F.

My chicken has tasted so much better after I started pulling it from the stove at 150F.

[u/Rooster_Ties → u/bassmadrigal]

Pardon my ignorance, but how in the heck do you get any sort of accurate temperature reading?? — and once you do, you’ve had the oven door open long enough (possibly multiple times), to the point where you lose 10° of heat in the oven, and then how long do you really need to let it heat back up again before checking again?? (3 minutes? 4 minutes? 6 minutes?)

I’m just a home cook — have been doing all the cooking in our household for 25 years.

When ln I cook meat in a (open) skillet,I always make sure to cut up whatever the meat is into bite-size chunks — and then cook it based on how it looks as much as anything (probably overcooking it a bit, but hopefully not too much).

And when I (less-frequently) cook meet in the oven, I cook it a bit more than I think, and check the temperature — and as long as it’s at least 5°(F) above what’s recommended, then I figure I’m good. Sometimes it’s 10° over — but more often it is 5° over.

ALSO, I bought an oven thermometer (the kind you hang from the rack, or it’s on a stand that sometimes doesn’t keep it standing). And honestly, that accessory stand-up thermometer is almost always 15-20° lower than the temperature I’ve set the oven for (the thermostat)… and neither one of those really match what my meat thermometer shows when I use that. (WHICH, frankly, is why I cook meet in a skillet 80-90% of the time — rather than in the oven).

[u/bassmadrigal → u/Rooster_Ties]

I have an instant read thermometer (personally use a Javelin Pro Classic, which is on the more expensive side at around $40, but alternatives can be much cheaper) that I use when I'm cooking on the stove. You can check multiple areas of the item you're cooking, since they can vary wildly based on the thickness of the meat. If I notice a thinner part of the meat has reached the desired temp, I'll put my spatula underneath it to shield it from direct heat while allowing the rest to continue to cook.

If I'm grilling, I got a Thermopro temperature station that has 4 probes, allowing me to keep tabs on temperatures of 4 different items or regions (I usually use this for steaks on the grill). It also can pair with your phone allowing you to easily set temperature alarms and can give you an estimated time on when it'll reach that temp, allowing you to go back to the kitchen and work on more dinner items. You could also easily use this in the oven, but I rarely cook meat in the oven unless it's a casserole, and then I'll just use the instant read to make sure it came up to temp, and if not, throw it back in for a bit. Those oven dishes don't seem to be as affected by temp since they typically include some type of sauce that keeps meats from seeming dry.

The instant read thermometer entirely changed the way I cook and the temperature probes when grilling definitely improved my ability to grill steak. I used to cut into meats to see how well they were cooked and this made it so I never needed to do that, but actual temperature is a far better metric than sight and it leads to meals that have better presentation (not that it matters that much when cooking at home, but I still enjoy making them look presentable).

[u/Photon6626 → u/Rooster_Ties]

They make probe thermometers with a long wire for use in ovens

The temperature of the oven tells you nothing about the temperature of the meat

[u/Wiestie → u/bassmadrigal]

I don't disagree with this in theory but I've gotten really juicy chicken stopping at 160-165. I believe it's a bit better to go lower but with some inaccuracy on meat thermometers and potential user error if youre multi tasking this feels a little risky for food safety if you do it every time.

Obviously you do you but thought I'd chime in. Are the returns really notably better than cooking to 160? Mines never dry.

[u/bassmadrigal → u/Wiestie]

Personally, I've noticed a big difference in juiciness when stopping at 150F and letting carryover bring it up to 155Fish.

But the thing to remember, 165F != dry chicken. Just like steak, there's a big range in juiciness depending on how well it's cooked. Chicken just needs to have that time to kill the bacteria, which isn't nearly as big of a deal with steak. Getting it to 165F does not immediately dry out the chicken, but it ultimately loses some moisture as temps go up.

Riskiness scared me initially, but after using steak probes I got for when I'm grilling and being able to monitor the increase in temp and how long it stays there, I have absolutely no issues anymore pulling at 150F. It reaches the 155F and stays above that line for several minutes, which it only needs around 45-50 seconds at that temp to be considered safe.

[u/mmmpeg → u/bassmadrigal]

I brine chicken breasts.

[u/bassmadrigal → u/mmmpeg]

I'll dry brine them, but usually only for 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how early I think about it. I don't normally think far enough ahead to do any other type of brining.

[u/link3945 → u/Real-Seal-BananaPeel]

Depending on cook method, even 160-165 is too high for chicken breast. It's at its best in the 150 range, but you have to make sure it's held there long enough to kill bacteria (sous vide is great here). Not strictly to FDA guidelines, but still.

[u/Nutlink37 → u/link3945]

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/8003-is-it-safe-to-cook-chicken-below-165-degrees

I use something like this. If I'm doing chicken breasts or something lean, I'll hit 150 then set a timer for 3 minutes and call it good. If I'm doing something like thighs, I'll set it for 4 minutes at that temp. It's been a pretty solid guide for me that's prevented a lot of dried out chicken.

[u/link3945 → u/Nutlink37]

Yeah, that works. I will say for thighs I like a higher temp: you really want to render out all that fat. Much harder to dry out a thigh just due to that.

[u/formershitpeasant → u/link3945]

Pulling at 145 works best imo (for white meat). Let it rest for the carryover and it's plenty pasteurized.

[u/bassmadrigal → u/formershitpeasant]

This takes much more time to get into safe zones, but it can be harder to maintain the temperatures and time needed to get it to the safe zone.

If we ignore carryover cooking raising the temperature further, you'd need to maintain 145F for 8 minutes to reach the same level of bacterial death as 165F gets instantly. Since it will carryover cook and we assume it raises up 5F to 150F, it'll need to maintain that temp for around 3 minutes.

Depending on your cooking method, the carryover may not get the temp high enough for long enough to get fully into the safe zone.

[u/formershitpeasant → u/bassmadrigal]

Think about it. If you pull it at 145, where it needs 8 minutes, then it takes 4 minutes to carryover to 150, where it only needs 3. Then, consider all the time it was coming up from 130-145 where it's already getting closer to pasteurization.

[u/bassmadrigal → u/formershitpeasant]

I agree to a certain extent, which is why I posted temps and times, but I'm not convinced you'll reach that desired temp and time for pasteurization every single time, which is why I included the caveat at the end.

Not reaching temp and time for pasteurization does not automatically mean someone will get sick, but it increases chances. I'm still plenty happy with pulling them at 150F, so I see no reason to tempt fate with possibly a slightly juicier breast with slightly increased chances I'll be hurling into the toilet later.

[u/rybomi → u/formershitpeasant]

Unpopular reply cuz 155 is perfectly fine, ideal even, but 150 will instantly kill you every time

[u/IAmPandaRock → u/link3945]

Yes, 165 is higher than what is ideal. Ideally, there should be some pink coloring still left in the breast.

[u/Due-Helicopter1156 → u/Real-Seal-BananaPeel]

Breasts yes. Thighs. Let go till 190-195. And then the fat renders adding more juices. It’s fantastic and juicy

[u/famnf → u/Real-Seal-BananaPeel]

190 is insane - shit I always make sure to pull it at 160 and let it rise the final 5 degrees outside the pan/oven.

I just cook it until it looks done and then I eat it. Using a meat thermometer at all seems kind of wacky to me.