One of your desires is to cook chicken meat for your family but on your own have no cooking thermometer. Afterward, you maybe think that how can I tell if the chicken is done without a thermometer because you are a beginner.
And it is right. For a beginner, it’s almost tricky and hard to cook without a thermometer. Now, perhaps you are sitting on losing your will and getting embarrassed.
Then I would say you if you are a beginner, or you don’t know how to cook grill, or chicken, Roast chicken without a thermometer. Then our article is for you. You could follow our article.
From this article, maybe you can solve your problem.
Why Chicken is important to fully cook?
It is important to cook your chicken fully. Because if your grill or chicken is partially cooked then your chicken lost the perfect test.
On the other hand, if it is overcooked then it is quite tough to chew a piece of meat. Also, poultry has a specific foodborne illness.
Eating less cooked or raw chicken is dangerous for you and can make you sick.
For that, it is incredibly important to make sure that your chicken is fully cooked.
How to Tell When Chicken is done?
Chicken is done when its internal temperature is about 165°F. This is how you can tell if the chicken is done thoroughly. Those are
- Use a Thermometer
- Cut your Chicken.
- Observe the juice.
- Check the size.
- Feel the meat.
- Check the color of the meat.
- Check the texture of the meat
- Does the meat fall off the bone?
Among those Use of a meat thermometer is the easy and best way to tell when Chicken meat is done.
How to Tell If Chicken is done without a Thermometer?
Is it possible to a cooked chicken without a thermometer? The answer is “YES”. You can cook raw chicken without a thermometer.
But for that, you have maintained the following rules.
01: Prepared the chicken
One of the important points cooking of a raw chicken is preparing the chicken. Preparing the chicken is an essential term for making your chicken meat perfect, tasty, and fully cooked.
Firstly, never wash raw chicken before cooking.
The US Department of agriculture suggests never washing a chicken with tap water because it has some possibilities of food poisoning.
Also, tap water is not perfect for eliminating bacteria. Only temperature maintenance can destroy bacteria.
Next, you have to Marinate or brining it. It depends upon what you or your family prefers.
Whatever you like you can do. If you want to make tastier of your chicken meat then you could marinate it.
02: Observe the juice
Observing the juice is one of the simplest ways to tell if a raw chicken is perfect for serving.
You can judge it by checking the color of the juice. For this, you have to pierce the thickest part of the meat. And watch the juice come out from the cut place.
If the juice is clear then the chicken is cooked completely. And if the juice is not clear now, that is, if the juice turns pink, then the chicken is not cooked completely. You will have to cook the chicken some more time. Because the pink color of the juice represents the blood of the chicken.
This method can be used for a whole chicken or for cooking chicken meat.
However, for this, you have to be more careful in case of piercing the thick place of the chicken.
If you fail to pierce the dense area, the color of the juice will look clear but the pink juice is still boiling in the dense area of your chicken.
It is very easy to find a dense place for a piece of chicken but it is not easy for many to find a thick place for a whole chicken.
That is why we are telling you that the thickest place for a whole chicken is thigh meat.
So in case of piercing the chicken, pierce the chicken thigh meat. Then you can be more sure.
03: Check the color of the meat
Another way to check if the roast chicken is cooked is to check the color of the inside of the chicken meat. For this, you need to use a knife to cut the chicken meat.
Usually, the color of cooked chicken meat is white and the color of uncooked chicken meat is pink. However, if other cooking ingredients are not used properly, the color inside the chicken meat may remain pink after cooking.
Although this is a time-consuming way to check if the chicken is cooked. However, if you want to cook this way, you need to cook the chicken with some caution.
Not all chicken meat will be white after your chicken is cooked because the pink spots near the bones are completely natural and for hemoglobin. And these will never go away if you cook too much of your chicken meat or roast chicken.
But if more than 80% of the meat is not white, then you need to cook more chicken
04: Check the texture of the meat.
This method will not be very convenient for you if you do not want to touch raw chicken as it is very sensitive and dependent on touch.
Usually, this method is based on the texture of the meat to check if the chicken is cooked.
If you notice that the raw or uncooked chicken meat is tender and tender. Again, if your chicken meat is overcooked, it becomes harder which can make you feel uncomfortable while eating.
We should never eat chicken or roast chicken softer or harder. In this case, if you feel your chicken meat is soft, then the meat needs to be cooked, so return to the oven immediately without wasting time.
Most important point is that you don’t have to cut to see if the cooking is over. Instead, when you open it, some juice will come out. Besides, it will give off a delicious smell while serving
Also, you can choose thigh meat to touch in this way. This is because the thigh meat is thick and the thigh meat is lightly raw even when the breast meat is fully cooked.
So if you can be sure that the thigh meat is almost done cooking. Then you can stop cooking your chicken.
Since it is difficult to touch the whole chicken and requires more time and patience, you can follow the chicken juice or color test method for maximum certainty. Which has been discussed above.
05: Feel the meat.
Although it is best to cook using a thermometer, you can use a “finger test” to verify that the chicken is cooked. However, this method requires a little time to be mastered. But if you learn the way, then you can easily tell if the chicken is done.
But this is what the method says
- Use your thumb to pinch the flesh of your hand to check if your flesh is raw, while your hand is relaxed. And keep this feeling in mind.
- To understand what medium and rare cooked meat looks like, lightly touch your middle finger with your thumb and pinch.
- Touch your pinky finger and thumb together to grasp the well-cooked meat.
Memorize the feelings of these three steps above. If you can catch it perfectly, you can cook easily.
And this way you can cook chicken effortlessly without a food thermometer.
How to tell if Chicken is Cooked Fully Through?
Shrinking of the meat.
Usually, when the chicken is cooked, it shrinks and you can tell by looking at it that the chicken is cooked. When the chicken is fully cooked, it will be smaller than it was when the chicken was raw.
Even if the chicken turns white, the chicken does not shrink, but now it is not completely cooked. You will have to wait some more time to take it to the dining table.
How to know if the chicken is cooked with a thermometer?
The most convenient, simple, and time-consuming way to check if the chicken is cooked completely is to check the temperature with the best thermometer. This method can easily be used to say that the chicken is perfectly cooked.
The process of cooking chicken with a thermometer is written below:
Choose a thermometer
If you want to cook chicken using a thermometer, then a suitable thermometer can make your cooking more delicious. Moreover, it can simplify your cooking method.
So you have to be careful enough to choose the thermometer.
There are many different types of thermometers. Those are
01: Digital Thermometer
A digital thermometer is a kind of easy-to-use, reasonably fast temperature measuring instrument.
2. Instant-Read Thermometer
Instant-Read Thermometer is a type of probe thermometer that exists in both digital and analog variants. It can instantly tell you the temperature of your food. However, you need to be more careful when using it. Because its probe cannot be kept inside food for long. Holding it can ruin your thermometer.
03: Meat Thermometer
A meat thermometer is a thermometer similar to an instant-read thermometer with a big dial. The difference is that a meat thermometer can measure a joint or whole chicken temperature.
Moreover, it can be kept inside the chicken for a long time
04: Candy and Deep-Fry Thermometer.
The Candy and Deep-Fry Thermometer is a glass thermometer that can measure much higher temperatures.
Ordinary thermometers can measure up to 130 ° F-175 ° F but with this thermometer, you can measure up to 300 ° F.
05: Oven Thermometer
The oven dials indicate the temperature inside the oven (350 ° F-400 ° F) but can actually be 25 ° -50 ° higher or lower than that, which affects your baking time.
So if you start cooking with the oven temperature as the norm, you will not be perfect.
That’s why you need to have an oven thermometer to keep the taste of chicken or cooking intact.
After completing choosing a thermometer, you will cook normally and measure the temperature with a thermometer.
Besides, check this article; How Long Do You Deep Fry Frozen Chicken Wings? The Perfect Fried Wing Recipe Every Time!
What type of thermometer is perfect for chicken cooking?
Which type of thermometer is suitable for cooking chicken depends on what type of chicken you will cook.
If you want to cook chicken roast or grill. However, the meat thermometer is suitable for him. And if you want to cook chicken with pitch, then -Read Thermometer is suitable for it.
How tell if the chicken is drumsticks are done?
Whether the chicken drumstick is done is understood if the roast chicken drumstick is moved. If the chicken drumsticks can be moved freely, we can say that it is done. It’s a lot like pineapple leaf toner to check if the pineapple is fully ripe.
How to tell if chicken breast is cooked?
There are many different ways to cook chicken breasts. Here we will just discuss how to cook Grilled Chicken Breasts.
To cook it, first, cut it half an inch (1.27 cm) thick or pound it with a mallet until it is half an inch thick. This will cook the chicken evenly.
Chicken breasts in a plastic zipper bag keep it. If you do not have a mallet, use a rolling pin. If you do not have a bag, use a heavy jar.
Prepare your marinade
To prepare the marinade, add olive oil, minced garlic, thyme, oregano, pepper, salt, and lemon zest to a bowl. Stir using a chopped spoon.
If you can’t find oregano, you can use fresh vegetables instead.
Also, if you want to marinate something while grilling, set it aside now. Because once the raw chicken is marinated, it can no longer be reused.
Marinate the chicken for at least 1 or 2 hours.
After making the marinade, put the marinated meat in that container. Cover the container with plastic wrap.
Then refrigerate the pot for at least 1 to 2 hours.
Clean and grease your grill.
You clean your grill and dip it in vegetable oil.
Then you have to heat it very high temperature. For that, you can use a two-zone fire.
When you use heat, you have to invert the chicken pitch. So that the chicken does not get burnt. And one must be careful that the pitch of one chicken does not stick with the other pitch.
Cook for 3-5 minutes like this. Keep the temperature close to 170 ° F.
Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Complete your grill you can eat now.
How to tell if the chicken is under-cooked?
Under-cooked chicken is thicker and thicker.
There are 6 ways we can tell if a chicken is under-cooked. Those are
- Moisture test: Moisture can be checked to tell if the chicken is fully cooked.
- Color test
- Check the size
- The time test
- Finger test
- Thermometer test.
Here are 6 ways to tell if a chicken is under-cooked. Which have been discussed in detail above.
FAQ.
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Is slightly under-cooked chicken OK?
Even slightly under-cooked chicken is not safe for your health. Undercooked chicken can contain harmful bacteria that can make you sick. Additionally, undercooked chicken can also be dry and tasteless.
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Is slow-cooked chicken pink?
According to USDA if the minimum internal temperature of chicken is 165°. Then it’s OK. Color does not indicate doneness.
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How to tell if the chicken is overcooked?
If your chicken drumsticks can be moved 360 then we can say “it’s overcooked”. If the chicken skin is crispy and browned then it’s probably cooked through.
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Can chicken beast still be pink when cooked?
Yes. It can be pink. No problem. You can eat it. It’s safe for health.
Final Thought
Now you will be able to know How to tell if Chicken is done without Thermometer.
Moreover, you can choose one of the above methods to cook without a thermometer. However, if you are using a digital thermometer, then following the manufacturer’s instructions is always recommended.
Enjoy chicken with everyone in your family.