If you’re grilling the thighs at 450 degrees, cooking an 8-ounce chicken breast to 180 will only take a few minutes longer than cooking it to 165. That depends on the temperature of the grill or smoker. Does it Take a Long Time to Cook Chicken Thighs to 180? When you wait until they’ve hit the 180-degree mark, they’ll be tender and juicy, with a silken texture. If you serve chicken thighs at 165 degrees, they’ll still taste fine and be safe to consume. This tenderizes the meat in addition to lending it moisture. When it’s heated, collagen is converted to gelatin. Here’s why.Ĭhicken thighs contain a great deal of collagen, a protein that’s responsible for providing strength to muscle tissue. The breasts will have a sandpaper-like texture if you overcook them, but the thigh meat will be moist and succulent even at higher temps. However, if you’re cooking the thighs alone, we would recommend waiting until the internal temperature registers at least 180 before taking them off the heat. The dark meat cooks at a slower pace than the breasts, so you should rely on this number to determine whether the entire bird is done. When you’re roasting or grilling a whole chicken, check the temperature by inserting the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. This means that you can consume the meat without worrying about getting sick. At this temperature, the bacteria that cause salmonella poisoning are killed off quickly. Chicken Thighs Internal Temp: The BasicsĪll poultry products should be safe to eat when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Best of all, thighs are more forgiving, since there’s no harm in “overcooking” the thighs. It has a meatier flavor than the breasts, but it still partners well with bold spice rubs and zesty marinades. The thigh meat, on the other hand, contains higher amounts of protein and fat. The downside? They become unpleasantly dry if they’re overcooked. Thighsīecause chicken breasts consist of white meat, they cook fast, making them a good choice for beginners. We would recommend using this number as a benchmark when grilling chicken thighs. Because the meat contains a great deal of collagen, though, they have a juicier and more succulent texture when you cook them to at least 180 degrees. You can do this with a full breast or even with your sliced meat.7 The Bottom Line Chicken Thighs Internal TempĬhicken thighs are technically done cooking when they’ve reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A second option is to pound the breast meat until it's entirely even. You can either leave one edge of the meat connected (at which point if you opened up the sliced meat into one piece it would look like a butterfly), or you can separate the fillet. Starting at the thickest part of the breast, take a sharp knife in the middle of the meat and begin to slide the knife down the breast until you've cut the fillet in half. Carefully place your hand on the top of the breast and apply light pressure. To prevent uneven cooking, you can do one of two things. Because of the uneven thickness, the chicken will cook through at different rates, leaving you with overcooked chicken on one end and cooked (or even undercooked) meat on the other end. Not only can they be up to two inches thick, but they can also be very thin at the other end. ShutterstockĬhicken breasts can be a pretty thick piece of meat.
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