The USDA, with much fanfare, finally changed its cooking temp recommendations which were way out of date and universally ignored by chefs and skilled cooks. There has been a lot of press over this, but they really only changed one thing of significance, the recommendations for pork chops and pork roasts.

I'm guessing the pork lobby spent big bucks and a lot of time camped at USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack's door. Makes me wonder where the beef lobby is sleeping.

One thing has not changed: If you follow USDA recommendations 100% you will be 100% safe and doomed to terrible steaks and lamb chops. And as usual, in its effort to make one set of easy-to-understand rules suitable for a refrigerator magnet, the government has oversimplified.

Here are the USDA's new rules of thumb: 145°F for whole meats in the thickest part plus three minutes of rest, 160°F for ground meats and 165°F for all poultry.

To read the entire article, link here. For additional information, link to USDA Updates Meat Safety Cooking Temperatures.