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Safe meat temperature UK thermometer

Updated: 23 October 2026

The app says medium, the chicken looks browned, and you still do not know whether the middle is safe. A safe meat temperature UK thermometer reading only helps if you use the UK time-and-temperature table and put the tip in the right place. Poultry, pork, burgers, sausages, kebabs, and rolled joints are cooked through. A whole steak is a different rule. Models differ in the [Inkbird grill thermometer comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/inkbird-grill-thermometer). USDA presets on these listings do not replace the Food Standards Agency combinations below. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The figures come from the FSA and GOV.UK pages in the source box, not from a lab cook.

The app says medium, the chicken looks browned, and you still do not know whether the middle is safe.

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On this page
  1. 1.The UK time and temperature table
  2. 2.Burgers are not steaks
  3. 3.What the Inkbird preset is for
  4. 4.Make the probe reading the centre

The UK time and temperature table

The Food Standards Agency and GOV.UK use the same thorough-cooking combinations. The middle should reach 70 °C for 2 minutes. The equivalents are 60 °C for 45 minutes, 65 °C for 10 minutes, 75 °C for 30 seconds, and 80 °C for 6 seconds. Those five pairs are one rule with different clocks. A line that says at least 75 °C is the 30-second step, not a second law. Apply that table to poultry, pork, burgers, sausages, kebabs, rolled joints, and offal. Colour is not a substitute. A whole muscle of beef or lamb can stay pink if the surface is seared. Mince it, or roll the joint, and you are back on the thorough-cooking table. Hot food that waits should stay at or above 63 °C. That is not a target for raw chicken.

Burgers are not steaks

A burger is minced, so surface bacteria are mixed through the middle. GOV.UK is explicit: a steak can be rare because the outside is cooked, and a homemade burger should be steaming hot all the way through, not pink, with clear juices. A less-than-thoroughly-cooked burger route exists for food businesses, and it still describes 70 °C for 2 minutes as the benchmark. It is not permission for a home barbecue to serve a pink burger. Pink can remain in some thoroughly cooked beef, so colour fails both ways. At home, cook the burger through and clean the probe between raw meat and food you will eat.
Inkbird Inkbird IBT-4XS

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Inkbird Inkbird IBT-4XS
8.6/10about £39.99
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What the Inkbird preset is for

Menus on these Inkbird listings are USDA doneness names, such as medium on a steak. They are not the Food Standards Agency table. A preset that does not state 70 °C for 2 minutes, or one equivalent pair, is a label. You can stop on it and miss the UK combination on a thick chicken breast that is still climbing. Set a custom target and hold one row. 70 °C for two minutes is the easiest to watch on a leave-in probe. 75 °C for 30 seconds is the shorter row. Do not quote 75 °C with no time and call it the FSA rule. Whole steak is the exception you set lower after the outside is seared. The safe-line siren is on the how to use an Inkbird BBQ thermometer page.

Make the probe reading the centre

The number only counts if the tip is in the thickest part, off the bone, and not on the grate. On a chicken, a tip on the carcass can read done while the breast is not. On a burger, use the centre of the patty. Wash the probe before it moves from raw meat to food you will serve. If lunch waits, keep it at or above 63 °C, or chill it. A wireless siren near 96 °C is the probe’s own ceiling, not the 70 °C rule. A CE mark is not a hygiene certificate. How many probes you need is the buying guide.

Common questions

What temperature should chicken reach in the UK?
Use a Food Standards Agency pair in the thickest meat, off the bone. The usual row is 70 °C for 2 minutes. The equivalents are 60 °C for 45 minutes, 65 °C for 10 minutes, 75 °C for 30 seconds, and 80 °C for 6 seconds. A browned skin is not one of those rows.
Are burgers safe if they look like a medium steak?
No. Mince has mixed the surface through the middle, so a pink centre is not a rare steak. GOV.UK tells home cooks to make burgers steaming hot all the way through, not pink, with clear juices. Use 70 °C for 2 minutes, or another pair from the same table, in the centre of the patty. The crust does not answer it.
Can a whole beef joint stay pink?
A whole muscle of beef or lamb can stay pink in the middle if the outside is properly seared. That does not apply once the joint is rolled, because rolling moves the surface inside, and it does not apply to mince, poultry, or pork. If you have rolled it, use the thorough-cooking table.
Is 75 °C the rule or 70 °C?
They are different rows of one table. 70 °C is held for 2 minutes. 75 °C is held for 30 seconds. The GOV.UK line at least 75 °C is shorthand for that hotter, shorter step. Quoting 75 °C with no time drops the clock the FSA publishes.
Does the Inkbird medium preset match UK poultry advice?
Not by itself. The presets on these listings are USDA doneness menus. UK poultry advice is the time-and-temperature table, not a US steak word. Set a custom target, such as 70 °C for 2 minutes in the thickest part. The app will not know you are cooking a chicken rather than a steak.
Do I need a food-business process to cook pink burgers at home?
That guidance is for food businesses and local authorities. This page does not turn it into a home method. It still treats 70 °C for 2 minutes as the thorough benchmark. At home, cook burgers through. A restaurant route is not permission for a pink burger on a garden grill, and this thermometer is not certified here as a food-business instrument.

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Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs. Retrieved 19 October 2026.

  1. Food Standards Agency: Cooking your food (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Food Standards Agency: BBQ food safety (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK: Cooking food safely (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK: BBQ blunders (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK: UKCA or CE marking (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Inkbird UK: BBQ thermometers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. amazon.co.uk listings for the six ASINs (retrieved 19 October 2026)