When cooked, chicken can be a nutritious choice, but raw chicken can be contaminated with Campylobacter, Salmonella, or Clostridium perfringens germs. If you eat undercooked chicken, you can get a foodborne illness, also called food poisoning.
Follow these easy steps to prevent contamination and sickness:
Do not allow raw poultry or its juices to touch other foods, especially fruits and vegetables.
Immediately dispose of any plastic wrapping.
Carefully rinse raw chicken; avoid splashing water can cause cross-contamination.
Before and after handling raw poultry, use hot, soapy water for 20 seconds to wash hands, boards, knives, scissors and any other tools, the sink and all work surfaces.
Use dedicated cutting boards for raw chicken.
Do not reuse knives or boards until they have been sanitized to prepare any other food.
A plastic cutting board is easy to sanitize. A distressed wooden cutting board can harbor bacteria.
Do not cook raw poultry if it appears gray, feels slimy or smells sour. When in doubt, throw it out.
Serve cooked poultry using a clean platter and utensils; never ones touched by raw meat.
Facts About Chicken
Chicken is very versatile. It can be cooked by almost any cooking method:
Poached
Grilled
Baked (roasted)
Braised
Pan fried
Deep fried
and Combination Methods
The various cuts lend themselves to every different style of cooking.
Dark meat typically refers to the pieces of the bird that are found in the leg, drumstick, and thighs. The leg cut of meat includes both the drumstick and thigh. The drumstick is the lower part of the leg, while the thigh is the upper part.
Dark meat has a juicier, fattier flavor and may be cooked longer in a preparation without drying out.
White meat, found in the breasts and wings. This part of the bird is lean and mild in flavor, and dries out easily if overcooked. You can increase the moisture in breast meat.
Temperature is Key
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recommends cooking whole chicken and parts of chicken (like the breasts, legs, thighs, wings and giblets), ground poultry, and stuffing to 165 degrees F. This temperature is key to killing off and potential bacteria and germs.