Cook Until the Juice Is Clear Is a Bad Way to Tell If the Meat Is Done.
Cooking the chicken until “the juice is clear from the shot” is pretty standard advice for poultry, but according to Cook’s Illustrated, it’s not a very reliable way to tell if your chicken is cooked properly.
Although myoglobin (the molecule that gives meat its pink or red hue) does lose its color when heated, the temperature at which the color change occurs can vary depending on a number of factors. In fact, when Cook’s Illustrated tested this theory, they found that juice color had very little to do with meat temperature:
But when we cooked whole chickens, in one case the juice dripped when the breast was 145 degrees and the thighs were 155 degrees – long before the chicken was ready. And when we pierced another overcooked chicken (breast was 170 degrees and thighs were 180 degrees), pink juice was still oozing out of it.
Conclusion? Take a thermometer , use it, and never overcook or overcook chicken again.
Cook until juices clear – fact or fiction? | Illustrated chef