Are you wondering how to tell if a chicken is undercooked? Well, worry not! Today, we‘ll show you five ways to check if a chicken is undercooked! Whether you are a new chef or a seasoned cook, one of these methods can help you avoid seeing another undercooked chicken on your plate again.
Do you like the sound of that? Well, let’s get right to the methods, then!
5 Tests to Do to Check if a Chicken Is Undercooked
Today will be all about undercooked chickens. Here, we’ll show you the five tests you can use to check if there is an undercooked chicken on your hands.
- Color Test
- Size Test
- Texture Test
- Taste Test
- Temperature Test
Later, we will go through other things you should know about undercooked chicken. However, for now, let’s get to know the first test.
1. Check the Color of the Chicken
Whether or not you like looking up recipes, you have likely heard or read the words golden and brown together more than once. While we do not know when or how it started, golden brown has come to be an indication of doneness. Well, we can also use color to indicate the opposite!
Checking the color of the chicken is probably the easiest way to spot an undercooked chicken. While you want a golden brown hue, you don’t want to see a reddish pink. As you can guess, this color can indicate that a chicken is undercooked.
What you should keep in mind when it comes to checking the color is that a chicken can sport both the colors that indicate doneness and the opposite. A chicken can have a lovely golden brown on the outside but a reddish-pink tinge on the inside.
The presence of one color does not ensure the absence of the other, as different chicken parts have different cook times. With that, ensure you cut through the thickest part of the chicken to check the color. Do not judge a chicken by its golden brown cover!
On the flip side, sometimes, you don’t even have to cut through the chicken. The color check is not only for the meat of the chicken. It can also work for its juices.
You can grab a fork and poke a few holes in the chicken to get some juices out. Like with the meat, though, reddish pink is not a desirable hue. It can be an indication the chicken is still undercooked.
2. Check the Size of the Chicken
Another thing you can check using your eyesight alone is the size of the chicken. When it comes to cooking, almost no dish stays the same size. It is one or the other. It either shrinks or expands. When it comes to chicken meat, it often shrinks down. With that, a chicken that did not shrink is likely still undercooked.
The science behind this test is that heat is almost always part of the equation in cooking chickens. As you might already know, heat almost always causes a reaction in science. Now, that is what happens too when cooking chickens. Fats go through fusion, and juices go through evaporation. Hence, chickens should shrink some after cooking.
3. Check the Texture of the Chicken
On the flip side, you can also use your sense of touch to check if a chicken is undercooked.
As you might already know, raw chicken feels slimy and rubbery. When checking if a chicken is undercooked using your sense of touch, it is these two things you should keep in mind. You should not have to deal with these two if it is a cooked chicken on your hands.
To check if a chicken is slimy, you only need to touch it. However, sometimes, that is not even necessary. You might only need a good look, as an undercooked chicken will appear shiny when slimy.
To check if a chicken is rubbery, you don’t need to worry. You don’t need to take a bite of it. You can take a fork and try to poke a few holes in the chicken. If you cannot get the utensil through or there is resistance, that can be a good indication the chicken is undercooked.
Be careful when you do the texture test, though! You don’t want to do this test as soon as you get the chicken off of the heat. While the chicken might be undercooked, it could still be hot enough to hurt.
4. Check the Taste of the Chicken
We do not recommend this next one if you can help it. That is because it is neither desirable nor safe. However, you can also use your sense of taste to check if a chicken is undercooked.
Some would tell you that an undercooked chicken does not have any taste, but if you’ve dealt with raw chicken before, you know that is unlikely.
An undercooked chicken will likely have a metallic taste. That is because it likely still has some blood, and blood tastes metallic. This taste does not even have to be overpowering. Even the slightest metallic blood-like taste should be enough to indicate you have an undercooked chicken on your hands.
As we have said, we do not recommend this method. However, if you decide to go with this one, spitting the chicken out after you check it out would be ideal. Eating undercooked chicken is not recommended and can be dangerous. We will talk a little more about this topic later, but for now, let us go and check out the last method.
5. Check the Temperature of the Chicken
Finally, we go to our last method, which is also the most reliable. If you don’t want to make a mistake, the temperature check is the best way to go about checking if a chicken is undercooked or not.
For this method, you need a meat thermometer. All you have to do is to stick it into the chicken. However, you should make sure it does not hit a bone or that you don’t insert it too deeply. With these two, you will likely get the wrong reading.
What you should do instead is insert the meat thermometer only deep enough to reach the thickest part of the chicken, which is the part between the leg and the breast. Once it is in place, you want it to read 165º F (approximately 74º C). Anything below would fall under being undercooked.
Other Things to Keep in Mind With Undercooked Chickens
We have shown you the five tests to check if a chicken is undercooked. Before you go, let us briefly discuss some things you should know about these chickens.
Eating Undercooked Chicken Can Get You Sick
As you probably already know, we do not recommend eating undercooked chicken. As you have seen above, it is not desirable in the first place. It could feel and taste icky.
However, even if the undercooked chicken feels and tastes okay, you still want to avoid it. Eating undercooked chicken can get you sick. It could be as simple as stomach aches to as serious as food poisoning.
There Are Exceptions to the Rules Above
As we have said above, a meat thermometer is the most reliable test.
- For one, a chicken with a reddish pink inside is not always undercooked.
- For another, a chicken could be slimy because it is greasy.
- Finally, a chicken can also be rubbery because it is overcooked.
As you can see, it would be best to use all the methods to be sure. On the flip side, if you will only use one, the last one is the best.
How to Fix an Undercooked Chicken
You don’t have to worry if there is an undercooked chicken on your hands. There are a few ways to fix it! You don’t have to throw it away! At the core, you only need to continue cooking the chicken. How, though, is a different story. It would depend on how you were cooking your chicken. Here are five things to remember, though:
- It would be best to continue cooking undercooked chicken as soon as possible.
- Even if an undercooked chicken is not yet fully cooked, you don’t want it to mingle with raw chicken again if you plan on storing it.
- On the flip side, it would not be the best idea to let cooked and undercooked chicken be in the same container too. Separate the two as soon as possible. Not only because it will make re-cooking easier but as a safety precaution too.
- Cook the chicken through, but do not forget not to overcook it!
- Finally, it might be best to use a new set of utensils to re-cook and finish cooking the chicken.
Finals Words
How to tell if a chicken is undercooked? Today, we shared 5 ways to check! We surely hope we helped you out with this problem. If you still have other matters and concerns like this, head on over to our other discussion! We still have many things that we would like to talk about with you!
