Chicken: cooked or undercooked?

John1610

I have recently been overcooking chicken in fear of getting salmonella; but this ruins the taste of the chicken I feel, leaving it dry.

I know to avoid pinkness inside the chicken, like this:

http://www.healthguidance.org/hgimages/16240Undercooked.jpg

However, whenever I cook it, it always had little red/pink spots in it.

I was just wondering what these are? Is it an indication that the chicken still isn't cooked?

Thanks

(oh and, I've been cooking chicken breast fillets, so there is no bone)

neanderthin

Cook to an internal temp of 150-155 and let rest for 5 minutes.

dandandee

I personally like mine on the crispy side so I cut my chicken into smaller pieces and cook it longer but if you don't trust yourself eyeballing it to judge whether they're cooked, you could use a food thermometer

jayjay12345654321

There should be no pink spots. Those are blood capillaries that haven't cooked through. They indicate the meat did not reach a high enough temperature. Try using a meat thermometer to make sure it hits the right temp so you know when to take it off the heat. That way it won't over cook and dry out, but will still be done.