The pink thigh joint

[JohnTak]

When cooking half chickens how do you make sure there is no pink thigh joint? I generally over cook to 180° in the thigh because 165° almost always has pink joints.

 

[Mark Silver]

Often chickens are slaughtered so young, their bones (especially thigh bones) don’t have time to fully calcify. That pink you see at 165 degrees is almost always marrow leaching through the bones. Pink is not normally a problem, but if you blot it with a napkin or paper towel, and it’s red, it’s undercooked.

 

[Brett-EDH]

When cooking half chickens how do you make sure there is no pink thigh joint? I generally over cook to 180° in the thigh because 165° almost always has pink joints.

165° on a thigh temp is too low, bone in. Hit 170° minimum or 175° and you’ll always be at done, especially if you rest your bird. 5° carryover is about correct for thighs.

On breast, hit 160° minimum and you’re fine with rest too. 165° on white with carryover can begin to dry white meat. Just stay indirect and you’ll have more headroom.

 

[Randy]

Great question thanks to all that answer

 

[JohnTak]

You are all the best! Everything I found on the internet basically said don't worry about it if it is 165*. My squeamish friends worry about it.

 

[timothy]

I've seen some make a few slices right along the joint ( zebra stripes)
You could also crack/dislocate the joint. I've done that a few times.

 

[MartinB]

Its not a problem.

I want 175+ in dark meat to render those tendons in leg and have them be tender. That pretty much takes care of it. Most of the time they're like 185 or more when i barbecue quarters

One of the reasons I don't like cooking whole turkeys .... Is if you try to make legs eatable you ruin the breast.... I don't eat the legs for that reason. I'm pulling the breast at 150-155 and letting it rest.

Chickens have more fat and aren't quite as bad.

 

[Chuck-roaniecowpony]

If you've gone so far as to halve the chicken, I'd just part out the rest and cook each part to their ideal temperature. Otherwise, I resort to trickery to keep different parts from drying out. One of the things I've done is inject butter in the breast and rub it under the skin of the breast and thighs with butter that has a concoction of herbs and spices similar to Herbs de Provence.