What’s the perfect temperature for cooking meat? The answers are right here.

The simplest way to check if your meat is cooked properly is by avoiding the guesswork and using a meat thermometer. Using a meat thermometer is often overlooked in home cooking, but it’s definitely something more home cooks should be utilising if you want to avoid cutting your meat to check if it’s cooked properly. Insert the thermometer probe in the thickest part of your meat, away from fat, bone or gristle.

For chicken or turkey: Insert the thermometer into the inner thigh area, avoiding any bone.

For ground meats: For dishes like meatloaf, place the thermometer probe into the thickest area of the dish.

For beef, pork, lamb (can be roasts, steaks or chops): Always insert the thermometer into the centre of the thickest part, keeping away from any bone, fat or gristle.

A personal favourite of mine? I find Meater’s range of thermometers invaluable in the kitchen. Not only do the standalone probes mean no tangle of wires coming out of my oven, but I can also set my desired internal temperature via the (ridiculously easy-to-use) app on my smartphone. Once my roast hits the perfect temp, I get an alert. No more guesswork! Super handy to have it to hand when you’re cooking a juicy turkey (no one likes a dry ol’ bird), like with my 5-spice & Orange Turkey Roll.