Ground Beef Internal Temperature
Beef
Important — cook fully through
Grinding spreads surface bacteria throughout the meat, so ground meat must be cooked through. Cook to a minimum internal temperature of 71 °C160 °F. No pink center.
Ground beef plays by different rules than every steak on this site. On a whole cut, bacteria live only on the surface, and any sear kills them. Grinding folds that surface through the entire interior — so the middle of a burger has to reach the temperature that only the outside of a steak needs. That's why store-bought ground beef gets one number, not a doneness scale: 71 °C (160 °F), measured at the center, every time. Whole muscle is different: an intact ribeye steak is sterile inside, which is why it can be served rare and ground beef cannot.
How to measure
Slide the probe horizontally through the side of the patty so the tip sits in the center — probing a 2 cm patty from the top usually overshoots into the pan or reads the hot surface layer. On a grill full of burgers, check more than one; the patties over the hottest coals can run 5–10 °C ahead of the rest. For meatloaf, probe the geometric center of the loaf, and check a second spot to be sure you weren't reading an air pocket.
Cooking methods
Smash burger
Thin patties are where safety and technique agree. Press an 80–100 g ball flat on a screaming-hot griddle and by the time the crust is deeply browned — about 90 seconds per side — the center is already past 71 °C (160 °F). No probe gymnastics required; a patty under 1 cm thick simply can't stay undercooked beneath that crust.
Thick pub-style burger
A 4 cm patty is the opposite problem: the crust forms long before the center is safe. Sear both sides over high heat, then move to indirect heat or a 150 °C (300 °F) oven and probe from the side until the center reads 71 °C (160 °F). This is the burger format where a thermometer earns its keep.
Meatloaf
Bake at 175 °C (350 °F) until the center of the loaf reads 71 °C (160 °F) — roughly an hour for a standard 1 kg loaf. Glaze in the final 15 minutes. A loaf pan traps steam and slows the center down, so a free-form loaf on a sheet pan cooks faster and browns better on the sides.
Common mistakes
- Judging doneness by color. Ground beef can turn fully brown at 55 °C (131 °F) — well below safe — and can hold stubbornly pink past 71 °C depending on pH and packaging. Color is noise; the probe is signal.
- Pressing burgers with the spatula. Those juices you hear hissing are the moisture that would have made the burger worth eating. Smash once at the start (smash-burger style) or not at all.
- Overworking the mix. Kneading ground beef develops myosin and turns burgers bouncy. Season the outside, shape patties with the lightest touch that holds them together, and stop.
- Skipping the probe on meatloaf. It's the thickest ground-beef format and the easiest to undercook at the center while the outside looks done. Probe the middle, not the end.
Frequently asked questions
Can a burger be served medium rare?
Not from store-bought ground beef — grinding distributes surface bacteria through the interior, so the center needs the full 71 °C (160 °F). The exception is grinding whole muscle yourself immediately before cooking, with clean equipment: then the interior was never exposed, and the calculus resembles a steak's. Restaurants serving pink burgers rely on exactly that kind of controlled grinding.
Why is it 71 °C for burgers but less for steak?
A steak's interior is essentially sterile — bacteria sit on the surface, and searing handles them. Grinding mixes that surface throughout the meat, so the safe-surface temperature becomes the safe-center temperature. Same beef, different geometry.
My burger hit 71 °C but it's still pink — is it safe?
Yes. Pink at temperature happens with high-pH beef, certain packaging, and smoked burgers (the same reaction that makes a smoke ring). The reverse is the dangerous illusion: beef that browns early and looks done at 55 °C. Trust the number, not the shade.
Do frozen patties need different treatment?
Just lower heat and more time. Cook from frozen over medium instead of high so the outside doesn't char before the center thaws and climbs to 71 °C (160 °F) — usually about 50% longer than fresh. The target temperature doesn't change.
Does ground beef need to rest?
Not for safety — unlike pork's rest-based rule, 71 °C at the center is instantly sufficient. A minute or two of rest helps a thick burger hold its juices when bitten, but a smash burger can go straight from griddle to bun.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service gives 71 °C160 °F as the safe minimum for this cut.