“You can only kill salmonella if it reaches 165 degrees. There is no medium-rare for chicken,” head chef at Hello Fresh, Michelle Doll-Olsen, tells Inside Edition.
Ahead of Labor Day weekend cookouts, some people on social media are expressing their anxiety about cooking chicken.
“I would rather just about burn it to make sure it’s cooked,” one person said in a TikTok video.
The hashtag 'Chicken Anxiety' has 23 million views on TikTok.
Head chef at Hello Fresh, Michelle Doll-Olsen, spoke with Inside Edition to help calm some nerves.
“Of all the proteins, chicken is the one you have to take the most seriously,” Doll-Olsen says. “You can only kill salmonella if it reaches 165 degrees. There is no medium rare for chicken.”
Doll-Olsen showed Inside Edition two ways to make sure your chicken turns out perfect this holiday weekend.
“A thermometer is really the only fool-proof way to make sure you hit 165. Otherwise I would recommend slicing into the thickest part of one of the chicken breasts to see that it’s cooked through,” the chef says.
When it comes to grilling chicken, Doll-Olsen recommends preheating for 10 to 15 minutes and cooking both sides of the chicken breast for five to seven minutes each.
A survey found that chicken is the third most-popular food to grill on Labor Day, behind the traditional staples, hot dogs and hamburgers.
