Whay makes poultry meat pink when it is already thoroughly cooked?

A perfectly cooked chicken breast can be a faint color of pink when done.

The color of cooked meat and poultry is not always a sure sign of its degree of doneness. Only a meat thermometer can help you determine whether meat has reached a safe temperature. Turkey, fresh pork, and ground beef or veal can remain pink even after cooking to temperatures of 160 degrees and higher. The meat of smoked turkey is always pink.

What causes well-done meat to be pink?

Scientists have found that pinkness occurs when gases inside a gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues. This is the same process that gives red color to smoked hams and other cured meats.

The presence of high levels of myoglobin can account for poultry having a pink to red color similar to that of an undercooked product.

Other reasons for pinkness in poultry:

Nitrites are commonly used to produce a desired pink color in traditionally cured meats such as ham or bologna. So it follows that the natural presence of nitrates and nitrites, either in the feed or water supply used in the production of poultry, are a factor in nitrite levels in the birds. One study found that during 40 hours of storage at 40 degrees, naturally occurring microorganisms converted nitrate to nitrite. It also found that the local water supply had nitrate and thus could serve as a nitrate source during processing.


Often meat of younger birds shows the most pink coloring because their thinner skins permit gases to reach the flesh more easily during cooking The amount of fat in the skin also affects the amount of pink color. Young birds or animals lack the shield of a fat covering.


Meat and poultry grilled or smoked outdoors can also look pink, even when well done. You may see a pink-colored rim about a half-inch wide around the outside of the cooked meat. The meat of commercially smoked turkeys is usually pink because it is prepared with natural smoke and liquid smoke flavor.

not being cooked

Poultry meat is not pink when it is thoroughly cooked.

Pink color is a sign that poultry is not yet done.

there is often bloody looking area near the bone, even in fully cooked chicken. The thinking is the chickens are so young when butchered that the bones are still porous and absorb some fluids.
http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Bloody-chik.html
this link addresses this issue.

Pink poultry meat is not thoroughly cooked. The whole bird may appear thoroughly cooked but if the meat near the bone and joints is still pink, it is underdone and either needs returning to the heat or you discard anything pink.