A chicken can have a bit of red blood visible when it is properly "done" and perfectly safe.

To reliably eliminate every last tint of redness - like when a particularly squeamish aunt is present - you will need to overcook the chicken, risking the breast being dry and overcooked.

Or, you could take the chicken off the grill, remove the breasts, then put the rest of the carcass back and cook to 185F+ (deep thigh temp). The legs don't overcook as easily as the breast, but they're still going to be less juicy than if you'd left off cooking at the lower temp.

Or, you can use artificial solutions - injecting the chicken so that it can stay moist despite overcooking.

Personally, I would not worry about a bit of red or pink.

See the link for the explanation. Excerpt:

''today's marketed chickens are considerably younger and far more tender than they were years ago. Their bones have not yet matured and are still somewhat soft and porous. As a result, there can be seepage of bone marrow through the soft bone and into the surrounding meat.''

''The retail food industry is being forced to sell grossly overcooked chicken in order to get rid of the red blood color around the bones. The result is chicken that is dried out, unappealing, and does not taste good. A counter measure is to needle the chicken, pumping in solutions of phosphates, flavoring compounds, and water, which puts pathogens in the middle of the chicken.''

Here is a link that might be useful: BLOODY CHICKEN

We have that same conversation when we grill whole chickens!
One of the restaurants where we eat, explains on their menu that their method of smoking/grilling produces a chicken like you described, and it is cooked completely. Their chicken is delicious. I will split a store bought rotisserie chicken and throw it on the grill for a few minutes, because even though the juices run/are clear, I always see that blood look near the bone.
I am no help to you ~ sorry ~ I do think our DHs are right:)

John is right....if the temperature was hot enough the chicken was done. The pink was from the bones of a very immature bird. they are marketing them very young these days.
Linda C

I also agree, the chicken is fine. The industry raises birds called "Cornish" or "Cornish Cross". They are huge birds, so breast heavy that they cannot walk after they reach a certain size without breaking their legs. They'll sit in front of a feeder and eat until they die of heart attacks. Those birds are ready for the table in 8-10 weeks. Yes WEEKS.

Very profitable for the poultry industry, since they can "turn over" a batch of chicks in just a couple of months.

As a result, the birds are marketed very young, after about 10 weeks they tend to get a bit "stringy", so 8 weeks is the benchmark.

So, a bit of pink/red/blood near the bone is still safe, as long as the chicken has reached fully cooked temperature.

Annie

I am not a seasoned cook, so this is my personal opinion.

Yes, it's safe.

However, I always over-cook it so that there will be no blood showing if I have to serve chicken to friends. Many of them may not trust your explaination and feel uncomfortable about it.

dcarch

Thanks for your replies. As much as I think I know about cooking, there's still lots to keep learning.

The chicken we had was 4.3 lbs. and it was one of the "Nature's Place" (our supermarket's all-natural brand) birds.

As it was larger than the 3.5 lb. bird called for in the recipe we went by temp rather than by time. It was cooked low & slow for an hour, and as it was flattened & pressed close to the heat source I didn't think there was any question is was safe......until I saw red.

The recipe was delicious, even though my marinating time was 4 hrs. instead of overnight. I will try it again, and next time I'll enjoy it more knowing that a bit of red/pink doesn't always mean trouble.

The place where I get a free range chicken also has very large birds..4 to 5 1/2 pounds for what they call friers. I don't know what cross they are but I know they are out running in the pasture the morning before they are in my pan, and they are also very red near the bone....even cooked to 160 degrees.
I have even tossed the back and wings into the stock pot and there is still some red near the bone after simmering for hours.
I try very hard not to overcook a chicken. I have had several people say to me when eating an oven roasted or pan fried chicken breast..."but Linda! It's so moist!?" I say that's because it's not over cooked!
Of course with a boneless breast there is no red because there is no bone.

In NYC, LA, San Fran, Vancouver, Toronto, etc-- most big cities with a good size China Town, you can always get free-range chickens.

In many stores, if you buy those whole roasted chicken, deep-fried chicken, soy sauce chicken or plain boiled chicken, they are all free range chickens here in NYC China Town. They are all done to perfection, with a little blood showing near the bones.

Interesting chicken to try is silkies.

dcarch

Another with the same vote. I don't have an issue with seeing red as long as it follows having seen a properly placed thermometer.

Thanks for asking that question, and thanks to all that answered.
I too am squeamish when I see pink or red even when I check the temperature. Thanks for allying my fears...I really trust you guys!

Di

wish someone could convince my don-in-law...

I can't begin to tell you how many BIG breasts I have put back in the skillet for him. I had an uncle who swore he had never had a thigh cooked long enough!!!

Oooh that's just screaming for a fried baloney comment, but I'll refrain.

Americans always overcook their chicken. I want pink near the bone or I don't want the chicken. My wife wants dry meat. The same people who want rare steak want stringy, dry, overdone chicken. Go figure.

Far be it for me to claim I'm representative of all "Americans", but for me personally any subconscious tendency to overcook chicken has more to do with avoiding three days of diarrhea than having some odd preference for stringy, dry, overdone chicken. Been there done that more than once.

As a side note . . . don't you LOVE your Thermapen?!? I bought the splash-proof model last year and don't know how I ever lived without this thing!

LOL, kayskats, that DID sound a bit.....um.....funny. I'm still grinning.

rosesinny, "Americans always overcook their chicken" is very generalized and a bit insulting, I'm afraid. That's like saying all French people drink wine with every meal or all Italians eat spaghetti or all Indians use too much curry or all Japanese eat raw fish.

Because we are much unalike, saying "all" very seldom is true, no matter the instance.

Annie

One problem with using a charcoal or electric smoker is that chickens can be cooked for 4 or 5 hours and be fully cooked, but the meat is still a tad pinkish. Perfectly safe, but a little disconcerting.

Sadly, the fact that salmonella has weaseled its way into the reproductive tract of factory chickens means that we are conditioned, probably correctly, to err on the side of overdone. Most people don't carry a Thermapen in their pocket to verify done-ness.

Have to agree with foodonanostump, the same has happened to me way too many times, so I avoid all pinkish chicken.

pixistix - just coming back after a day away & saw your note on the Thermapen. Yes, it is just the best - fast, extremely accurate, and doesn't tear up the food you're testing! One of the few kitchen gadgets that, IMHO, lives up to the hype.

We came to rely on it so much that we got one for home & one for the lake. Wish we had the splashproof one, but it came along after we purchased ours.