Meat thermometer

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Seeler

Seeler

Well-Known Member
I've been cooking for over sixty years, but I've never used a meat thermometer. This year I got one for Christmas.

It has a long prob to stick in the meat and a handle with a dial that shows the internal temperature of the meat being cooked. So much for medium beef roast, so much for lamb, pork, or poultry, etc. And a warning not to let the tip rest in fat or on a bone. That's about all for directions. Oh yes, do not submerse in water, and do not leave in oven or barbeque.

Now my question: I kind of thought that the cook put the prob in the meat before putting it in the oven, and when it is nearly done took a quick look in the oven to check the gage and see if it had reached the ideal temperature. But - what about that instruction about 'do not leave in oven ...'? Maybe I'm to take the roast out after the approx. cooking time and then insert the prob and give it time to heat up - and if it doesn't reach the suggested number, remove the prob and put the roast back in, only to take it out and check it every so often until it is done.

Someone with a bit more experience, help me?
 
Or do I just put that gadget in the back of a draw until sometime someone decides to declutter my kitchen?
 
In and out works ... some of eM are leave in models ... especially the electronic models that beep when the beast is ready to emerge into the fete ...

Some wine may be appropriate to toast the beast's efforts to contribute to life ...

There are those that would consider this Vue Doings ... if you could see to thank the critter for it's efforts ! Other's would deny this as the simple beasts are not part of the eternal kingdom according to some isolated perspectives ...
 
They're called instead read thermometers. Take your meat out of the oven, or even pull the shelf out a bit if you can do so safely. Insert, leave a moment or two (long enough for the dial to climb, which is an immediate response).

They last much better than the old meat thermometers that got "cooked into" the roast, then you'd try to get them clean and you'd break the glass or get water under it...
 
"Instant" read thermometer (I think Bette may still be struggling with her cold & some congestion is affecting pronunciation ;) ) - Bette's right - that's how ours works. My husband - a former math teacher - of course LOVES measuring everything, so he treasures his meat thermometer.

It's often helpful to just check that it's properly calibrated - you can do this by boiling water in a pan & then inserting the tip of the thermometer into the water - since we know the boiling temp of water - you can check that the thermometer is accurate.
 
Once you know the "T" .. if you know the "Q" factor you can calculate "S" an explicit form of S=Q/T that to many minds is really a twisted perspective of heat as pas ... or gone on to entropy ... a weird measure of something pas' T ... out there as distributive?

Thus strange things bug warm bodied brains ... not so much kohl mines ...
 
Interesting about the calibration, @Carolla .

I had one until recently that had a long metal wire, so you could put a probe into the meat then run the cable to the sensor outside of the oven (the wire just was in between oven door & oven). I loved it. We also have a couple of instant around that we now use.

Can't imagine not having it available for having roast cooked just right or ensuring the turkey is done completely.
 
our oven has that probe thing too - it turns the oven off when the meat is done :) We rarely cook cut large cuts, so hardly ever use it, but it is quite nifty!
 
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I lost mine in a move or something. It was the old type. I've rarely roasted a big cut of meat or a whole bird. Usually just small portions/ cuts, or fish fillets/ salmon steaks - it just works better. I even bought turkey rolls (rolled with stuffing) for two, for Thanksgiving, before. I cooked a turkey for company once and I would give that attempt a C+. Maybe a B-. I was thinking of doing a roast beef with all the trimmings - even for New Year's Eve. We'd have leftovers that could be frozen or used for sandwiches. If I couldn't find the thermometer I'd just check the roast until it was mostly well done, only slightly pink in the centre and hope that is good enough? I used to like it more pink than that but not anymore.
 
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Sure - you can look up how long to cook things ... so many minutes/kilo (or pound) at such and such a temperature, for a certain degree of 'done-ness' ... the old tried & true method before so many meat thermometers existed. I'm pretty sure my mom never owned such a thing & always made delicious roast beef!
 
I don't have a meat thermometer nor have I used one. I cook beef roasts, lab roasts, turkey etc. and have never had a problem.
 
My father thought meat wasnt' done unless it was brown through & through. Think chewy. Think charcoal steak. ugh.
My mother cooked meat that way, I think to appease him.
Turkey was always dry.

For this reason, I got into the habit of using thermometer. I like my meat moist, my roast medium/rare to rare. I use the thermometer to help me track and ensure doneness.
Now, I like my pork cooked more than my husband, so we use the thermometer as an argument avoider!
 
My mother cooked like that, as well. What she could do to a piece of calves liver was truly vile.

In contrast, my ex-husband liked beef "blue-rare"; the thermometer avoided a few arguments for us, as well!

Kimmio, I've had a lot of luck with a recipe from Cooks Illustrated using, of all things, an eye of the round, which tends to be (relatively) inexpensive. Briefly, take a 3-4 lb. eye of the round. Put it in the fridge after patting 1 tbsp of kosher salt on it, then enclosing it in a zip-loc bag. Brine for 8-12 hours (overnight and a bit is good). Rinse off any salt that remains. Pat dry. Season with pepper. Throw it briefly in a pan on the top of the stove with a little oil to brown it. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Roast beef uncovered, for about 2 hours, then turn off the oven, leave the roast in for an additional hour or so; do not open the door. (Alternately, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, omit the browning bit and just throw the lightly oiled and peppered roast straight in, reducing the heat immediately to 250 and carrying on as before. Little less perfect, one less pan...)

You should have a medium cooked roast that is quite tender and juicy. Slices well and makes GREAT leftovers.

(Instead read, indeed - I'm claiming cold meds, and sticking to it, lol)
 
Inannawhimsey said:
i imagine our generation, our walkers are gonna have GPS, wi-fi, multispectrum camera with shock function for those annoying stalkers & hover capability and enough extra space to carry a few extra wipes, pads, spare change, pills, ID & hot n cold drink container :3
Click to expand...


And we'll have obtained perfection ... people that no longer are required to think of anything ... thus obsolete to the outside soul ... a tough cut that is eliminated bottom line ... for thoughts to rest upon as somnolent?

The logic of the running cobbler ... some say a blue berried grunt? Subtle at that ...
 
Pinga said:
My father thought meat wasnt' done unless it was brown through & through. Think chewy. Think charcoal steak. ugh.
My mother cooked meat that way, I think to appease him.
Turkey was always dry.

For this reason, I got into the habit of using thermometer. I like my meat moist, my roast medium/rare to rare. I use the thermometer to help me track and ensure doneness.
Now, I like my pork cooked more than my husband, so we use the thermometer as an argument avoider!
Click to expand...

Pinga - you've described Seelerman and me to a T. He likes everything over-cooked (in my mind). I like medium/rare for beef, and moist for poultry. This is part of the reason that I'm glad to try a meat thermometer. He's always asking 'are you sure it's done?' and suggesting 'another fifteen minutes'. (picture Seeler tearing out her hair)
 
I understand some of the conflict about 'is the meat cooked'. I partly fixed it by telling my partner that if I cooked I did it my way - if he wanted it some other way then he must cook it. No whining or complaining allowed regardless of who cooked.

I don't have a meat thermometer. I use the time/temperature chart in the first cookbook I owned - I think it was used in Home Ec classes in the early 60's. I can't tell you what it is called as it has no covers - and is missing many pages at the front and back. You would know what recipes got used most frequently at my house by the stains on the pages (butter, tomato sauce, gravy etc). I found this cookbook very helpful. Eventually it stopped being my favourite and I started using More with Less. Each of my kids was given a copy of that wonderful book when they left home.

Who knew that I would live long enough to have cook books that were very outdated?
 
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