In a kitchen that is serious about cooking, having a meat thermometer is beneficial in many ways, to understand ways to cook meat perfectly each time. Imagine perfectly cooked steaks or juicy turkey or a stuffed chicken that is tender to the bone; keeping a few key things in mind while using a thermometer can help to elevate one’s personal standard of cooking. Amongst other kitchen tools, a meat thermometer really is more versatile than it gets credit for.
In most cases, there are multiple types of meat thermometers that inundate the market today. From digital ones to old-fashioned dials, each one has their own advantages. While a digital thermometer only needs a few seconds to register the temperature of food, a dial thermometer can be stuck into a loin of pork or whole bird, while it cooks in the oven, in order to help monitor the internal temperatures more accurately. On the other hand, using a digital thermometer doesn’t create an outlet for the meat juices to run out, keeping it moist while cooking or resting, unlike a dial thermometer which makes a hole that might cause the meat to dry out.
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Thermometers these days are also available with audible alarms attached to them, and are waterproof for the most part, as well. One thing to know, irrespective of the type of thermometer is that if it isn’t inserted into the food properly, the reading will not be accurate. In order to do so, insert the probe tip into the thickest part of the meat instead of a cold spot or an extremely hot spot on the surface of your meat. For example, if you want to check the temperature of chicken breast or a leg of lamb, piercing through the hunkiest part of the meat will be able to aid in correctly determining if the meat is cooked well, is undercooked or overcooked.
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Since ovens can be unpredictable at times, especially while cooking meat, it is better to keep a keen eye instead of completely relying on cook time. Often, when cuts of meat vary or are cooked with specific modifications in the oven, it is important to rely on instinct and the readings versus waiting for a particular amount of time. What’s important to understand is that meat continues to cook in residual heat even after it has been removed from an active source of heat, which means cooking it for a few minutes less than what the recipe says, is advisable.
A meat thermometer, apart from being used for the most obvious purpose, can also be used to regulate temperatures while deep frying, measuring temperature of oil and other liquids, with fish and even seafood and vegetables. Having a couple of different types of meat thermometers, especially if you happen to host often, is ideal when you need to keep track of multiple courses or dishes that might be cooking simultaneously.