Meat Thermometers Review

I cook steak and chicken outside on the grill quite often. I prefer not to cut the meat open to check for done-ness. It lets the juice out and also looks dumb when you serve it. Using a meat thermometer is easy and it’ll make your steaks, roasts, burgers and all your other food taste like you’re an award-winning chef. With this I just poke it, wait a few seconds then check for temp.

"A meat thermometer doesn't cost much, but it can save hundreds of dollars in medical bills by ensuring that food is cooked enough to kill disease-causing salmonella, E. coli, and other bugs." Consumer Reports

Thermometers For Food, Cooking, Oven, Grill, And Smoker

This (Weber 6492 Original Instant-Read Thermometer) was my first-ever instant-read thermometer, and I have to say that I am very pleased with my purchase; great value for the price. For the price you just can't beat this thing. Instant read, pivot head, its great. The pivoting can be a little "loose" sometimes but it reads instantly so its not meant to be left around in the meat. I don't know how I was grilling without something like this before. My chicken now comes out great since I can get an accurate temperature quickly and pull it off the fire before I turn it into charcoal.

Thermometers are as important as knives and forks. Only knuckle draggers think thermometers are for sissies. I want my food safe, tender, juicy, and flavorful. The temperature of the cooker and internal temperature of the food controls all of these things. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that in 2011 roughly one in six Americans got sick from foodborne illnesses, about 128,000 were hospitalized, and 3,000 died, about the same number who died in the attacks in 2001 or Pearl Harbor in 1941.

I use Thermometers a lot; to check the temperature of roasting turkey or chicken, to check the temperature of bread as it bakes, and to measure the temperature of milk for making yogurt. (You scald the milk to deactivate enzymes that prevent the yogurt from forming. But then you need to cool the milk down sufficiently to add the culture without killing it.)

Worse still, the color of food is altered by the light you are using. Incandescent light is yellowish orange, fluorescent is greenish blue, most LEDs are slightly blue. Women who wear makeup know they always look better under incandescent light than fluorescent. In other words, the type of bulb you are using impacts the color.

Here's what the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says: "The color of cooked meat and poultry is not always a sure sign of its degree of doneness. Only by using a food thermometer can one accurately determine that a meat has reached a safe temperature. Turkey, fresh pork, ground beef or veal can remain pink even after cooking to temperatures of 160°F and higher. The meat of smoked turkey is always pink."

Bottom line, if you really want to know when the meat is done to your likeness, you need a good digital thermometer.

Thermometer calibration

MOST temp probes are insulated with teflon, and cannot tolerate more than 450F. If they touch a hot grill surface, they are toast. Air is the best insulator. Buy good therms and take care of them. Here are some tips on caring for them.

Calibration. You should check a thermometer's accuracy soon after you buy it, then once every year, and again if you drop it. You can check your thermometer's accuracy with boiling water and with ice water.

Boiling water. Bring a pot with about 3" of water to a boil and insert the probe. It should read about 212F. Notice the key word "about". The exact reading can vary slightly with air pressure (factory calibration is based on one atmosphere, about 30" of mercury). Minerals in tap water can cause minor variations, so use distilled water if you want to be absolutely precise.

Ice water. Fill a tall glass with ice cubes, not crushed ice, add cold water, and let it sit a minute. Insert the probe and make sure the tipis not below the ice or touching the ice. The temp below the ice can be several degrees above 32F (0C) and the temp of the ice can be below 32F.