How to Choose a Meat Thermometer?
Whenever you are cooking for a dinner party, your family, or yourself, follow safety protocols when handling food. A meat thermometer is a useful kitchen tool to assist in cooking pork chops, chicken breasts, and fish filets to the right temperatures.
What Is a Meat Thermometer?
It is a small, pointy device to measure the internal temperatures of protein meals like meats. Eggs, poultry, and pork need to reach a minimum internal temperature to kill harmful bacteria and avoid food-borne illnesses. It allows you to monitor the internal temperatures avoiding cuts into the proteins. It is available in digital and analog versions. A meat thermometer is a basic kitchen tool to help you prepare protein to your required level of cooking.
Best Type of Meat Thermometer
Either analog or digital types, the best meat thermometers are accurate and fast. These have a thin probe that does not damage the meat.
Meat Thermometers fall into two general categories:
- Instant-read thermometers:
These are in various styles and you insert them near the end of cooking to measure the internal temperature in the meat.
- Thermocouples
These have a very thin tip that pokes meats no matter if the cut is thin or thick.
They are the most accurate but are more expensive than other types. They are better for monitoring a steak, as you cannot leave them in during cooking.
These are the best thermometers when you deep fry, grill, or use other quick techniques.
- Digital Instant-read Thermometers
These are more reasonably priced and have a quick response time but less than the thermocouples. You cannot leave them in the food. These are good for cooking on the stove, grilling, or oven.
- Analog meat thermometers
These are less common now. These take longer to show the internal temperature.
- Leave-in thermometers
You insert these before cooking and leave-in the grill or the oven; in the thickest part of the meat they measure the internal temperature.
- Traditional digital probe thermometers
These track the temperature of the food throughout the process and are oven-safe.
These thermometers may include timers that can be set for time or target temperature, making them very cook-friendly.
- Dial Thermometers
These are better for large cuts of meat like turkeys, hams, and meatloaf, you can leave them in during cooking.
- Wireless Digital Probe Thermometers
These are safe to go in the oven but you can get temperature info through an app via Bluetooth.
- Disposable thermometers
These are single-use thermometers. They change color or pop up when food temperature rises, and are good if you cook in bulk for a special event and do not want any contamination.
How to Utilize a Meat Thermometer Properly?
Here I provide some steps that you can follow while using a meat thermometer:
Put the Meat Thermometer into the Right Spot:
- Do not hit the gristle or bone when you insert the probe into the meat.
- Put the thermocouples only one-fourth inch to get a reading, making them a perfect choice for cutlets which are thin cuts of meat.
- You can put the Digital instant-read thermometers to half an inch of depth.
- Now insert Dial thermometers from two to two-and-a-half-inches deep, for large roasts and thick cuts of meat like ham, turkey, and pork shoulder.
As a Beginner:
For the best reading, you can pierce the thigh, or the thickest part of the breast away from the bone when using a meat thermometer for chicken.- You can check in the center part for a rack of lamb or as ribs avoiding the gristle or bone.
- Let the thermometer stay in the meat for ten seconds allowing the temperature to be recorded.
Reading of Thermometer.
When you check the temperature on a digital thermometer, you can determine your food’s doneness by measuring the instant digital readout.
When You Use an Analog Thermometer:
You can check the reading on the display’s dial showing a small hand. You may continue cooking and monitoring your food’s temperature until it does. Let the food rest for 10 minutes, when the temperature is about five to ten degrees lower. It will let your steak smoothly finish cooking and retain all of its juices and the meat is not dry.