tl;dr: this chart and a digital chef's thermometer will change your life
“This is it, folks: the one thing that more than any other purchase you can make will really revolutionise your cooking. A good instant-read thermometer is the only way to ensure that your roasts , steaks, chops and burgers come out that perfect medium-rare every time. Forget about poking meat with your finger, relying on inaccurate timing guides, or the nick-and-peek method. Buy a high quality digital instant-read thermometer, and never serve a piece of over- or undercooked meat again.”
- J. Kenji López-Alt, The Food Lab, seriouseats.com (Chef, Scientist, Author and all-round food superhero)
Imagine this: every steak you ever cook is cooked to perfection. Every time. You are super-confident that that beautiful fillet of fish is flaky and moist. You never have to guess whether a prime roast rib is medium rare or about to be overdone; Or worse, whether the turkey is still raw deep in the breast.
Every steak cooked to perfection. Every time.
This is your new life in the kitchen going forward. This is your life with a digital cooking thermometer as part of your toolkit.
Honestly, using a thermometer for your cooking is truly groundbreaking. Equally as valuable at the BBQ, the stovetop or the oven, you will be left scratching your head as to how you ever got by without one before.
And it’s not just about cooking to perfection. It’s about safety too. Make sure chicken, turkey, pork, sausages burgers etc are properly cooked without any guesswork. Simply by checking that the centre has reached a certain core temperature, you can be confident that any microbes have been killed. This is especially important for the young, the elderly and pregnant dining companions.
Anything else? Well funny you should ask. A thermometer is invaluable for caramelising sugar. Each stage of the sugar boiling/caramelising process happens at a particular temperature and it is really important to get it just right every time.
Our own personal favourite is salted caramel. It is actually really easy to make and it beats store-bought hands down every time. In theory it last for ages in the fridge but ours gets devoured almost as quickly as we can make it!
Oh Boy; Salted caramel is so moreish and so easy to make.
And of course, we have to mention Italian meringue — Baked Alaska anyone? Your sugar syrup needs to be brought to jus the right temperature before being added to your egg whites to get that perfectly glossy, silky smooth Italian meringue.
If I'm lucky enough to get the chance to drink the world's best beer (which I was) you'd better believe I want to drink it at the correct temperature (which I did)
And that’s it? Well not quite… there are a myriad of other novel uses too. We use it to make sure beer and wine are being served at the right temperature. People use it to check the temperature of babies bottles. And also, to check the temperature of water when baking. The possibilities are limitless. No doubt, you will come up with your own clever uses too.
Rest assured, the OUITHERM digital chef's thermometer will quickly become one of your best friends in the kitchen.
PS: Our tip for the top is to remember that meat and fish will continue to cook (and hence the temperature will continue to increase slightly) after you take it away from the heat source, so factor that in to your measurement — no point in taking a roast out medium on to find it’s gone to medium well by the time you let it rest and get it to the table! Trust us on that one (Eeek!)