This is the time of year when an instant-read thermometer becomes nearly necessary for home cooks. Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas roasts, and holiday candy all demand the precision of a thermometer.
Do you own an instant-read thermometer? Recipes calling for thermometers used to intimidate us; they seemed more fussy and difficult. Then a friend gave us an instant-read thermometer and we quickly came to rely on it even in recipes that don't call for one. A thermometer can tell you if your bread or cakes are done, check your pot roast, and make sure that your candy will harden. Links after the jump.
I love the probe-type thermometer that you stick into meat and leave in the oven or grill... it has a wire that goes to a unit outside the oven, that tells you when your roast is done. That said, the wire gets HOT - you have to be careful when you take your meat out of the oven.
I'm doing the Thanksgiving turkey for the first time this year, and I wouldn't dare try it without the thermometer!
view SisterRae's profile
I know it sounds silly, but the $80 Thermopen thermometer changed the way I cook. It uses a lab style thermocouple, so it takes incredibly accurate temperature in less than 1 second.
I've never found the probe thermometers reliable. They are very finicky based on how much of the probe is in the meat, how close to the bone, how much wire is in the stove, etc.
view Max's profile
I totally agree with Max -- my Thermapen is absolutely indispensible for me when I'm cooking meat or frying. It's the only thermometer I use anymore on any regular basis (I have a few of those probe ones in the drawer), and I love it.
Plus, it comes in lots of colors:
http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/tpen_home.html
view ap's profile
I love using an instant read thermometer, but I have bought two and they both got waterlogged and stopped working. I don't think I can justify the price for the thermopen, though it looks great.
view tigerlily's profile
Question: I want to test the temperature of my vintage Wedgewood oven (everything seems to take twice as long to cook) by putting a thermometer in the empty oven. Can I put any of these in for a few minutes (longer than I would to test something cooking) safely?
I don't want to melt a thermometer.
view Shannon in SF's profile
Shannon - if you have a vintage oven I would really recommend buying an oven thermometer. They're only a few dollars and you can find them at the grocery store. I had a vintage oven for years and that thermometer was a necessity!
Most instant-read thermometers won't last very long in an oven, unless they're the type designed to stay in a roast or turkey while it's cooking.
view faith's profile
Shannon you do not want an instant read thermometer, there are thermometers designed to leave in the oven, they have a clip to attach to shelf. I recommend everybody should have one of these as few ovens, even newer than yours can be innacurate...
view jako's profile