The thermometer habit
Color, firmness and clear juices vary with the cut, the pan and even the lighting. Temperature doesn't. A thermometer reads the number that matters, like 74°C (165°F) for poultry, and keeps you from overcooking.
Check accuracy in ice water
Probes can drift. Fill a glass with ice, add cold water, stir, and wait a minute. A good thermometer reads 0°C (32°F). If it's off, adjust it or remember the offset. Boiling water is a second check, about 100°C (212°F) at sea level.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Where do you place the probe in a chicken breast?
In the thickest part, away from bone. The thickest part heats slowest, so it shows whether the whole piece is done.
True or false: A reading from the thickest part of the meat is the most reliable.
True. The thickest part is the slowest to heat, so reading it is the most reliable check.
What went wrong? You check a roast by pushing the probe tip down until it touches the pan, then read the number.
The tip touched the pan, so it read the pan. The pan runs hotter than the meat, so the reading is false.
Fill the blank: A properly calibrated thermometer in ice water reads ___.
A properly calibrated thermometer in ice water reads 0°C (32°F). Ice water sits at freezing, so a good probe reads 0°C.
What internal temperature does ground beef need to reach?
About 71 C. Ground beef is safe at 71°C (160°F).
The thickest part of a chicken thigh reads 68°C (155°F). What now?
Keep cooking and recheck until 74°C (165°F). Poultry needs 74°C (165°F), measured in the thickest part.