Two of the what I've found to be worthwhile and heavily used in my kitchen.
I got a thermapen a few years ago, after years of never using a thermometer while cooking, and now I use it constantly. Sometimes just for fun. I've not yet poked it into my own thigh, but it's kind of tempting.
I've gone through a lot of parmesan graters over the years but the microplane is by far my favorite.
hows the battery life on the thermapen? We use a ancient needle/dial stabbing TC, and it works pretty good. I like being able to watch the exponential rise and tapering asymptotic stabilizing of the needle. If it strts tapering at 140F on a roast, need to pop it back in to rupture those pesky rogue bacteria's cell walls and de-nature their DNA at 160F.
ReplyDeleteBattery life is great. I don't remember changing the battery for the past couple of years. I may have changed it once.
ReplyDeleteI like it because it's fast, accurate, easy to read, and does very little damage to what you're testing. The big dial ones don't work as well to check, say, sausages on the grill.
What are you roasting to 160F? I try to pull even chicken out before that.
pork loin roasts, beef tenderloins, big thick meats. I love "rare" but I hate gastro-intestinal parasites, having traveled to Asia too many times and had to use Cipro to get well too often. According to my biologist wife, 155 to 160 interior temp is the target - she knows more about biological things than I do.
ReplyDeleteWhat's Asia got to do with it? We're talking about your own kitchen. Seems like a non sequitur.
ReplyDeleteI do see your point, but if you can't trust your food to get from farm to fridge without someone rubbing shit all over it, you should find another supply chain.
I've never gotten food poisoning from my own kitchen. I've gotten it a variety of times from restaurants, although not from anything obviously undercooked. And I've gotten it from raw oysters -- a delightfully intense gastrointestinal experience -- but won't stop eating raw oysters because of it. Until I'm old and feeble, they're worth the risk.
I've eaten raw beef, raw lamb on numerous occasions, raw or undercooked eggs all the time, and never gotten sick from that, either.
I've never gotten food poisoning at home either, but Traci insists on the 155F rule. She doesn't argue with me about the garage and I don't argue with her about the kitchen. It doesn't take "shit" to lead to digestional parasites.
ReplyDeleteAt what age do you suppose "old and feeble" will apply? I hope it's not until I double my current life span. at least.
No set age for "old and feeble" yet. Hopefully not for a while.
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