Cooking meat

[kfeusse]

When you cook meat, do you check whether it's done by sight or using a meat thermometer?

[Crimson Wife]

I know we're supposed to use a meat thermometer for food safety but I do the "cut into it and check at the color" test.

[Joker]

I've never owned a meat thermometer...👀

 

I've also never made us sick, though.

[cjzimmer1]

Since every single meat thermometer I've ever owned has broken within a couple of months, yeah I just check by color/texture.  Since the only times I've ever had food poisoning is from restaurants, I'm not too worried about checking for an exact temperature.

[BarbecueMom]

Bone-in or really thick cuts of chicken I usually get out the thermometer for. Most other things, no. And I have more than a little anxiety about barf-inducing illnesses (although I prefer my steak almost mooing).

[Elastimom]

For a roast beef/pork/turkey in the oven, yes, I'd use my digital meat thermometer that beeps when it reaches the certain temperature.

But for a pan frying, no, I just know when it's done by its look. 

 

[Word Nerd]

I use a thermometer sometimes but it depends on the meat and how I’m cooking it. I check chicken and pork with a thermometer more often, especially when I use my unreliable oven, but not beef.

[Ali in OR]

Using a thermometer keeps me from OVER cooking meat. Without it I tend to go too long "just to make sure".

[bibiche]

By touch, usually.

[bibiche]

Since every single meat thermometer I've ever owned has broken within a couple of months, 

 

These are pretty much indestructible. Also inexpensive.

[foxbridgeacademy]

We have a meat thermometer that gets used on whole birds or big pork roasts otherwise I do the cut open and see if it looks done.

[Carol in Cal.]

I use a meat thermometer on big hunks of meat being roasted in the oven.

Stuff on top of the stove I cook for specific times, usually.

[Elizabeth86]

I ask my dh and I'm not kidding. or I just cook it until there is NO way it's undercooked. :lol: meat is not a strength of mine. I usually prep it and start it and have dh give it the ok.

[mommymonster]

I'm a vegan, but the rest of the house eats meat. I am also the primary cook, so I use a meat thermometer every time I cook something more complicated than hot dogs.

[Laura Corin]

I tend to use the meat thermometer for big pieces in order not to over cook them, particularly beef and lamb.

[ThisIsTheDay]

Not by sight, but by feel for anything on the stove or bbq. In general, it's learning firmness and desired doneness.

 

For most roasts, I cook according to the weight/temp/time.

 

For big turkeys, for example, though, I rely a bit on the pop up thermometer, cooking time per pound, and I use a thermometer that I never am sure of its accuracy. I'm looking at the tthermometer suggested by Bibiche above though!

[FriedClams]

Ground meats - sight

Grilled meats - thermometer (every time)

[SparklyUnicorn]

I use a thermometer for some things. 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Since every single meat thermometer I've ever owned has broken within a couple of months, yeah I just check by color/texture.  Since the only times I've ever had food poisoning is from restaurants, I'm not too worried about checking for an exact temperature.

 

I like the ones where you can leave them in the meat with the gauge outside the oven.  And it's the same deal.  They don't last all that long.

[regentrude]

By sight/cutting into. Never had a problem.

Edited February 19, 2018 by regentrude

[KungFuPanda]

I eyeball the little stuff and use a thermometer for roasted beef and chicken. Now that I have a Sous Vide I can do steaks and salmon without accidentally over doing it. I’m more afraid of overcooking than undercooking.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I eyeball the little stuff and use a thermometer for roasted beef and chicken. Now that I have a Sous Vide I can do steaks and salmon without accidentally over doing it. I’m more afraid of overcooking than undercooking.

 

That's why I use it for certain things too.  I don't want to overcook it.

[Rachel]

I do because I’ve learned that perfectly cooked meat tastes much better than over cooked meat.

[TheReader]

Ground beef I cook by sight, as well as thinly sliced chicken or beef used for stir fry. 

 

Chicken breasts, pork chops, anything in the oven (well, not chicken legs, which I have a specific recipe for and never come out wrong), all gets the meat thermometer. Also on the grill stuff (steaks, etc.). 

 

We have a digital that you can insert the probe, and carry around the reader and it beeps when done. We've had it a few years now and still going strong. 

[Critterfixer]

Instant read thermometer.

[Katy]

I no longer trust thermometers.  I've had a few instances where I decided to use a thermometer instead of sight and found a bit of raw chicken inside a breast that was 10 degrees overcooked.