I am an experienced cook and use one to produce consistent, on-target results. It more often prevents over-cooking, not under-cooking.
Yes. Accurate temperatures guarantee good results. Sous vied is also wonderful for stress free prep of expensive meats.
Yes. It will tell you what’s happening where your eyes cannot see.
Only for chicken, for salmonella reasons, and steak, because I’m terrible at judging doneness without it.
No
I only really need to for chicken.
If I’m grilling I do.
I also use one for the bathtub for my toddlers bath. Haha
Yes.
100% but I like in the bird stuffing.
I have one of those ones with an external probe, so I just set the temp I want on the thermometer and it beeps when the food is done.
Yup, all the time, whether I’m cooking meat in the oven, on the grill, or on the stove top. They’re so handy!
Depends on what I’m cooking, but always for chicken breasts. Roasting at a high temperature works great (it’s not the only way), but can mean the overcooking time is pretty small. It’s an easy way to respect the bird and get the best results possible.
Thighs on the other hand, I just go by eye, you really have to try hard to overcook those.
Might be worth noting that using a thermometer well does require some amount of skill and experience, you need to insert it into the right location for the data to be repeatable. Easier to learn than cooking by eye, though.
That’s what I call it when my SO gives me a BJ when she has a fever.
Nah. What’s the Benefit of using one?
Consistency mostly. Inconsistent thickness of meat cuts, fast cooking dishes, and deep frying a turkey once a year just make sit a lot easier to hit the right temp when I don’t do it often enough to get the timing just right.
I don’t use it most of the time, just when I’m not confident that time and texture will be reliable enough to avoid overcooking.
I don’t eat meat, and don’t seem to need them for other foods. I do use an IR thermometer though to check the temperature of the pan before putting food on it.
