Ask Lemmy

Yes, I frequently cook for my family and I use it on steaks, roasts, whole birds, pretty much anything big or where temperature is super important. I don't use it for chicken breast though as I tend to like that cooked beyond the recommended temperature anyway.

Hell yeah, if I didn't everything would come out of my kitchen double well done.

Yes.

Yes.

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.

Yes, but never for meat. I use it when I make toffee, bake bread and some other things.

Hell yeah I do and now my meat is always cooked to perfection!

Yup, all the time, whether I'm cooking meat in the oven, on the grill, or on the stove top. They're so handy!

Yes. I like meat cooked medium well and husband prefers medium rare. He's as grossed out by overcooked as I am by undercooked. Without the thermometer he brings mine in too early.

100% but I like in the bird stuffing.

I always use one and the feeling when the meat just kisses the done temperature while it’s resting is almost as good as sex.

I only really need to for chicken.

Nah. What's the Benefit of using one?

I use for chicken and fish. As others have stated, it's as much to prevent overcooking as to ensure doneness. Especially with uneven sized filets it helps to know which ones to remove to rest and which to leave in a little longer.

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.

Sometimes. Probably should more often, but when you cook something enough times to know when it's done, it makes it a bit redundant.

For what?

I was so confused for a moment

Yes. A good one (reads fast, replaceable parts) makesoit easier to cook.

I'm a pretty experienced chef and worked in kitchens for almost 10 years. I liked to pride myself in making steaks on temp by just touch or even looking at it, depending on the cut of course. But when it comes to things like chicken, absolutely. If I wing it (get it?) I end up overcooking it to "be safe." But with a thermometer you can get it just right without ruining the chicken. I used to hate chicken when I was a kid because my parents always over cooked it to hell and back. Nowadays, now that I know how to cook chicken and use a thermometer, chicken is easily my favorite meat.

Yes and always. Between learning how to reverse sear and using a meat thermometer, my steak game gained 99 levels once I had quantitative data as to the actual temperature of the meat.

I'm sure there are savants out there that can tell doneness by poke or reading thrown rat bones but most of us without a thermometer are only pretending to know and likely ruining an expensive piece of meat.

Only for whole birds, everything else I pretty much low and slow cook so I know its done, and steaks I eat bloody.

Depends on the meat, if it's beef, I don't. If it's poultry or pork, yes, because I don't trust myself enough to not get food poisoning.

For roasts, yes. For steaks, no.

Pretty much only for poultry.

for brisket and pork shoulder in the smoking chamber, or turkey in the oven, but never when cooking any meat on a skillet or in a crockpot

No, but I spent a lot of time and money practicing to cook the perfect steak. Now I can eyeball it and adjust the time as needed for a splendid outcome. My partner does most of the other cooking.

Yes. Untrustworthy oven in old apartment, weird convection oven in house that I don’t fully understand yet.

No. I overcook my meat but I don't really care since I don't eat it that often at home. Just another thing to wash up afterward.