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mguerra

Thermapen on sale

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Re: Thermapen on sale

I need a Thermapen. This weekend went to grab my old thermapen to find the battery compartment partially open. One of the two plastic door tabs that holds door closed had broken off. Must be an age thing, plastic fatigue, I've had this stick style Thermapen with sheath for what seems like forever.

So today I pretty much decided on ordering one of those New (well not so new anymore) fast reading Thermoworks Foldable Colored Splash Proof Thermapens that retail for $89. So while on-line preparing to order I called my Wife to see if she had a color preference. I went on to explain features, fast read, foldable, no sheath to misplace, auto on/off, bla, bla. Justifying the $89 eehhh....

I couldn't believe what she said!! She wants a sheath!! I asked why; she replied because it has the meat doneness chart printed on it!! Pork, beef, poultry, etc. I hadn't thought about that, but I use it too!!

Can someone tell me if there's a meat doneness chart printed on the backside of the foldable Thermoworks Thermapen?

And if anyone knows of any sales going on?

Thanks,

John

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Re: Thermapen on sale

There are meat doneness charts all over the internet. After a very short while you will memorize these temps anyway. I keep one bookmarked for quick reference, just in case. Or you can print one out. Heres just one:

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/doneness_chart.htm

Or, here is the whole search result!!

http://www.google.com/search?aq=0&oq=me ... ness+chart

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Re: Thermapen on sale

I contacted Thermapen; they no longer print the chart on any of their thermometers (pocket or folding).

The folding model does however come with a book that has the chart.

Doc, you're funny "After a very short while you will memorize these temps". I just find that funnnier than hell! I've been reading that chart for years.... hehe

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Re: Thermapen on sale

You gotta be kidding me. It's simple. Chicken and turkey need the highest temps to be safe. Cook 'em to 170.

Then just remember the low end temps for the other meats, 140 for beef, 150 for pork. If you don't like them rare, cook a little more than the minimums. Pork butts go to 185 plus. Briskets cook til tender. Each person will hit on the temp they like for the various cuts after a few cooks. That will cover 95% of your cooking. For fish and shrimp, eyeball it.

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Food safety

Many foods are traditionally eaten below their "safe" temperature. There's no joy left in a safely cooked egg or hamburger, for example. If no one at the table has an impaired immune system (young, sick, old) then simply take careful notes, so the Thermapen can tell you quicker what you would have decided anyway. Don't slavishly change cooking habits to "fly by instrument" according to some table, or your cooking will suffer.

Botulism, either via canning or fermenting, is a serious risk that can cripple or kill. Cooking meat isn't quite so dangerous. One hears of serious E Coli incidents involving commercial food; the take home message for me is to not eat commercial food. That burger on an airplane is far more likely to be mystery meat tainted with feces than anything that crosses our KK grates. Always buy "sushi grade" high quality natural or organic meat, grind it yourself if needed, and cook it however you like?

The "four hours below 140 F" danger zone rule is most interesting here. For e.g. a low & slow pork butt, the interior flesh can easily spend more than four hours in the danger zone. In general, this is unbroken flesh, but even the act of inserting a temperature probe could introduce the needed bacteria for trouble. In practice, one never hears of this being a problem.

Any rule of thumb has a back story. These bugs grow exponentially, as in doubling every so many minutes. The people making up these rules decide how much of a head start the bugs have in practice. If your meat is cleaner than they're thinking, this translates to extra minutes of leeway. Etc. Etc. This probably explains why low and slow cooks aren't such a hazard.

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Great chart

Yes, great chart, answering Firemonkey's questions.

Some bugs generate toxins in their heyday (think Aztec ruins at a smaller scale, or all the radioactive waste we're burying in the ground) that can harm us after they're dead. The example I know is Botulinum toxin, and it too is destroyed by heat. However, the concern for meats is generally that the bugs themselves will continue to multiply in our gut, and here it looks like "low & slow" works because the temperature over time kills them, even if they're allowed a potential heyday first.

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