Thermapen Success Story

MeatNGreet

If you are a hold-out on picking up the Thermapen Instant Read you may be inspired to pick one up today. I saw somebody on the forum post that there was an open box sale so i worked the wife over for a couple days until she finally relented. Saturday night we had the in-laws over and my parents as well. I bought $100.00 worth of Certified Angus Ribeye from the butcher to put on my LBGE. Since they were 1.5"'s thick I thought the best plan was to cook indirect over the platesetter then sear them on directly top of the coals using a small grate. Cooked them 7 minutes on one side then 5 on the other then pulled them off to change the grill around. While off i took the temp and realized that they were at 125 degrees already. I went ahead and seared them for 30 secs a side to get a nice look on the meat but had i not had a trusty thermo. they would have been overcooked and ruined. Wife is now a believer as am I. Had one issue though which is that my CI grate partially broke after I set it down on the ground to change my arrangement. I can still use it but a small section fractured off. Pretty disappointed that a 3 month old, well cared for CI grate would break off like that. Thanks for reading.

nolaegghead

I'm a believer in cooking to temperature too.  Yes, I have a Thermapen, but any accurate thermometer does the same thing (except maybe not as fast). I was watching Master Chef and one of the contestants was chastised for using a thermometer.  Puh-lease!

Cast iron is very brittle and susceptible to thermal and physical shock - much like ceramic or glass.  Probably a little of both, in your case, and/or you could have had a bad cast.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

My CI cracked 1st cook. I took it back and they replaced it no questions asked. At almost $100, I don't think it's too much to ask for it to not fall apart in 3 months. I bet they will give you a new one.

BYS1981

I had a similar experience.. fired up old gasser, cooked pork chops as direction said, my first pork chops, and cut one open.. extremely raw. I didnt own a thermo at time, but if I did I would have been much better off. I always cook to temp now.

pasoegg

did spatchcook chicken last night....thigh and legs when measured with thermapen were 160 and breast was 145.  Seperated thigh and legs from bird and covered an waited 5 mins on breast.  Bird was perfect all due to cooking to temp and using a thermapen.  I like the quick readings with my hands in the cooking area....

cazzy

did spatchcook chicken last night....thigh and legs when measured with thermapen were 160 and breast was 145.  Seperated thigh and legs from bird and covered an waited 5 mins on breast.  Bird was perfect all due to cooking to temp and using a thermapen.  I like the quick readings with my hands in the cooking area....

It's custom for the temp on the leg and thigh to be higher in temp by the time the breast reaches temp.  I have never cut them off and they're always still very juicy after resting. 

AleBrewer

 I was watching Master Chef and one of the contestants was chastised for using a thermometer.  Puh-lease!

When I worked at a chain steak house many, many years ago, there was no Thermapens. We didn't have time to use a thermometer anyway....we had to rely on touch to determine done-ness. After a few times on the grill, and many steaks later....you got the hang of it. But, if you don't do it often, you loose the feel for it...IMO anyway.

You ever notice how many poorly cooked meats show up on some of these cooking contest shows? I'm always seeing under or overcooked meats.

Now.....I prefer to use the thermometer!

nolaegghead

Yeah, they should be using thermometers on those shows - you don't want to cut into the meat.  I'm surprised how much under and over cooked stuff they turn out...it's fun watching Gordon Ramsey flip out and scream "You DONKEY!"  Seriously, how hard is it to cook scallops?

You'd probably get written up for not having a food thermometer by the health dept if you're running a restaurant now days.