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My steaks have gotten worse since I started using the Thermapen!

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horseflesh
horseflesh Posts: 206
edited August 2011 in EggHead Forum
My Thermapen is working, as far as I can tell. It reads correctly in boiling water.

But in a steak, it always seems to read too low. I am sure that the reading is correct and I am misunderstanding something, but ever since I started checking my steaks with it, they come out WAY overdone.

Here is a typical cook.

1. Remove steaks from fridge, season, let rest while the Egg warms up. Steaks are about 1.5" thick Costco cuts.
2. In 20-30 minutes, put steaks on the Egg at 650-700F.
3. Cook for 2 minutes, flip, cook for 2 minutes, check temp: internal temperature per Thermapen is 80-100F.
4. Keep abusing steaks until internal temperature is about 115F, which means another 4+ minutes.
5. Remove steaks and rest for about 5 minutes
6. Steaks are WELL done, no pink left.

If the Thermapen is working, where am I making a mistake?

Before the Thermapen I just did 2-3 mins per side, then closed the vents and let the steaks sit for another 2 minutes or so. With the Thermapen, the point where they should be cooked based on past experience reads MUCH lower than I would expect. It seems like the meat gains 30+ degrees while resting, which can't be the case. Can it?

PS I don't like the new forum either. :(

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Comments

  • NibbleMeThis
    NibbleMeThis Posts: 2,295
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    How are you inserting the probe to temp check?

    For "thinner" cuts like steak (compared to a roast) it is important to get the probe dead center in the meat which is hard to do coming in from the top at an angle.  I take a steak off the grill and insert the probe in from the middle of the side of the steak.

    That might not be your issue but it makes a difference for me. 

    Knoxville, TN
    Nibble Me This
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  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
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    horseflesh:  The best advice I can give you is to always remember carry over cooking.  The higher the temp which you are using to drive heat into the meat, the higher the carry over will be.  So if you are driving heat in in excess of 650*, it is EXTREMEly possible to get an easy 20* carryover.  Before the forum change, I posted pork chops I cooked at 400*, and pulled at (I think) around 115* for the rest.  After the rest, they were 140*.  So bottom line, trust your instincts, and use the thermapen for your final reading.  JMO!   When I see posts to pull at 125* for something cooked that hot, I know instinctively they will be 140* or better after the rest, which is no longer med rare.  Try pulling at 110* if cooking at those temps, and you will likely see 130* after the rest.  You can always put it back on, but you can't UNcook it.  Trust your instincts, pull the meat early, and test the temp after a good rest.  ;-)
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  • Crimsongator
    Crimsongator Posts: 5,797
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    I agree on the carryover LC, but 30* is extreme, don't you think? 
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  • Crimsongator
    Crimsongator Posts: 5,797
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    Maybe 30* is the top end, but I am more used to 15*, maybe my rest time is too short
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  • horseflesh
    horseflesh Posts: 206
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    I am inserting the probe anywhere between vertical and 45 degrees off, but always trying to get that first 1/8" of the tip into the thickest, coolest part of the middle of the meat. I'll have to pay extra close attention next time.

    I could understand an underdone steak more easily because it would be easy to miss the middle and take a reading from the warmer edge, which would lead you to pull it off sooner.

    Anyway, if I am getting a good reading, then carryover heat is the only explanation, I guess.

    Next time I will trust my instincts and cook as I did before the Thermapen, but take measurements and see how it turns out.

    Thanks everyone!
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  • Bobby-Q
    Bobby-Q Posts: 1,994
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    Why don't you cook them the same way you did before the thermapen and record the temps when you first pull and again after the rest. Then the next time you cook them the same way you can insert your thermapen and pull them when they are the same as your first temp. If the thermapen is off you just go with the readings that you liked.

    and yes this forum is a bad dream I hope I will wake up from.
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  • Crimsongator
    Crimsongator Posts: 5,797
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    I agree (partially because I do and partially to test the ability to do follow up posts)
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