Don Y wrote:
On 1/11/2016 11:59 AM, E. Robinson wrote:
I am learning how to make pork chops, which, on the net,
are said to be best brined overnight and then pulled out
of the 400°F oven at the moment the insides hit 135°F.
Your phrasing suggests a misconception about how things cook.
There is no (single) "moment" when the insides hit 135F.
Define "insides". Over here, next to the bone? Or here,
in the tenderloin? Exactly halfway through the flesh? etc.
Were the chops previously frozen? etc.
Fine.
But how do you figure out when the insides hit 135°F?
My meat thermometer is a $15 yellow plastic digital one
with a stainless steel 5 inch probe from Bed Bath &
Beyond.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/...ermometer.html
Am I supposed to leave it in the oven?
No.
Or poke the meat while it's in the oven?
Or pull the meat out to poke on the countertop?
It is usually easiest to just slide the pan out and jab it with
the thermometer. You'll get a "stable" reading pretty quickly
(seconds?). You can then poke another 'chop. Or, poke the
same chop in a slightly different place (e.g., the bone biases
the temperature in its proximity).
If I leave it in the oven, won't the plastic melt?
If I poke the meat while in the oven, I burn myself (because it's
too LONG!). If I pull the meat out, it works, but it wastes heat &
effort.
Get a non-contact thermometer? Get a *probe* that can be left in
the meat?
Or, just do it the way everyone else does: slide the pan out
(there's a reason the oven racks can SLIDE!), jab it a few
times, make an educated guess and continue or abort.
Over time, you learn how *your* oven cooks various things.
E.g., instead of "bake for 8-10 minutes" as an Rx might
indicate, I *know* that this oven will take exactly 8.5 minutes
to bake these cookies to a particular "done-ness" -- if the
cookies are formed a particular size, baked on a rack in a
particular location in the oven, etc. If I want "more done",
I increase the bake time; "less done" (more chewy), decrease
the bake time.
Hint: make notes on your Rx's each time you prepare something
so you know how you should adjust your process NEXT time based
on your observations of how things turned out *this* time!
There doesn't seem to be a good solution.
So, that's why I ask you what you recommend if I stick with this
stupid thermometer. If I buy a NEW thermometer, what do you recommend?
(But I'd rather not have two tools that do the exact same thing!)
Interesting conversation ! I pulled the bread out about an hour ago - 25
min at 375° , rotate pans at the halfway mark* - and the cinnamon rolls are
rising right next to me . They get 25 min at 350° , with a shallow tray
underneath to help diffuse the heat . Again , rotate 180° at the halfway
point .
* I'm using a very small camper oven , since we don't have the kitchen built
yet . It doesn't heat very evenly at best , and rotating the pans helps cook
evenly , as does the tray under larger pans . I've learned this by observing
.... and when we get a "real" oven , I expect I'll have to adjust again .
I don't do cookies , my wife likes to do the sweets except for cinnamon
rolls , as they're a "raised bread" .
--
Snag