Rules for the Aspiring Cook.

[Avatar]

Get a good thermometer. Learn your temps for meats. Overcooked meat is garbage.

Must say I've never used one. But then, I like my meat rare mostly, so it doesn't cook for long.

Big things like roasts I just do by time, x minutes per 450g for example, steaks I test by density, or at worst, a little incision to check the interior colour if I'm not sure.

--A

[Zarathustra]

You can learn to wing it with enough practice if you cook a limited number of things and do it the same every time on the same heat source. But if you throw in variables like charcoal, cooking in various weather conditions outdoors, or want to cook everything perfectly no matter whether you're frying or roasting, a thermometer is a way to get it perfect every single time without any guesswork or food poisoning.

You can err on the side of rare with a steak. Fine. But try that with a whole chicken. If you're guessing, you damn well better err on the side of well done (in other words, tough and dry). It needs to be 160-165, but it continues to rise about 5 degrees after you pull it out, so I aim for 155. If it's cooler, you risk salmonella; if it gets into the 170s, you've wasted a couple hours on less than perfect chicken. Can you tell if a whole chicken is 155 by touching it or cutting into it? No. With a thermometer, you ride the razor's edge of perfection and food poisoning.

A must read! One of my favorite sites.

[Zarathustra]

Pour a half sink of hot water before beginning your prep and have hand wash and towel next to it. That way each of the half dozen hand washes needed as you swap from raw ingredient to raw ingredient can be managed quickly and efficiently

Just use disposable rubber gloves. You can buy a pack of 100 for $10. I use at least two pair just when making hamburgers (once to pat them out into patties, and again to put them into the pan after I've seasoned them with clean hands).

[Harbinger]

When doing your tasting prior to serving if you think it needs a little more of something or something is missing- it's probably salt.

[Skyweir]

You can learn to wing it with enough practice if you cook a limited number of things and do it the same every time on the same heat source. But if you throw in variables like charcoal, cooking in various weather conditions outdoors, or want to cook everything perfectly no matter whether you're frying or roasting, a thermometer is a way to get it perfect every single time without any guesswork or food poisoning.

You can err on the side of rare with a steak. Fine. But try that with a whole chicken. If you're guessing, you damn well better err on the side of well done (in other words, tough and dry). It needs to be 160-165, but it continues to rise about 5 degrees after you pull it out, so I aim for 155. If it's cooler, you risk salmonella; if it gets into the 170s, you've wasted a couple hours on less than perfect chicken. Can you tell if a whole chicken is 155 by touching it or cutting into it? No. With a thermometer, you ride the razor's edge of perfection and food poisoning.

A must read! One of my favorite sites.

Wow you really do take everything very seriously and methodically.