If you are serious about cooking, you’ll probably want to measure the temperature of what you are cooking. In particular, with BBQ, you are often cooking to a target internal meat temperature.
Temperature probes are nothing new, but I have found that the Thermapen, from ETI, to be the best I have tried.
The probe folds back against its body, like a pocket knife, making it easy to carry in your pocket without poking holes in yourself. The action of opening the probe up turns it on automatically; close the probe and it turns off, saving the battery. Unlike many probes (and yes, I am talking about you, Weber probe!) it is almost instant reading; you do not have to stand around waiting for the probe to give you a reading, while your cooking gets cold.
By default, they are set to Centigrade, but they can easily be set to display Fahrenheit instead; particularly useful if – like me – you are constantly working from American BBQ recipe books!
Finally, they come in a wonderful range of colours. I have two in my kitchen – Red for meat and general use, and Pink strictly for poultry. Which means when I have pork and chicken on my grill, I am not risking cross-contamination.
Thermapen’s are available from ETI’s retail website. However, they are not cheap, starting at 56 quid each – after all, they are professional kit.
So instead, head over to ETI’s page on eBay. The items here are sold as “manufacturer refurbished”, but they are fully guaranteed, and come with certificate of calibration. At £30, I think they are a steal.
Leave a Reply