Thursday, January 11, 2007
Make Food
Meat thermometers
Whiling away a little bit of time before Christmas, Westie Boy and I had discussed various odd topics - including a conversation about meat thermometers. We'd managed to cook a fair number of roasts over the last year, ranging from the ready-to-roast Tegel ones that you get at the supermarket (sort of cheating, I know - but those tender-basted chooks are really so tasty) to a full loin of roast pork and an attempt at crackling. My crackling really isn't very good - I've tried a few times, and once, thought I'd set the oven on fire. Luckily it turned out I hadn't set the oven on fire - just the crackling itself. Don't you just hate it when that happens, especially when you've followed the recipe to a T.
Anyway, back to meat thermometers. We didn't have one of these nifty little gadgets, but had talked about it a few times, just pondering it - are they really that good? Just follow the instructions in your Edmonds cookbook regarding the cooking times, and you should be sweet! It's always been fine, but curiosity got the better of me, so I purchased a little meat thermometer from the Home Store. It was a Cuisena Meat Thermometer Dial - one of those ones that you stick into the meat and it can go in the oven for the entire roasting time. Of course, having bought this, we then needed a roast. So the next supermarket visit included a lamb roast. Mmm. Lamb.
So, after the oven heats up to the appropriate temperature, just before the roast goes in, you stick in the thermometer at least 5cm deep into the thickest part of the meat. Then it all goes in the oven till the dial pointer shows you the desired temperature for your roast (given that I like my lamb a little bit pink in the middle, 77 degrees celsius). Then out comes the roast for a little rest (as Westie Boy's dad once said, so that the roast isn't stressed - ah so Auckland), and then it's time to see if it worked.
Well bless my cotton softs, because it turned out to be the best roast lamb I've made yet. Perfectly moist and tender, and tasty to boot (though that was probably the honey-soy-garlic-cracked black pepper marinade and sprig of rosemary tucked in the middle). I'm keeping this little gadget. It was $17.50, not pricey, and just proved its worth. There are other thermometers about that are digital, but me being a little lazy, preferred to have something that could go in the oven and stay there during the whole cooking time (NOT recommended for the digi ones I tell you!).
Don't forget the kumara and potatoes! I know it's summer, but hey, new kitchen gadget had to be tried out, right?
# posted by City Girl @ 4:02 pm 
