The Polder Deluxe Preset Meat Thermometer - www.polder.com - $34.99
My sister picked up this cool little tool for me at a gourmet store. It sat there staring at me for a while, but I finally gave in and tried it out the other night with a bog slab of beef. Note that I am a traditionalist when it comes to cooking meat. I have made everything from roasts and pork to chicken and lamb and think that timing and a little push on the meat with the finger (to test the doneness of the meat) is the best way to gauge whether something is ready to come out of the oven. When I've trusted the times that cookbooks recommend (I like my meat rare to medium rare) I am always disappointed, but I gave in and tried it out.
What it Rated:
Okay, I am kind of a convert now, but I have one minor issue with this product. It tells me that there is a programmable setting, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to make it work. I tried and tried and tried to no avail. This would make me very very happy since I don't agree with the 145 degrees recommendation preset level for medium rare. Since meat continues to cook when you take it out of the oven I would have set the thermometer on 135 and let the meat set out of the oven and continue to cook. In my opinion it would have been perfect. That being said, this is a great solution for people who are afraid of cooking meat and knowing when it is done to their liking. It takes the guess work out of the temperature of meat and is worth the money in my opinion. Oh yeah, it also has magnets on the back of the thermometer that stick to you stove or oven while the cooking is being done.
What I Made:
4 lb Rib Roast with the chine bone removed
This was an easy one to make and since I was testing out the Fresh at Hand herbs from The Spice Hunter at the same time so it was easy to kill two birds with one stone. The meat was prepared by liberally coating it with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. I decided to use a large pan to cook the meat in. The bottom of the pan was covered with two small cans of diced tomatoes. Two tablespoons each of Fresh at Hand Rosemary and Fresh at Hand Garlic were mixed in with the tomatoes. The meat was then placed on top of the tomato and herb mixture. Once the oven was preheated to 350 the meat went in.
The thermometer has a probe that is inserted into the meat and stays there during the cooking process. It was placed into the center of the meat and the 42 inch cord extends out of the oven and is plugged into the digital unit, which stays outside of the oven until the meat is done and the alarm sounds. Since the thermometer is preset I was able to choose medium rare and when it read 145 degrees the alarm went off and I took the meat out to rest for 15 minutes.
One of the great things about this dish is that the tomatoes and herbs combined become aromatic and taste wonderful spread on top of the meat when served. It is kind of like a fancy ketchup, but thick and chunky.
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