Food Safety Tips: Cooking with Meat Thermometers

Meat thermometers
Using a meat thermometer takes the guesswork out of cooking. No more slicing into your Sunday roast to find out whether it is done. Heat kills harmful bacteria, so it is important that meat is properly cooked. While a meat thermometer is most commonly used for large cuts of meat, such as roasts or whole poultry, it can also be used to test the temperature of a range of other dishes including sausages, burger patties, casseroles and meatloaves. Plus it makes overcooking a thing of the past – your roast will be safe and succulent!

A range of meat thermometers are available. The oven-proof variety is placed in the meat before the meat goes in the oven and is left there throughout the cooking time. Some come with a digital display that can be placed outside the oven so they can be read without opening the oven door. Instant-read ones are inserted into the food you want to check and the temperature can be read within about 15 seconds. To read the temperature correctly, the thermometer must be inserted into the centre of the meat (the thickest part).

Follow the instructions that came with your thermometer and after use remember to wash the stem in hot, soapy water. To test its accuracy, you can place it in boiling water to ensure it reads 100°C.