The Importance Of Cooking To Temp!!

Cooking Meat to Internal Temperature, not Time: The Benefits of Using an Instant Read Thermometer

Cooking meat to a safe internal temperature is important for food safety, but it can also help you to achieve the tender and juicy results that you’re looking for. Cooking by time alone can result in overcooked, dry, and flavorless meat. That’s why it’s so important to use a thermometer to ensure your meat is cooked to its optimal internal temperature.

The Benefits of Cooking to Internal Temperature

Cooking meat to its optimal internal temperature can help you achieve the best results. Overcooking can not only dry out the meat, but can also reduce the flavor of the dish. Using an instant read thermometer can help you cook your meat to just the right temperature, ensuring that it’s not only safe to eat, but also soft, tender and juicy.

The Benefits of Using an Instant Read Thermometer

An instant read thermometer is a great tool for achieving the perfect internal temperature for your meat. It’s an easy and accurate way to make sure that the food you’re cooking is safe to eat. It’s also a great way to save time. When you’re cooking to a specific temperature, you don’t have to worry about constantly checking on the food to make sure it’s not overcooked. An instant read thermometer such as a Thermapen can give you an accurate reading in a matter of seconds, so you can check the temperature and then get back to what you were doing, Whilst a leave in thermometer like a BlueDOT allows you to monitor the internal temp in real time.

Conclusion

Cooking meat to its optimal internal temperature is essential for achieving the best results. It’s also important for food safety. An instant read thermometer can make this process easier, quicker, and more accurate. Whilst ensuring that your meat is cooked to the right temperature, without sacrificing flavor or texture.

Why we at BeardSmokeBBQ use a Thermapen and cook our meat to internal temp & not time?

 For years when I first started cooking I aspired to gain the almost mystical powers of my Nan! How did she know just by looking at the joint of meat that it was done perfectly every week no matter the size/ the cut/ or the type of beast she was knocking up to serve that week?!!🤔🤯

Finally I resigned that I was never going to inherit the powers of Granny and put it down to 60+ years of experience, However I then discovered using a thermometer!😎

Every piece of meat is different, fat/ moisture content, connective tissue, bone size all contribute to different cooking conditions hence affecting times.

Knowing now I can poke the thermometer into 3 different parts and see 3 different temps quickly helps me gauge a lot more accurately what stage of “doneness” the meat is inside and roughly how long is left until we eat,

Well a lot more so than consulting “the bones,” My Nans unresponsive sunday dinner gods anyway!👍🏻😬😎

My first thermometer was about £3 from a supermarket, these usually take up to 1 minute to give you a reading which then isn’t very accurate, Also in the meantime having the barbecue lid open for that long loses all the heat affecting the cooking temp and causing drops and spikes. Not Good.

The Thermapen Classic gives a reading in 3 seconds accurate to within 0.4°c and completely changed my cooking results for the better! It also has a 2 year guarantee and 1500hrs battery life!!

I eventually upgraded to the Ferrari of thermometers, The Thermapen ONE mainly for it’s backlit display as I BBQ in the dark a lot but this beast gives a reading accurate to only 0.3°c in only 1 second, a 2000hr battery life and comes with a 5 year guarantee!!

There’s also The Thermapen DOT or it’s Bluetooth equipped big brother Thermapen BlueDOT if you prefer a leave in thermometer that measures in real-time…

Read On To Discover Our Free Screenshotable Temperature and Barbecue cooking techniques guide!!

The above chart is to show the internal temps we commonly take our meats to. The rare/med/well temps for roasts are pretty much just a guide which you may prefer a few degrees either way, The temps for Brisket, Shortribs, Ribs and pulled pork are really around the point the fats and muscle have softened but again that depends on the individual piece, it’s usually around these temps I’d check for softness every 30 minutes or so…

110°c/230°f is the almost magical temperature you aim for to achieve true Low n Slow BBQ cooking. It’s at these temps that over time the fats and collagens in the meat are broken down creating melt in the mouth protein, And if your rub is good, a saliva inducing “bark” or crust…

This brisket probed like a hot spike through butter at 99°c internal…

And came out like this after half an hour resting…

 
Here’s some chicken cooked at this temp…

I’ll put on a link to the recipe here when I can!!


The idea here is to cook at a temp high enough to get the internal temperature of the meat to a safe level quickly enough so as not to dry out the meat, lean cuts don’t have the high fat content in them to break down and melt so I like to cook them hot and fast!

When using the BeardSmoke Mini-Un as a direct grill I fit the ash grate onto the diffuser level instead. This raises the coals and with a fully opened bottom vent can achieve +450°C searing temps, 

I turned this steak every couple of minutes until 54°c internal on the cast iron grill upgrade…

After resting for 10 minutes it came out a perfect medium for me!

Reverse sear uses low n slow cook temps to achieve a soft and  juicy inside then hot n fast temps to sear on a perfect crust!

This beef ribeye was cooked at 120°c low n slow until about 45°c internal then blasted directly over the coals hot n fast until the internal temperature hit 55°c…

And this was the result!!🤤

Thank you for reading this far I hope this has helped you in your BBQ journey, as a Thank you when ordering a Thermapen from our website please use code BEARD20 for a 20% discount (Valid until 28th Feb 2023)

Lastly it is very important to use a quality charcoal in your Barbecue. Something that burns cleanly, so as not to taint the food with a bitter petrol taste, But efficiently without too much leftover ash to last a full cook without needing to refill or top up…

 Never, EVER, (Even if there’s a fire!!!) use cheap, or easy light bags of charcoal, cheap paraffin white fire starters or lighter fluid in your BeardSmoke Mini-Un!!!🤮🙈👎