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New Toy: Infrared Thermometer
I have always been frustrated by the term simmer. I have read that a true simmer is between 185° F and 205° F. This somewhat dependent on your location as the higher you are above sea level the lower the temperature that water boils at. As an example if you are at 7500 ft. above sea level, water will boil at 196° F.
Simmering makes a difference when you are creating items such as a Bolognese sauce that should cook for 3 to 6 hours.
Besides simmering, getting oil to the correct temperature for deep frying can also be a challenge. Although I have a candy thermometer I find it a pain in the butt to use and read.
The answer was to get an infrared thermometer and I chose the Etekcity model 774 from Amazon. At the time of writing this article I have only used it once and that was to check the simmering temperature of my ham and split pea soup.
You just aim the laser light at the spot you want to know the temperature of and it gives you an instant reading in Fahrenheit or Celsius. I am hoping that it will be useable to determine whether or not the oil in a sauté of frying pan is hot enough. That will be the next experiment.
Could I live without it? No doubt, but it makes cooking that much more fun!
I'll update this article if I learn anything new about the device.