Monday, November 9, 2009
checking your thermometer’s accuracy
I can’t tell you how many times I have burnt fried chicken or overcooked a caramel and not realized that my candy/deep fry thermometer was to blame. If only I had absorbed enough sixth grade science class to remember how ridiculously easy it is to check to see if had been accurate from the get-go! Simply place your candy/deep fry thermometer in a small pot of water and crank up the heat; the temperature should read 212°F (100°C) as it begins to boil. If yours does not, you can either take into account the few degrees it may run hot or cold when you cook, or return it.
If you don’t live at sea level, your water won’t boil at 212 degrees F. Ours boils at about 200 degrees F.
I took a food safety class when I worked at Whole Foods and the recommended method for calibrating a thermometer was the freezing method, not the boiling. Water boils at different points based on sea level, but you can always count on freezing at 32 degrees F. Put the thermometer in ice water and calibrate it to 32.
Altitude is a huge factor in boiling point, barometric pressure is as well, to a lesser extent. Here is an excellent boiling point calculator, just get your barometric pressure from a weather website. In Denver, today, our boiling point is 202.754.
http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oboilcalc.html
do you recommend a particular thermometer? I burned caramel terribly and my boyfriend banned me from making it again until I get a proper thermometer :-) I didn’t see one in your tools and gadgets section so any recommendations would be much appreciated!
Hi Maureen — Not exactly, because I’ve bought even fancy ones and the temps were off. I’d bring one home, keep the receipt, check to see if it’s accurate and if not, return it for a different model.