To know the benefits of an oven thermometer, the first step is knowing what it actually is. An oven thermometer is a device that is used as a utensil in cooking. Oven thermometers accurately measure and display the temperature inside the oven at any given point.
You might be thinking, but my oven dial already tells the temperature the oven is set on? Wrong! Oven dials give an approximate range, not the exact temperature the oven is being heated at. You can easily place it inside your oven and it will tell you the temperature on the display screen.
Hence, even if you don’t need an oven thermometer, you’ll want it for the numerous advantages it has and the peace of mind it can bring while you experiment in the kitchen.
Don’t Get Influenced by Faulty Ovens:
It’s common that you might know it yet but your oven isn’t working properly, and a faulty oven can ruin your entire cooking experience. And if you are well aware of your oven’s temperature not functioning, you’re thinking of changing the entire thing. But wait!
You don’t have to replace your oven or worry about the oven’s temperature not being accurate when you have an oven thermometer on hand. If you’re scared that your faulty oven is the reason for your food destruction an oven thermometer can solve your problems by accurately displaying the temperature, even if the oven is degrees under or over the scale you set.
Keeping a Precise Check on the Temperature:
Having an eye on the temperature both before placing your dish inside the oven and during the process can make or break your cooking game. Whether you’re a beginner and your wits are getting to you or a pro and you want to get the dish just to that golden spot, cooking at the right temperature is an essential tool to the process.
You can keep a check on the oven temperature before you put in the dish, as well as ensure it’s maintained at the optimum degree while it’s cooking. Never again will you have to worry about your food being overcooked or undercooked with this handy utensil.
Stop Having to Guess:
At some point, we’ve all been in the position of having to guess if the food we’ve cooked is on spot by judging based on whether or not it looks cooked enough. While guessing works sometimes, it doesn’t always.
If you want to stop guessing your food’s condition and get it cooked exactly to the point you want every time, an oven thermometer can come to your rescue. Your own senses might fail you at times resulting in food failure. When you know the exact temperature of the oven you won’t have to make guesses since you can keep observing the temperature at the set time the food requires.
Prevent Overcooking Your Food:
Have you ever put your food in the oven at the exact temperature at the set amount of time, and it still turned out to be overcooked? The reason to this is that your oven can gradually become more heated than the temperature you set the dial to. Ovens have the tendency to heat up higher than the temperature due to heat remaining enclosed in the oven and while ovens do try to maintain the temperature, it can always go a few degrees over.
For food such as caramels and steaks, the small difference in the temperature even for a few minutes can overcook the entire dish. Additionally, there’s also the possibility that the upper and lower portions of the oven differ in temperature as well since one of the parts might be hotter than the other. This is the reason that you need to maintain the temperature using an oven thermometer.
Save Money:
Overcooking your food can also result in burning your oven. Of course, burnt food can sometimes cause a decrease in the oven’s lifespan since excessive smoke, burnt surfaces, etc. Moreover, you’ll continuously have to look after your oven’s maintenance.
Hence, the ideal solution is to financially save yourself from the trouble by avoiding overcooking of food and consequently damaging your oven. You can also get the oven thermometer you require; depending on whether you prefer affordability, durability, or features by choosing the best thermometer for you.
You’ll be saving both in terms of lesser maintenance, and not having to replace your oven earlier than needed if you take proper care of it with the help of an oven thermometer.
Never Have to Probe Your Food:
Most of us are habitual of probing our food to check if it's cooked. While there are no negative consequences to probing your food, if you’re serving it to guests it might lose its presentation.
One of the main aspects of appealing food is the presentation you put into it. Therefore, avoid ruining the presentation of your dish by keeping a check on the temperature using oven thermometers and make your life easier.
Reheating Food at Safe Temperatures:
Another beneficial use of oven thermometers is reheating at safe temperatures. While you might’ve perfected cooking your food perfectly, reheating is a technique of its own. Again, you can’t reheat food at temperatures that are too high resulting in overcooking it or losing its texture and taste.
Plus you can’t avoid reheating your food since more often than not it’ll have to be reheated the next day or when it’s gotten colder. Therefore, an oven thermometer can be used to reheat at safe temperatures to ensure your food is reheated perfectly, not left cold and not too hot/overcooked either.
Avoid Food Poisoning:
A cause of food poisoning, not acknowledged by many, is undercooked food. Food, especially proteins, if left undercooked can cater to bacteria that are left in the food if not cooked enough.
This accounts for the rise of foodborne illnesses that commonly result in food poisoning. Therefore, it is important that you cook your food enough that the harmful bacteria can be killed and your food is safe to eat.
An oven temperature can help maintain a level of temperature that is appropriate enough to cook your food in without overcooking it, while also ensuring it isn’t left undercooked and all the potentially lethal bacteria inside it are thoroughly killed.
