Cooking in restaurants is very different from home cooked meals. Since restaurants, cafes and hotels are serving a number of customers on a daily basis, they need to make conscious efforts in order to provide safe food items to their visitors. Chefs are professionals who stand all day long in the kitchens to provide nothing but the best tastes and flavors to the people visiting their respective food joints.
Since food is an essential and people have grown immense love for the different cuisines, the food authorities have made it a point to keep a check on the eating joints serving different customers. The menu of any eating place has to be well thought of and needs to be approved by the authorities before it is put on a plate in front of the customers.
Food authorities are now present in every state and country to supervise the flourishing market of food joints. They have developed several rules and procedures to take care of the quality of ingredients being served to the general public. Amongst the various rules and regulations, one of the most important rules to be followed by each and every chef is to have a food thermometer present in the kitchen.
Food thermometers are a mandatory equipment that each commercial kitchen should possess. The reason being that temperature plays a crucial role in any dish. Only if the food is cooked at the right temperature, one can expect it to turn out well. One has to be alert while making any dish so that it is delicious, well cooked and maintains all the essential nutrients in it.
When we talk about non vegetarian dishes, then the role of temperature regulation becomes even more important. Whether it is roasting or grilling, the correct flavors are enhanced only when the meat is cooked in the appropriate range of temperature. Best digital meat thermometer in grilling are those which are inserted throughout the process of cooking. It helps the chef in knowing the exact point when the meat is perfectly cooked and ready for serving.
All the food authorities are in favor of the usage of food thermometers because its use has several advantages. These are:
- Reduce the risk of food borne illnesses – Each item, whether meat, poultry, eggs or vegetable, has a different temperature at which they get perfectly cooked. If any of the ingredients is partially cooked or overheated then the chances of unwanted bacterias developing within the food item increases. These bacteria or improperly cooked ingredients are the cause of various food borne diseases. At times food-borne diseases can turn fatal for the sufferer. Being a chef or the home based food maker, you will never want to compromise on the health of the people eating the dishes made by you. Using a food thermometer can help in avoiding several food-borne illnesses, thereby saving numerous lives.
- Avoiding overcooked food – Any dish tastes well only when they are cooked just perfectly. While under-cooked food can still be handled, it is the overcooked meal which can be the spoiler. Overcooked meals are hard to eat and difficult to digest. Along with these, the nutritious values of the meal gets compromised greatly when the food ingredients stay on the flames for a period longer than necessary. For these many reasons, it is important that every food maker uses food thermometers so that they are able to be just right with the temperatures of their meals.
- Different temperatures for different ingredients – Whether it is baking, or non vegetarian food items, they are all a mix of different ingredients. Each ingredient in any recipe has a different temperature threshold. These temperature ranges if not met can make the dish unhealthy as well as flavorless. Most of the food items should be at room temperature when it comes to baking while dishes to be cooked in boiled water need a higher temperature. Even the best of chefs can never be absolutely correct about the food temperatures at which different ingredients are cooked. This is another cause where food thermometers can come handy and help in making the perfect recipe.
- Baby food – Infants and children in general have a tendency of getting affected by food items which are served at the wrong temperatures. While older individuals can make the necessary modifications in their food to bring it to the correct temperature, the kids are unable to express themselves when anything is wrong with their food. This is exactly why the food being served to a child has to be inspected well with regards to temperatures and tastes so that the kids enjoy their meals in order to get healthy. Baby foods like milk, pulses, etc each have to be at a temperature where it stays nutritious and doesn’t burn the tongue of the kid. So, if you are making a dish for your baby then you should surely buy a food thermometer for your kitchen and save yourself from the stress of correctly assessing the food being fed to the child.
- Internal Temperature – Food items can easily trick the human eye. Food items when being cooked can give a wrong idea to the maker about their temperatures. It must have happened with every person at least once that the dish appeared cooked on the burner but was completely raw when eaten. The reason for this accident could be uneven chopping, improper cooking utensils, etc. To check if the food is cooked well internally the maker has to use a food thermometer. By placing the food thermometer in the thickest of food pieces, it gets extremely easy to access the internal temperature of the dish. Once this temperature has reached the right range only then the food should be considered well cooked.
For all the above benefits it is a must that each and every food lover gets hold of the best food thermometers. Supreme quality food thermometers when used according to the purpose provide accurate results about the temperature range. Food quality and health levels have a direct relationship, so you clearly don’t want to mess up with any of the two.
