On using a meat thermometer

Should I use a meat thermometer?

Yes, but less for safety than because it’ll make you a better cook. If you don’t use a meat thermometer and you are happy with how your meat dishes turn out, read no further —it’s unlikely you’ll get sick from merely undercooking your meat. 

Here’s why: It takes a fairly large bacteria count (of, for example, Salmonella or E Coli—the most likely culprits in meat) to poison a healthy person. Even if this kind of bad bug ends up in your food it would take a remarkable amount of neglect to achieve bacteria counts that would survive a half-assed grilling. 

What does a “remarkable amount” mean? Well, maybe the factory farm fucked up and then you left your groceries in the trunk of your car for several days. Or you accidentally marinated your chicken thighs in feces (whoops, wrong jar). 

Me killing off the whole tailgate with my cooking

Even still, a normal cooking process will render your shit-glazed chicken bacteria-free*.

But maybe you’re like me —  you are simply (and irrationally) terrified about getting sick from eating undercooked meat. So you prod your steaks like a pin cushion and read your chicken tenders like tea leaves.  You subscribe to a color gradient safety standard of your own devising. It has worked so far, but is it worth the lingering fear that you’re about to kill off the whole tailgate?

Probably not. So get a meat thermometer and two things will happen:

1. You’ll realize you’re grossly overcooking everything. Even if you only use it a few times, your sense of “it’s ready!” will calibrate truer and your food will taste better.

2. You will stop worrying about killing everyone who eats your food.

*Yes yes I know; there’s tons of other bad stuff in feces like parasites and viruses. I’m just talking about bacteria here, so go hate-tweet at someone else.

+++