Conference turris::cooks

    Raw to me is un cooked, or very, very rare.  I like my beef pink.
    
    I usually let it stand for 10-20 minutes (I forget the exact time).
    
    Will the thermometer read correctly instantly or do I have to wait a
    few minutes for it to stabalize?
    
    M

To calibrate your oven, pick up an oven thermometer.  These usually just hang 
from a rack, and tell you what temperature the inside of your oven is.  The
purpose is to find out what you have to set the dial to to really get the 
desired temperature.  Preheat an empty oven with the thermometer hanging in
roughly the center.  If you can read it from a window, so much the better.
Otherwise, wait till the oven indicates that it is at the selected temperature,
and quickly open and read (the temperature will drop quickly, and the blast of
hot air in the face makes it difficult).

I've always removed the roast when it's 5 degrees less than the desired 
temperature.  Then wrap in foil.  The temperature will usually continue to rise
(a little) and in about 15 minutes, the roast is ready to carve.

By the way, it's not impossible that you have a bad meat thermometer.  If you
have another thermometer around, try making comparison readings in hot water.

By the way, I have accumulated both glass and bimetal meat thermometers, but 
since I got my instant readout thermometer, the only thing I use the other 
ones for is to find out what temperature corresponds to what degree of doneness.
 

    Try putting the meat in the oven when it is at room temp.  I think the
    middle of your meat is still frozen.  Also be very sure you have the
    thermometer placed in the meat correctly.  I think most of us suffer
    from that one.
    
    Mary Lou
    

 Oh, and BTW, you should allow your roast to sit at room temperature for three
hours before cooking it.

    re: .10
    
    I think you hit the nail on the head!

 The difference is that the basenote author uses a spring type thermometer
while you use a mercury thermometer. Most spring type thermometers are not 
intended to be left in the roast during cooking; they indicate temperature
in under a minute, and are used to test the temp occasionally, not continuously.

 I think that everything will work out fine if the basenote author doesn't
leave the thermometer in the roast during cooking, and only uses it to test
the roast. Then it will indicate temperature correctly and she can follow
the directions for meat temp in her cookbook.

 The Doctah

> I think that everything will work out fine if the basenote author doesn't
>leave the thermometer in the roast during cooking, and only uses it to test
>the roast. Then it will indicate temperature correctly and she can follow
>the directions for meat temp in her cookbook.

one caveat:

if the cookbook used is more than 10 years old, the recommended meat temps will
probably be unacceptable for today's tastes.  The older cookbooks often
recommended temps that would create a medium rare when advertising a rare
state...and their temps for well-done deliver "charcoal", rather than well
cooked meat (if there IS such a thing - personal editorial opinion).  Most
meat thermometers indicate a range of temperatures to use and these are
fairly accurate to current tastes.

    Ok, so I've never used a meat thermometer....
    
    Thinking perhaps I should use one for the Turkey this year instead of
    relying soley on the pop up timer.  The thermometer we have is a
    stick kind with a round circle top with the various temps/doneness
    for what your cooking.  Are these reliable?  Where do I locate this
    in the bird?  And do I only test with it or cook with it in?  Dumb
    questions I know...but like I said I've never used one and aren't
    sure if relying on the pop up is always the right thing.  BTW, the
    bird is 20 lbs.

re: .16

>  -< Cook with it in >-

That depends on the thermometer.  The old kind with the 1 1/2 or 2 inch 
diameter dials were made for being in the oven the whole time.  Some of
the skinny modern fast-reading ones designed to survive in microwave ovens 
don't take kindly to being left in the bird the whole time.

-Hal

The tip of the thermometer should rest in the center of the thickest part
of the meat on the bird (embedded in the breast, I believe, but may be wrong.)
It should not touch a bone.

The rationale here is that you want to know the true temperatue in the spot
which will be the hardest/longest to cook. Closer to a surface (inside or
out) will reach your desired temperature before the inner parts are fully
cooked. I believe a bone simply heats differently than the meat. I've also
heard that you can be less picky about "centering" the tip of the thermometer
if the bird is well stuffed, since the inside cavity will be better insulated.

-Jack

    what I have always done is push the thermometer down to the bone and
    then back it off about 1/4 inch.  The other thing that has been hard
    for me is to learn to believe the thermometer.  Todays turkeys cook
    much faster than the old ones, (Your mileage may vary with a home-grown
    turkey) and I have dried a couple of birds out thinking that my
    thermometer wasn't reading correctly.  so much for my ancient Fanny
    farmer.
    
    meg