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Do You Know the Benefits of Probe Cooking
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Sophie Scott

28th September 2021

Do You Know the Benefits of Probe Cooking

Ensure food safety, top tips for probe cooking from Alto-Shaam. 

A heat probe for cooking is an effective, consistent and precise way to read the internal temperature of your food during the cooking, holding or chilling process.  Whether cooking proteins or chilling casseroles, you can use a metal temperature probe to find out whether the food's temperature is outside of the “danger zone” (between 8° and 60°C).  This ensures that dangerous bacteria have been neutralised and the food is safe to eat.  A probe is also a useful tool to achieve accurate degrees of doneness and achieve the highest quality food.  

Alto-Shaam equipment incorporates removable temperature probes, you will find these with the Cook & Hold ovenssmokers ovens, blast chillers, and Vector Multi-Cook Ovens. The detachable probe allows foodservice professionals to cook or chill more efficiently and precisely, by measuring temperature instead of time.

This handy guide details the benefits of temperature probe cooking, as well as how to use an oven temperature probe.

BENEFITS OF PROBE COOKING AND HOLDING

Probes are arguably the best way to obtain optimal food temperatures while cooking. Some cook and hold ovens allow you to set food probes to your ideal internal temperature, and the oven will automatically switch to hold mode once a set cook temperature has been reached.  The oven will then hold the food at the perfect temperature until it is ready to be served.

This simplified, highly efficient process reduces labour costs while improving the quality of the end result.  Cook and hold ovens even enable HACCP data collection to ensure the highest level of food safety compliance.

MAINTAIN THE DESIRED TEMPERATURE

As food cools down, it can quickly fall back into the danger zone, so it’s crucial to have a probe to hand.  This will allow you to reheat food before it drops below 60°C.  Meanwhile, you can use temperature probe cooking to reheat or retherm food more evenly, so that there are no internal cold spots. 

COOK WITH PRECISION

Every cut of meat needs to reach a precise internal temperature to achieve the perfect degree of doneness.  There’s nothing worse than under or overcooked food, especially if you’re working with a quality cut of meat.  To reach the proper temperature, you can use a probe to monitor food as it cooks. 

SIMPLIFY THE COOKING PROCESS

With a probe thermometer, you eliminate the guesswork when cooking different cuts of meat.  Depending on the meat’s size, cooking time can vary, so you shouldn’t use it as the only indicator of doneness.  Many pieces of equipment allow you to measure internal food temperature as well as the temperature of the oven chamber at the same time, this enables you to monitor the cooking process and add or reduce heat when needed.

HOW TO USE A PROBE THERMOMETER

To avoid injury, exercise caution when using oven temperature probes. 

  1. Insert the stem of a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the food.  If the food is equally thick on the entire piece, insert the stem into the centre of the food.  If the food is in liquid form (i.e. soup or broth), stir it to make sure the heat has been evenly distributed before inserting the thermometer. This will allow you to achieve an accurate temperature reading.
  2. Wait at least 15 seconds for the reading to adjust, and then record the reading (or let deluxe control ovens record the reading for you).  Do not let the probe touch the bottom or sides of the food containers, as this will prevent an accurate temperature reading of your food.

RECALIBRATING YOUR THERMOMETER

Recalibration is the adjustment of the thermometer to make sure it is set up to read the correct temperature.  This should be done regularly to ensure readings are accurate.

There are multiple opportunities to recalibrate your thermometer:

  • Before the first time you use it, and at least once a month after that.
  • Any time the thermometer is exposed to an extreme change in temperature during storage.
  • If the probe thermometer has been dropped.

Follow these simple steps to recalibrate your thermometer using the ice point method:

  1. Fill a cup with crushed ice and add just enough water to slightly float the ice.  The ice water will always be 0°C (32°F).  This is the temperature that you should use when calibrating your probe thermometer.
  2. Place the stem of the thermometer in the ice water, making sure it doesn’t touch the sides or the bottom of the cup.  Wait until the needle stops moving and becomes still.  If the needle is not pointing at 0°C (32°F), it needs to be adjusted.

It’s quite impressive that such a small tool can help you achieve high-quality food consistently and precisely.  By maintaining a safe temperature of food, operators can also prevent food-borne illness.  Based on the numerous benefits of using temperature probes, there are very few reasons not to incorporate this device and related equipment into your kitchen arsenal!

Foodservice Equipment Marketing (FEM) is the master distributor for Alto-Shaam equipment in the UK and Ireland. For more information call us on 01355 244 111 or email [email protected] 

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First published at www.alto-shaam.com

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