When "Hot" Just Isn't Enough -- Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer
Written: Jun 25 '02 (Updated Jul 29 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Metal protects glass tube, easy read, heat stages marked (soft ball, hard crack, etc.)
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: Can't bear another broken bulb thermometer? Need to measure that oil temperature accurately? You NEED this. Accurate, easy to read and hasn't broken in a dozen uses!
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| mind-full's Full Review: Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer |
In a world that offers more "disposable" items every day, I prefer to not spend any "disposable income" on sub par products. This is why, I have included the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer as my one-and-only piece of clip-on, dip-in heat-measuring equipment. Not comparable to or able to take the place of an internal temperature probe, the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer measures up in its own way.
Not All They're Cracked up to Be
I've gone through (literally) four of them. Those glass tube thermometers with the handy little clip to slide over the edge of a saucepan or kettle while deep frying chicken for my husband's favorite Chicken Parmesan, or when making candy or fudge for the holidays.
Four times. CRACK! And that comes when it's not one of the readings I'm expecting . . . I just wasn't meant to use one of those glass tubes for monitoring the temperature of hotter than boiling kitchen concoctions.
I get the fateful sound when CLEANING the thermometer. Carefully, gently submerging the glass tube in the warm water to soften any boiled-on candy residue or oily films that did not stay in the pot. Four times within 6 years I endured this. You'd think the thermometers were meant to be disposable at the rate I broke them.
They worked, measuring the temperatures I needed to achieve with accuracy and speed. I just wasn't a good care-taker, though I took the utmost care in my attempts to keep them out of harm's way.
A Better Breed of Temperature Gauge
As I watched an episode of "Emeril Live" one night, Emeril casually mentioned his inability to keep a thermometer in his kitchen for long due to his keen ability to break them.
Immediately, I perked up -- someone else who shared my temperature-measuring misdemeanors!
Old Emeril bandied about the name, "Taylor", and I dashed to the computer to do a search, and there, amid the myriad of temperature gauging equipment was the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer.
Taking Necessary Measures in Procuring the Treasure That Is Taylor
With Christmas right around the corner, I added the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer to my Christmas list. Along with the name, I added a description of the product:
• 12" long, 2" wide
• flat metal backing with a raised edge on each side, along which a metal clip (on the back) may slide up and down, depending on the size of the pot/pan.
• black, plastic "handle" at the top with a hole in it for handling/hanging
• temperature guage marked in large, black numbers in both Fahrenheit(120° - 400°) and Celcius scales (60° - 200°)along each side of the glass thermometer tube.
• "immersion" mark to delineate the minimum level at which the liquid may be to get an accurate temperature reading
• Stages for confection/candy-making marked clearly(ie, "thread", "soft ball", "firm ball", "hard ball", "soft crack" and "hard crack").
I forwarded my list to the appropriate parties.
For Christmas I received a glass tube thermometer . . .
No Need to Fudge the Numbers . . .
I promptly exchanged the glass tube thermometer (also a Taylor product, but not the one "for me") for a Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer. I had to part with an additional $11 to make up the difference, but in this case, you get what you pay for, poor grammar and all. The additional cost counts for something and makes a difference in longevity of the product.
Driving home with my newly-procured Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer, I looked forward to a trial run . . .
Chicken Parmesan, Anyone?
Dearest Husband of Mine is a Chicken Parm connaisseur, to put it mildly. His "test" of any Italian restaurant is its ability to plate a filet of expertly battered or breaded, fried chicken on a plate beside an oblivion of al dente pasta (a nice vermicelli, not linguini, please) topped with just the right amount of marinara . . . not too much, not too little . . . a very subjective thing, sauce is, in the serving of pasta.
Lest this start toward sounding like a restaurant review, allow me to return to the highlight of this piece, the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer.
The Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer cannot tell you the appropriate wine to serve with your meal, but it does have the uncanny ability to take the temperature of a potful of oil (among other liquids) as it heats to give you a degree-by-degree reading as the little red line creeps up the scale toward your target temperature.
And that is just what I needed it to do: show me when the oil was at that "perfect" point for frying my beloved's beloved chicken . . .
Some Like It Hot
The "hot point" for deep-frying is between 325º and 375º (lower end for meats, higher end for veggies). Without a thermometer, the art of frying is a crap-shoot, unless you're attune to your oil and know, without a doubt, that it is ready.
I have never had luck with the "bread cube" test, nor any other method of finding the proper temperature. Without a thermometer, I can guarantee a fried food to be either of two things: oil-soaked (under-done) or burnt.
I had the chicken lying in wait . . . breaded, ready to go. I had my oil in my cast iron pot, gas turned to "high" and the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer standing at attention on the side of the pot (with a little help from the handy clip on the back).
Like a pitcher with a batter at the plate, I stood, waiting for the signal . . . finally the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer gave me the nod and I threw . . . um . . . carefully placed the chicken in the oil.
Spatter, splatter, oil and batter
The 325º oil bubbled up nicely with a dull roaring sound around the chicken and calmed to a 225º sizzle for a time until the chicken began to cook and take on the heat from the oil.
As the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer began to show a return toward 325º, I could adjust the heat from the burner accordingly to hold the temperature steady.
A mere 20 minutes later, after a turn or two, I was ready to plate up the meal. I removed the chicken to some paper towels to drain, then to the waiting nests of pasta for a few spoonfuls of sauce.
During the meal, my husband said nothing.
If you don't know him, you'd be offended. If you do, you know that silence is his seal of approval.
The Sweeter Things in Life
The Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer doesn't take away the careful watch over a frying kettle or boiling pot on the stove, but it does allow a person to step away for a second to check a recipe, pop something in the oven, or check on the kids in the next room and know at a glance that the temperature of the pot is at the right level.
It also keeps you from dropping small amounts of burning hot candy substances into glass after glass of ice-cold water in hopes that you really are seeing a "soft ball" or a "hard crack" . . . something I could never be completely sure I had right, and with many non-setting batches of fudge for proof.
I have used the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer for my holiday and special occasion sweet-making (lollipops, fudge, fudge, and don't forget the fudge) with great results and no ruined batches of anything because I can see the temperature reading easily.
For candy-making, Daughter of Mine, in the prime of ready-helperhood, takes on the job of thermometer-watching at a distance -- 3 feet from the heat source and possible boil-overs. From her stool-top perch, she loudly announces any movement she might detect in the "red line" of the thermometer. She can see the target temperature marking (I color the diamond-shaped marking beside the target reading with a red Sharpie marker for her) and can holler out her findings as she wishes.
This tells me a couple of things -- that the thermometer is easy to read (Daughter can't read words or more than single-digit numbers as yet), and that the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer will serve me well into my old age . . . when I have to stand across the room to get the numbers into focus!
Proving Your Powers with the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer
Always, always, always "test" a thermometer before relying on it for an accurate reading. To do this, you'll need to watch a pot of water . . .
Clip the thermometer on the side of a pot of water (a few inches of water, or enough to reach the "immersion" line, in a 1-quart or larger pot) and place the pot on a stove burner set to "high".
Keep an eye on the pot -- as soon as the water begins to boil -- at the first movement of the surface of the water -- take a reading. The Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer should read 212º Fahrenheit (100º Celcius).
If the reading is off a few degrees either way, you'll have to make that adjustment for the target temperature of your recipe.
Those Who Live in Glass Houses . . .
When using the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer, take care not to bash it against the pot, countertop, sink, etc. The glass thermometer tube WILL break, if challenged!
Wash the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer carefully, in warm, soapy water. Depending on your use of it, you may need to soak it in warm water, as I do after making lollipops. DO NOT use the dishwasher because of the possibility of other items bumping the glass tube. Temperature of the water/heat drying could also be the end of any thermometer.
The Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer is infinitely better than the glass bulb thermometers since the metal backing acts as protection during use and while storing it. I slide mine along the side of a utensil drawer with the glass tube facing the side of the drawer where other things can sit up against it without touching the glass. I alway had to strategically place my glass bulb models and use creative storage solutions to keep them from contact with the other utensils that did not live in glass houses.
When You Need to Know Your Hot Stuff
I cannot express the degree to which I enjoy and appreciate the use of my Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer, other than to say this:
Thanks to the Taylor Canning & Deep Fry Thermometer, I can take the guess-work out of deep-frying (and candy-making) and the glass shards out of my dish pan -- for GOOD!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mind-full
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Member: Amy
Location: Same Place as Ever
Reviews written: 320
Trusted by: 185 members
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Faith is like electricity. You can't see it but you can see the light.
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