With the 2010 British BBQ competition season having drawn to a close, one of our main jobs for the winter is preparing a platform for competing in 2011. This involves looking for partners and sponsors to work with next season. Well today was a good day, this morning I had a very constructive conversation with Peter Webb, MD of Electronic Temperature Instruments who has expressed a desire to work both with Royal Q and the British BBQ Society next year. ETI Ltd are the company responsible for the legendary Thermapen probe thermometers.
Thermapens are folding probe thermometers, pocket sized, robust and splash proof they give accurate temperature readings in about 4 seconds. They’re very well known about in commercial arena around the world. In US BBQ circles they have a loyal following, I’ve seen (well natured) arguments break out over which colour is best. Any self-respecting Pit Boss won’t leave the house without his Thermapen. However despite being designed and manufactured here in Britain, in the consumer market they’re not as well known about, which in our opinion is crazy as we regard our Thermapens as possibly the most indispensable items in our kitchen. Anyone who’s spent any time around me when I’m cooking or BBQ’ing will no doubt have had to listen to me gushing praise about how good these things are.
We’re really pleased to get the chance to work with Thermapen as we have a lot of belief in their product. What’s more ETI are providing Thermapens for the British BBQ Society team attending the American Royal this year, in Red White and Blue of course.
So for those of you that are unfamiliar with Thermapens, let me explain to you what exactly they are and why I think they’re such an essential piece of kit. Firstly have you ever found that you eat in a good restaurant is better than the same food you make at home? That the chicken is more succulent or the steak is perfectly cooked to your request but you can’t get it consistent at home? Do you assume it’s just that the chef is a better cook than you, or that they can just get hold of better ingredients? Well that might not be the case.
I have loads of people telling me I should become a chef when they eat food I prepare, both on the BBQ and in the kitchen. Well let me tell you, I couldn’t be a chef, I can’t turn out dish after dish consistently, but what I can do is turn out perfectly cooked food every time and the reason I can do this is that I use my Thermapen. Take chicken for example, we all know undercooked chicken can be dangerous to eat, the natural thing to do is to make extra sure that it’s cooked properly. But chicken, particularly breast, dries up very easily, that precautionary extra five minutes can mean you end up with dry meat as opposed to juicy, succulent, lovely chicken. Chicken is safe to eat at 165F, chicken breast is fantastic if cooked just to the point of hitting this internal temperature and no further.
The great thing about using a Thermapen is that you can check internal temperatures easily and quickly so you can make sure everything is cooked perfectly every time. They’re great for grilling on the BBQ too, no more botulism burgers, black on the outside, raw on the inside, a quick probe with a Thermapen an you know if your food is done. You can see a brief outline of Thermapen features below.
So you might be thinking that this all sounds great but you can get a food probe thermometer much cheaper than a Thermapen, so why spend the extra cash. Firstly, Thermapens are commercial quality pieces of kit, they come calibrated and certified so you know they’re accurate, they’re also built to last and manufactured right here in Britain. But the biggest advantage is the speed in which they give a reading, there’s no standing around for minutes at a time waiting for the thermometer to get a reading, 4 seconds and you’re done. This means less time with your hand over a hot skillet, less time with your meat out of the oven or most importantly less time with the lid open on your BBQ.
I recently won the British BBQ Society Ready Steady Q final, where I had to cook 2 quails in the final round, having never cooked quail before it was initially a little unnerving. However a quick check of my notebook to tell me the desired internal temperature for cooked quail and by using my Thermapen, it was easy to cook my quails to perfection. Walking away with a £1000 cash prize feels great and I couldn’t have done it without my Thermapen.
So I guess that’s enough of me harping on about how everyone should own a Thermapen, but if you’re into cooking or BBQ I recommend you check out the UK website www.thermapen.co.uk or if you’re US based, the American distributor www.thermoworks.com
