Dropped $130 on a Thermapen to check my fry oil and I feel like a fool for waiting so long
For two full years I was doing the bread cube trick and guessing, and my fries kept coming out pale and greasy about half the time. My grandma gave me $130 in birthday cash in March and instead of being sensible I finally bought the Thermapen One, and the very first batch of wings I made hit 375 exactly and came out shatter-crisp with zero soggy spots. Turns out my stove runs hot and I had been frying at like 395 for who knows how long, which is why the outside looked done while the inside was still raw. Now I temp the oil before anything touches it, wait for it to climb back after each batch, and my fish and chips finally taste like the ones from that place near the lake back home. I know 130 bucks sounds nuts for a thermometer but I have not had one bad fry since, which is worth way more than the money. The old candy thermometer I had drifted 25 degrees off and I never caught it, which explains a lot of sad dinners. Curious what you all use to hold temp, do you trust the dial on your fryer or do you check it with something else?
That line about your old candy thermometer drifting 25 degrees off hit home because I read somewhere that most cheap dial thermometers can be off by 20 degrees either way right out of the box. That kind of gap is the whole ballgame with frying, since 350 and 375 give you totally different crusts. I just use a $20 instant read now and check it against boiling water once in a while, works fine and hasn't lied to me yet.