How do you know when your roast is done?

manyhats

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 10:32 am

I have not made roasts in a long time; but I'd like to try it again. Often, I'd find them to be dry-
at least when they weren't bathed in gravy. So maybe they weren't cooked to right temperature.
I could never get that pinky color in the center. I suppose a meat thermometer would help.

But which one? Bed Bath and beyond has tons of them. wireless probes, instant read, digitals dial, waterproof ......

Which one do you use? What brand? Anything else to add?

TIA

mummiedearest

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 11:01 am

I do it by feel. if touching the roast doesn't work for you, you can push a fork in as far as it will go. you can tell if it's done based on the resistance the roast gives. not sure I can describe it accurately, though.

MiracleMama

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 11:01 am

A meat thermometer is the only way to know for sure and get it just right. I bought an inexpensive one from Williams Sonoma years ago and it's worked very well for me but the glass is so etched up now that it's hard to read. I'll be curious to see which thermometer others recommend since I'll be in the market for a new one very soon.

manyhats

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 7:00 pm

md, so you have a golden touch!

MM, the online literature supports your view

gf, funny , funny

It seems complicated. You would need one for roasts and a different one for steaks b/c of the different thicknesses. You can not put the probe in bone or fat. And you poke the meat at different intervals- bye bye to delicious juices.

MommytoB

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 7:37 pm

What kind of roast? Rib roast (yum!) 130 degrees for nice and pink. I like the thermometers you leave in the entire time. Start on high heat, 450, for 20 minutes (after letting roast come to room temperature for an hour) then turn down to 300.

The problem with leave in thermometer is that if it's too far down, outside, towards bone, etc then the temp will be higher than in the middle. So when you get to 130, grab an instant thermometer and give it a few pokes just into the middle carefully and no farther. If it's not there yet, adjust leave in thermometer and cook another 10 minutes or so. Watch thermometer very carefully for last 30 minutes of cooking so you don't go over!

Poking a nice big roast will not make it less juicy. Don't worry about the small amount of runoff. Throw some chopped onions all around and they'll taste yummy from the juice!

MiracleMama

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 7:54 pm

The one I've been using is inserted before cooking and left in. There's no poking around. It's not too hard to get it into a good spot if you're doing it calmly from the beginning. I can see it being very hard if you're doing it inside the oven into a sizzling piece of meat.
Oh, one other thing is that the meat does continue to cook when removed from the oven until it cools so don't wait for it to reach temp in the oven. Take it out a bit early, like 10 degrees less than what you desire, and let it sit loosely covered with foil for a bit.

abs

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 8:59 pm

half hour per pound of meat. Refrigerate overnite and slice. When you rewarm it, you can cook it a little longer if you want. Since it's sliced it will cook faster.

manyhats

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 9:58 pm

Mt8,

Thanks for your advice. You answer is very explicit.

I have a 4 1/2 lb veal roast

Why don't you leave the thermometer in the middle of the roast to begin with?

MommytoB

Mon, Mar 31 2014, 10:43 pm

I do aim to put the thermometer in the middle but sometimes you don't realize how far in it's gone!

I have never made a veal roast. Sorry!

manyhats

Thu, Apr 03 2014, 1:53 pm

Update:

Apricots and figs were burned when I checked roast after after 45 minutes.

Butcher gave me neck roast: I had asked for boneless breast.

Marinade tasted good on skin but did not penetrate into meat. Meat is good but quite dense and chewy. Pot roasting or maybe cooking in a crock pot would probably yield a more tender meat.

Great tip: I bought the Oneida electronic thermometer (bed Bath and Beyond , $20.) and an alarm went off when the internal temperature of the roast reached my preset temperature. This marks the first time my roast came out pink in the center! Music