We've all heard the slogan "Safety First." As you may recall from my post regarding glazed oranges, I managed to slightly burn my finger tip when I touched some of the candy glaze on a spoon because it didn't look that hot. More of that story -- I was using the "stiff ball" technique at the time to determine if the temperature of my syrup was at 240 degrees - it was.
I used the alternate "stiff ball" method because, unlike what Julia recommended, I did not have a candy thermometer. Apparently a candy thermometer is not considered a standard piece of cooking equipment that one keeps in their kitchen (unless they're Willy Wonka and do a lot of candy making). Then while shopping for some of the ingredients for an upcoming cooking attempt, much to my surprise, as I was walking down the aisle at the grocery store...guess what I saw hanging on the shelf? A candy and fry thermometer!!
Knowing that Elizabeth loves me and is always concerned about my welfare, I'm sure she would have immediately got the thermometer, had she seen it, to add to my collection of kitchen gadgetry. Being the considerate sort of fellow that I am, I didn't want to make Elizabeth have to go searching for one of these thermometers to surprise me with so I did my very best to save her a trip and acquired the thermometer myself. Of course, to add to the surprise I haven't told her about it. I did properly put it away in the gadget drawer but she hasn't said anything so I'm pretty sure she hasn't noticed it yet. I'm thinking this post will be a good test to see if she actually reads any of these blogs. If she reads this one I'm pretty sure I'll be rewarded with hugs and kisses!
My most recent cooking adventures haven't involved glazing anything yet (or making candy or frying something) but I'll be working on some of those before too long. I'll be sure to let you know when the thermometer is hard at work. I'm not sure if the thermometer will prevent minor injuries but I hope so. At least I'll have a reminder of the temperature of oil and syrup and it might deter me from touching stuff that doesn't really look hot. At least the burn on my foot is healing over the past couple of weeks. I'll leave the thermometer safely tucked away in the gadget drawer but now I'm prepared for the next frying or candy glaze item. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what to do with it when the time comes.
As the saying goes, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." At least now I'll be able to know how hot it is (in the liquid)! Only one more gadget to add (for now), I have to track down a mattress needle so that I can properly truss a chicken...
Bon Appetit!
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