We are, despite some smirky smirks from some of our younger relatives, pretty tech savvy for two people born before the digital age. Being able to type texts with both thumbs does not count. We believe technology is like hot sauce; use sparingly with just the right amount to make something better without being overwhelmed by its use. We also believe that whenever possible we like to be present for our activities — even daily activities like cooking. As time allows, we like the tactility of doing as much as possible by hand (not handcrafted, god forbid), to really feel the movements of preparing food, from mincing and macerating to slicing and dicing.
But open a cabinet and you’ll see plenty of machines to help us when we need to prepare bigger and faster. We often cook with an iPad propped on the counter where the cookbook used to be. We also eschew waste (it’s that ole Frugal Gourmet mindset). Good food can be expensive, especially meat. We marvel at the some of the BBQ folks with their grills that are as much about sensors as about smoke. Can ultra-sounding one’s meat be far away?
Like you, we want success each and every time we cook — from a new recipe we read about with relish, to the ones written on card in our mother’s or grandmother’s or great-grandmother’s faded, hard-to-read curlicues. Many recipes are touted as “tested” and “foolproof.” We’ve fallen for that many times, shaking our heads as the failed pile on the counter, even though we know — we swear — we followed the instructions to the “T.”
We’ve learned the hard way to never serve a personally untested recipe to company. Yes, that has sometimes meant eating something two weekends in a row — the first to test it ourselves and the second to share with others.
This leads us to last night and the 5-pount sirloin tip roast we found in the deep freeze, the last of a quarter of a cow we purchased late last winter. This is not an unknown cut of meat for us, but it had been a long time since we roasted one. So we looked online for some guidance. We were encouraged with “Sirloin Tip Roast {Juicy And Tender Every Single Time!}” from The Big Man’s World site and “Sirloin Tip Roast (Easy & Tender!)” from the Wholesome Yum.
One of the key pieces of guidance involved roasting the mean to the correct internal temperature, which we understood to be about 135 degree F. And the best way to hit that number was to use a digital thermometer. We have one. It’s several years told, the kind with an small device that attaches to a probe so you can leave it in the meat while it’s in the oven. We’ve seen the handheld type, and even want one, but the cost for the best rated models seemed high to us. Plus, we don’t use one all that often.
We prepped the roast. We closed the door and set oven at the recommended 350 and the thermometer for 135. Eight and a half minutes later, the dinger went off and showed an internal temperature of 135. Clearly, something was amiss. We tried turning it off, reinserting the probe, etc. And still said our still-raw roast was ready.
Well, we thought, it’s not like we’ve never roasted before so we decided on the look-and-push method. That felt risky because this cut of meat can become tough and dry when overcooked by even the least amount. We worried we had lost our ability to cook by sight and touch and intuition.
We monitored the roast, and there came a moment when a small amount of moisture pooled at the bottom and the beef itself seemed to draw tighter. We each took a turn poking and decided it was done correctly. It was gratifying knowing we could draw upon our experience. Sure, that experience was gained from feeling meat that was over- or under-cooked, but we hadn’t lost it.
Technology, even at the thermometer level, can assist in the kitchen. But it’s also a safety net. We actively choose not to use the calculator app on our phone for simple equations because we believe there’s a brain benefit from doing it “in our heads.” We like the notion that “Cooking is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.” The quote, of course, came a professional chef — French, of course — Marcel Boulestin. The focus on the creative and intuitive aspects of cooking appeals to us.
But we’re still getting that top-rated probe, just in case.