Checking Temperature with Multicookers
Recently there has been an uptick in interest in electric pressure/multi-cookers. Instant Pot, Mealthy, Fagor and even the timeless Crock-Pot brands, among scores of others, are releasing model after model of these time-saving multi-cookers. More and more, we get the question…
Which thermometer should I use when cooking with a multicooker?
The answer really does depend upon how you are planning to use your multicooker.
Pressure Cooking
Using your multicooker as a pressure cooker makes it impossible to check internal food temperatures during the cook. This is because pressure cookers depend upon an airtight seal to increase the air pressure on the food. Locking down the lid of the pressure cooker leaves no room for a thermometer probe cable.
That said, we always recommend checking the final internal temperatures of cooked foods with a fast and accurate instant-read thermometer like our Thermapen.
Meats that are pressure cooked are typically meats rich in collagen that need time to break down, like shoulders, roasts, ribs, and shanks. Final doneness temperatures with these types of meats have less to do with food safety than they do with having reached a high enough internal temperature to render the fats and break down the collagen into moist, savory gelatin. But you can double check your pork shoulder, for example, with your Themapen after the prescribed time for pressure cooking, and make sure the internal temperature of the meat has reached at least 200°F (93°C). If not, you may want to crank up the pressure cooker for a little longer.
Other Uses of the Multicooker
Beyond pressure cooking, there are several other uses of the multicooker with the lid off that DO allow temperature monitoring while you cook. Some of our favorites include:
- Yogurt: Most pressure cookers have a yogurt cycle which is programmed to heat, cool and set the milk in creamy yogurt. Some of these cycles and recipes require pressure while others do not. If you’re not using the pressure setting, then something like the ChefAlarm, ThermaQ or BlueDot with a low alarm will help you cook and cool your milk without having to hover over the vessel for hours on end. If you’ve never tried making yogurt at home, make today the day you change that.
- Sauteing: Some people, especially road warriors and minimalist kitcheneers, only have access to a multicooker for their culinary creations and still want a tender piece of chicken or succulent steak without dealing with other cookware. In that case, an instant-read thermometer like a Thermapen is a must.
- Freestyling: Sometimes there just isn’t a recipe for what you’re trying to cook or you’re trying to convert a conventional or slow cooker recipe into a multicooker masterpiece. When attempting such a feat, especially where utter connective tissue annihilation isn’t key (like it is with carnitas, shredded chicken, and fall-apart roasts), a spot checking thermometer remains key in answering the ageless question of “is it done yet”.
Check doneness of any food with an instant-read thermometer like the Thermapen
While a thermometer isn’t always necessary when cooking with a multicooker, it can still come in handy. Also, if you ever cook meat, proof dough, make candy or barbeque in your backyard, you need a good timer and both an instant-read and alarming thermometer.
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Cory McArthur says
Is it safe and reasonable to uses a wireless thermometer in a pressure cooker?
Martin says
No. The increased pressure can compromise the seals in the thermometer and force steam into it. And you may not be able to get a signal out of it anyhow, depending on your pressure cooker.
Lizzie says
In making yogurt, is it possible to damage the thermometer if it ends up resting along the bottom or side of the instant pot?
Martin says
It should not be a problem. The thermometers have a temperature range well beyond what you’ll face with a yogurt-cooking instant pot.
Jared C McMullan says
What thermometer do i need for decarbing my cannabis and kief to make infused canna oil? We were gonna use a crockpot with water in it with the coconut oil infused with decarbed cannabis grinded up and kief in mason jars just like in the videos on youtube i saw. You just don’t put the top lid on the crockpot or the lids on the mason jars themselves. Please help me i need to buy one thermometer for this exact purpose i’ll be making canna oil for brownies oh i also will be adding 2 x 1000mg thc distillate syringes i purchased at my local medical marijuana dispensary. Plus i have over a half oz of all medical marijuana kief and was going to use an ounce of flower. 15 grams of trimming/flower plus 13 grams of gsc x jack herrer grinded up cannabis.
Martin says
Jared,
If the lids are off of the coker and the mason jars, then the ChefAlarm should be the tool you need. It has high and low-temp alarms so you can keep your oil right in the correct temperature window.
Rachel says
Is it possible to use a wireless thermometer in a crockpot with the lid secured during cooking time or will it interfere with the signal?
Martin says
We don’t make a wireless thermometer, but I can imagine many reasons it would not be ok. Contact your manufacturer for detail o n your thermometer.
Cindy says
What about when I use my air fryer when cooking meat? Is the Thermapen ONE the way to go?
Since my air fryer directions say to pause the machine to shake or stir the contents of the food around for even cooking every 5 minute or so, that seems to be a good opportunity to insert the Thermapen ONE into one of the meaty deboned thighs so I know when they have reached the desired temp.
When I’ve followed the manufacturer’s directions and made deboned chicken thighs in my air fryer without using a thermometer, the thighs come out overdone, but I also want to make sure they’re safe to eat and not undercooked inside.
Thank you for your advice!
Martin says
Yes, Thermapen ONE is a perfect thermometer for the air fryer!