Measuring the internal temperatures of foods is a very good
way of telling whether they are cooked properly.
There are many internal temperature probes available; the
best are just thermocouples on a wire with a little box to
give you the temperature (along with other timing and
alarm systems).
IR
thermometers allow you to measure temperatures pretty
accurately on surfaces from a distance.
I would like separate probes that would allow me to use
my IR thermometer to measure the internal temperatures
of foods from a distance. This would allow me to check
the temperature of large cuts of meat in several places,
and would also allow me to test the temperatures of
different items on a large grill.
My hypothesis is that If you stick a partially-insulated
ceramic probe into a piece of meat, there will be a
difference in the temperature of the uninsulated tip of the
probe and the handle of the probe. The Internal temp
would cool the external disk by a certain number of
degrees. The handle would be disk-shaped for easy
targeting.
By walking the external disk temperature back through
known values, the internal temperature could be derived.
The proper temperature would be converted by the IR
thermometer.
It may be necessary to have discs of two different
materials, and side-by side lasers targeting figure 8-shaped
disks to get enough information to get accurate
measurements.
Pros: you could have a crock full of these things and stab
them in different places on large cuts and into individual
pieces of food. Then you could check them all in a matter
of seconds.
No wires.
No pulling stuff out of the oven to poke it with a instant-
read; the temperature is constantly updated.
Cons: May not work at all.