Cooking Temperature



The thicker the patty the lower the cooking temperature should be.

If you have too much heat the outside will be burnt before the centre is cooked to the required degree of doneness.

Below I have set out an easy method that will help you to judge heat if you are new to this.

This is not the ideal cooking procedure but it should teach you which heat setting is best on your particular stove or barbecue. Ideally you would pre-heat to the correct cooking temperature, put on the patties and cook until halfway done, turn and cook the other sides until done. If the heat is adjusted to the correct level you should only need to turn the patties once. This however takes a bit of practice.

In a pan/skillet:

Put a dash of oil, cooking spray or whatever you normally use into the cold pan, heat it slightly and add the patties.

With the heat turned up to about half way wait until the patties start to sizzle.

Lower the temperature slightly and try to maintain that same degree of sizzle. Lift the pan slightly if necessary

After a minute or two cautiously lift the edge of a patty near the centre of the pan and take a peek. If the pan is still too hot and the patties are in danger of burning flip them over and re-adjust the temperature. Otherwise cook the patties until you see juices appearing on the surface before turning over.

On the barbecue:

If you can keep your hand close to the grid for the count of ten before having to jerk away you should be ok.

Chicken is pretty lean so if you're grilling chicken patties it's a good idea to oil the grid before grilling or to brush the patties lightly with oil.

Better safe than sorry, lift cautiously and peek regularly, turn before they burn!

The more experienced you become the less you will find yourself having to turn the patties. You've got it right when you only have to turn once.


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