Rant: Oil temp probe vs. my hand, I shoulda trusted the probe

Used to test oil by flicking water drops in, which worked until the oil hit 400F after 5 minutes and my whole batch of jalapeno poppers came out black in under a minute. Switched to a $15 instant read thermometer after that, and now I check the temp every single batch and pull it off the burner early. Anyone else had a fry day go sideways because you trusted a flick test over the numbers?

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aaronclark22d ago

Read somewhere that pro kitchens test oil with a thermometer because the flick test only tells you if water sizzles, not the actual heat. Water evaporates at 212F but oil can be way past that and still look calm. Knew a guy who fried a whole turkey using the hand test and nearly set his deck on fire. Since I got a probe, I never guess anymore. It paid for itself the first time I caught oil creeping toward 450F when I thought it was barely at 350F.