Instructions: A reliable thermometer is a handy thing to have. They are, of course, a line of defense against undercooked food. They also assure that food is not overcooked, which is especially important for todays lean-bred meat. And for a re-warmed casserole, they beat sticking your finger in to it to see if its hot.

Modern meat thermometers are faster and more accurate than their predecessors. Consumer models are inexpensive. They include the favored instant-read dial and digital models that usually cost from $9 to $18. They arent oven-proof, but they take only 10 to 20 seconds to gauge the temperature of cooked food. Some have to be inserted a couple of inches, others as little as a quarter inch.

Bruce Aidells, co-author of The Complete Meat Cookbook, swears by instant-read digital thermometers as the only sure way to make meat taste good.

Cook red meat just a few degrees beyond the temperatures recommended in his recipes and it will taste something like cardboard, he says. In earlier days meat was fatter, which gave cooks a margin of error. The fat kept the meat moist, even if it was a tad toasted.

Digital thermometers, which are usually the more expensive of the instant-read models, also allow for recalibrating the devices. Not all of the dial thermometers do, but its an important function, so you might want to make sure your intended purchase has a temperature adjustment.

Thats why those spattered old meat thermometers lying in utensil drawers should be suspect. As a type of thermometer they are fine, if they are inserted correctly (away from bone, fat or gristle). But the older they are, the less likely theyre accurate. And once a liquid-filled thermometer is off, theres no way to recalibrate it.

In fact, even those pop-up plastic thermometers that come in turkeys are fine. Like the liquid-filled models, they may be off a degree or two, but that should be OK as long as youre aware of it.

Inserting your thermometer into a large glass filled with finely crushed ice and clean water can test any thermometers accuracy. It should read 32 F

(0 C). This will take a minute or two for a liquid-filled device, just seconds for an instant-read. Thermometers can also be tested in boiling water, but be aware that 212 F (100 C) is the boiling point only at sea level. In the mile-high city of Denver, for example, water boils at 202 F (95 C).

Like author Aidells, the US Department of Agriculture says that digital instant-read thermometers are the only way to go. In fact they say they are essential. Food safety officials are particularly concerned about people eating ground beef that hasnt been heated uniformly to a temperature of 160 , which kills bacteria. The color of the meat is not a reliable test of doneness. Only temperature is.

The USDA likes digital thermometers because they need only be inserted a quarter of an inch or so to get an accurate reading. The agency has enough sense to realize people are unlikely to try to stick a probe two inches into the side of a burger. Yet the agency also has enough, shall we say, whimsy, to have suggested that the ideal present for Fathers Day was a meat thermometer.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.