> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I had better luck pan-broiling a steak by putting the cast iron pan in
> the oven and heating it to 500 degrees, than by heating the pan over
> high heat on a burner. I'm curious if it's just because I didn't leave
> the pan on the burner long enough, or it did get hot enough but the
> heat was uneven, etc. For this and future experiments I was curious if
> there's a type of kitchen thermometer that can be touched to the
> surface of a pan to measure its temperature, going up to about 500
> degrees?

No probe types that I have seen - most thermometers have probes, but they
need to be immersed beyond the tip to expand the contained gas. Engineering
type devices can read remotely using infrared, but are rather expensive.

FWIW, I use the "run" of the oil and the smoking point, since both are
indicators of temperature, and it fries quite well.

( Oil conducts heat faster to the meat surface than does a "Dry pan",
--it's the amount of heat conducted that counts - temperature difference
is only an indicator of the capablitity of heat conduction.)

>
> -Bennett
>