Hello. I am new here and am new to cooking. I have taken 4 cooking classes and can also count the number of times I have cooked on my fingers.
One thing I would really like to cook is stir-fry. However, I am not sure how to tell when the little meat cutlets are done. With larger pieces of meat, such as salmon and chicken breast, I can just poke the piece of meat in the thickest part with a meat thermometer to see if it is done. Are you supposed to cut one of the little cutlets and look at the interior to see if it is done? If so, how can you tell? I have read that visual inspection of meat is not a sure-fire way to tell if it is done, though I have seen people do it all the time...
Another question I had was with regards to the tool you use to stir and move the food around in the pan when sauteing or stir-frying. Is it safe to use this tool from the very beginning, when you are moving around the raw meat, to the very end, where you use it to put the food on plates for serving? I have seen people do this all the time. My concern is that in the beginning, the raw meat juices will get on the spatula/tong. Of course, some of it will eventually get cooked as you are stir frying, but some of the juices may get a little higher up on the tool, away from the wok, so they will not be heated enough to cook fully. Then, there is a small chance that these still-raw juices will somehow get into the food/plate when you are done. Am I overly concerned? Thanks...
One thing I would really like to cook is stir-fry. However, I am not sure how to tell when the little meat cutlets are done. With larger pieces of meat, such as salmon and chicken breast, I can just poke the piece of meat in the thickest part with a meat thermometer to see if it is done. Are you supposed to cut one of the little cutlets and look at the interior to see if it is done? If so, how can you tell? I have read that visual inspection of meat is not a sure-fire way to tell if it is done, though I have seen people do it all the time...
Another question I had was with regards to the tool you use to stir and move the food around in the pan when sauteing or stir-frying. Is it safe to use this tool from the very beginning, when you are moving around the raw meat, to the very end, where you use it to put the food on plates for serving? I have seen people do this all the time. My concern is that in the beginning, the raw meat juices will get on the spatula/tong. Of course, some of it will eventually get cooked as you are stir frying, but some of the juices may get a little higher up on the tool, away from the wok, so they will not be heated enough to cook fully. Then, there is a small chance that these still-raw juices will somehow get into the food/plate when you are done. Am I overly concerned? Thanks...