ISO electric skillet with low (sub 200) temperatures numbered?

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smoke

Assistant Cook
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
15
Hello,


I watched an episode of Good Eats last night where Alton brown poached catfish at 140 degrees F in an electric skillet. I wanted to try this out, but all the electric skillets I see online stop numbering at 200 degrees (the lowest temp numbered) and anything cooler than that is is labeled 'warming' or 'keep warm'.


I was wondering if anyone knew of a good/decent electric skillet that has the numbers down to at least 140 so that I could replicate his recipe. I was reading after watching the episode and apparently many types of fish are meant to be poached at 140 degrees F so it seems like it would be a worthwhile investment if I could find one.


Thanks for any help.
 
Hi Smoke
Good luck finding the skillet. I haven't seen one.
Try the Food Network / Alton Brown Page I am sure
someone there will answer you.
Welcome to DC.

Josie
 
No skillet that can be set to have a surface temperature of 140F will ever get past Legal. 141F is the accepted threshold for safe hot keeping. The lowest setting is around 180F. Brown said 140F to 145F. But also said LOW. I suspect he doesn't really know the effective low setting temperature, or it was just a misprint or misstatement, and there's no way to take back such a mistake with the Internet. Typical poaching temperature for fish is about 180F, but anything below simmer will work fine.
 
No skillet that can be set to have a surface temperature of 140F will ever get past Legal. 141F is the accepted threshold for safe hot keeping. The lowest setting is around 180F. Brown said 140F to 145F. But also said LOW. I suspect he doesn't really know the effective low setting temperature, or it was just a misprint or misstatement, and there's no way to take back such a mistake with the Internet. Typical poaching temperature for fish is about 180F, but anything below simmer will work fine.
Welcome to DC. Good question. I have a skillet that has a "simmer" setting and a "warm" setting. No idea what temp those are, but assume they must be above 141, the next setting is 200.
 
I have an old waffle maker, the kind that has reversible plates in it, waffles on one side, griddle on the other. Great for waffles and toasted sandwiches. It also unfolds completely, so that both hot surfaces face up. Its' lowest numbered setting is 150, but there is dial space below that. It's a Toastmaster, but Black & Decker sells them now. I don't know what they go for new, but find them in thrift stores for $5-$10.
 
Only suggestion I can think of is to get one with a warming setting below that 200 mark, then put water in it, let it heat on that setting to get up to full temperature, then measure it with a probe thermometer. I'd be willing to bet that Alton did something similar. He's such a freak about the details.
 
What worked for me

Hello,


I watched an episode of Good Eats last night where Alton brown poached catfish at 140 degrees F in an electric skillet. I wanted to try this out, but all the electric skillets I see online stop numbering at 200 degrees (the lowest temp numbered) and anything cooler than that is is labeled 'warming' or 'keep warm'.


I was wondering if anyone knew of a good/decent electric skillet that has the numbers down to at least 140 so that I could replicate his recipe. I was reading after watching the episode and apparently many types of fish are meant to be poached at 140 degrees F so it seems like it would be a worthwhile investment if I could find one.


Thanks for any help.

I tried this recipe and what worked for me and my electric skillet was putting it on about 220 to 230 before I could get the thermometer to reach 140 degrees. I think you'll find that somewhere between 200 and 230 on your dial will allow you to keep the temperature of the milk at around 140 to 145. At least on my little inexpensive electric skillet that works for me.

I also use condensed milk instead of evaporated milk. It was by mistake. I grabbed the wrong can. But if you really like a nice sweet fish you can't go wrong with the condensed milk. I did cut it with a can of condensed milk and a can of water. Made the rest of it exactly the same way and it came out fantastic. But it was sweet!

Hope this helps.
 
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