Another thread discusses the doneness of grilled burgers (juices run clear). I never check the doneness of my burgers (or chicken or pork chops), because I keep track of how long I’ve cooked them. And, the way I grill (generally removing from the hottest heat for the last portion) there us usually at least a 5 minute window within which the meat will be done enough but not too done.
Same holds for veggies. Broccoli on the stove is 10-12 min, with the burner turned off after 3-4. Why would i need to stick a fork in it?
Pasta, I’ve never found the packages to lie.
Whenever anyone suggests some test for doneness, or comments on the difficulty of cooking something to the correct doneness, I’m always reminded of the line from My Cousin Vinnie (paraphrased) “Do the laws of physics apply in your kitchen?”
I should clarify, I’m a VERY basic cook, but I OFTEN get compliments about the results. And I imagine that there are certain things - like baking, where time does vary greatly.
Cooking at it’s basic level is time and heat. So if you had absolute prefect control over heat, then just going off time would be easy. But no one has absolute perfect control over heat. Everything from thickness of the food, quality of the heat source, type of material in the cooking vessel has an impact. So something that takes 5 minutes on one stove might take six minutes on a seemingly identical stove.
That being said, some food is more forgiving than other. A pot roast won’t have a difference five minutes one way or another. An over-easy egg will.
Boiling water has a built in temperature gauge (unless you live at altitude) - it’s always going to boil at 212 F. Ovens and grills are all different. Once you get used to cooking a specific item on a specific stove/oven you can use time. Until then you have to check.
If it goes in the oven, I rely more on time. I do test for doneness chicken breast or other thick cuts of meat with a meat thermometer. I’ve had recipes that claim the chicken will be done in 20 minutes and had to cook them for 30 or 40 before the inner temp reached 165.
Stovetop, I use gas. If a recipe says medium high, I just have to guess what that is. There are no marks. My mom’s electric stove has low, medium, medium high, and high. Gas, you just get it lit and adjust the flame to what you think the recipe maker means.
Time is a guideline for when you expect something for something to be done. My estimation of doneness, whether through physical cues or using a thermometer (the latter being more recent for me) is the final arbiter. Even in my own kitchen, where I know my oven, the same cut of meat can cook up to my preferred level of doneness in slightly different times. It’s not an issue for me so much with thinner cuts, but with roasts, I find a lot of variation within the same cut and weight. The shape plays a factor that is usually not accounted for, and I suspect the amount of marbling and connective tissue in the meat might make some sort of difference. And when it comes to stews and stuff like pulled pork or brisket, I do it all by feel. When the meat starts to feel soft and jiggly to me, that’s when it’s getting close. It doesn’t matter what the thermometer says (although I may check it, as a data point. I personally find about a 10 degree spread on when pulled pork gets to that jiggly stage, from 192-202.)
I use thermometers for most meats, and for custards. Meats are not forgiving*, and pulykamell listed just some of the things that can affect cooking time. Even the temperature at which one rests the meat can affect just how much carryover cooking occurs.
Items in boiling water, like pasta, are different. At sea level, everyone cooks pasta at the same temperature regardless of stovetop, so boxes can give accurate times.
*Slow-cooked BBQ and stews are more forgiving than any type of roast or steak, but even they can be cooked too long.
Grits can be cooked by time, meat cannot unless you don’t care how it comes out. But even with grits if you lower the heat enough it takes more cooking time to get them right.
And baking requires both time and temperature control.
Cooking is a chemical process, some of them are extremely simple like just mixing a measured amount of one substance in a measured amount of water, some of them complex like making nitroglycerin and you don’t want to do get it wrong.
Doneness is the only thing that counts. Get used to monitoring your food in the kitchen, pay attention and learn to tell when its done.
Me, I just stick the end of a sharp pointed knife three quarters through, and then touch my tongue with the tip of the kinfe, and judge how hot it is in there.
Most recipes call for overdone meat, the tyranny of the nannies at USDA… When fish separates, it is over-done. Get it off the heat while there is still la bit of moisture between the layers. Pork in the USA is now safe to eat when undercooked, when it is still wonderfully juicy. There is no risk of trichinosis in modern commercial pork processing.
Your method may work for you, but others may not want to conform to those harsh rules. You may hit the nail on the head 95% of the time, but never hit it out of the park, and if you so happen to do so never do so with any reason.
Your methods are crude to say the least. Sort of a one size fits all. It does work most of the time, but there is a much better way.
Sometimes you have to keep an eye on food to know when it’s cooked. For example, stirring white sauce until it’s thickened enough or simmering rice until the water’s been absorbed.
I was responding to the OP, your post seemed a lot more human as I am not a robot. But usually texture, or ‘bendiness’ of the meat will be my tell tale signal when it is done. Also polking on occasion to see the color of the juices, or even cutting, but those rarely.