How do I know when my food is perfectly cooked?

YOU have to make the decisions about when to increase or decrease the heat and about when things are cooked based on the information the thermometer gives. In most cases, you are looking for the highest temperature reached in the thickest part of the food to assess if the food is cooked.

While different people like their meat or other food cooked to different levels of 'doneness', here is a chart of chef-recommended temperatures to get you started.