Did I waste my money? Thermometer...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

lady_brewer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
428
Reaction score
3
Location
Newfoundland, Canada
So I was at walmart today and bought http://www.taylorusa.com/gourmet-digital-cooking-thermometer-timer.html ($20) after getting all excited about how great it would be to read temps with things sealed and what-not. Now I am sort-of thinking that maybe I should have ran that idea by somebody first. Any body see issues with using this for mash/ sparge temps etc?

I did see Bobby M's thread about waterproofing them, as getting the cord wet throws them off... any other thoughts?

Thanks!
 
As you have already discovered, you need to waterproof it or otherwise take care to not get water inside the sheath. I use something similar and a separate timer. You have it combined in one item. Sounds like no problem IMHO.
 
I had that same one. I waterproofed mine, but it still ended up crapping out after 3-4 batches. I replaced it with a bling-bling Thermapen, probably my best brewing-related purchase to date. I use that thing all the time, not just for brewing, and it's super fast and accurate. <3 Thermapen
 
I have one similar. Mine has an temperature alarm. I loved it for heating strike and sparge water. I could set the alarm and not forget about checking and accidentaly overheat. I used a small spring clamp to hold the probe just in the water. I don't use it much now though because I built my electric MLT.

Do be careful about getting the probe wet! I mashed a batch at 135 once because I didn't realize it was off. I always take temps with several thermos now just to be sure.
 
Thanks for the info... at some point I may get the really cool stuff, but for now I am just collecting the supplies needed for starting AG. Don't want to buy stuff that is cheap and doesn't work, but stuff that may have to be replaced is okay.

I thought about buying a back-up just in case as well... as we all know stuff can go wrong mid-brew and then you get stuck, or make one hour trips to try and get back on track in the middle of things...
 
Thanks for the info... at some point I may get the really cool stuff, but for now I am just collecting the supplies needed for starting AG. Don't want to buy stuff that is cheap and doesn't work, but stuff that may have to be replaced is okay.

I thought about buying a back-up just in case as well... as we all know stuff can go wrong mid-brew and then you get stuck, or make one hour trips to try and get back on track in the middle of things...

I have been doing AG for a few months now. I think I have 5 different thermos. They are all cheapos but it is nice to have a few to compare with. I seem to use the long meat thermos with the dial face most. I have a small hole drilled in all my pot lids and the lid on my MLT that makes it easy to move them around as needed.
 
I have the same thermo and have been struggling with it lately. I have been using it to monitor my strike water and it beeps when I hit my temps. Well I go ahead and mash in just to find out that my glass floating thermo says I am 8 deg to hot. Crap, so I throw the probe to the digital in there and it is just right.

I have calibrated both of them before but the digital must have gotten wet (did not know to waterproof). Seeing this thread kind of explains the issue.

Anyone have any similar problems from not waterproofing? Any way to fix it or is it just toast?
 
Don't bother with all the waterproofing, just never let the cord get wet. You only really read at the tip, so just use that. Think of it like a dial thermometer, you wouldn't just toss the whole thermometer into the wort! Just get the tip in there. If you need to hold it in place use something like a clothespin.

I've been successfully using your standard cheap digital thermometer for ages this way.

PS: Do test your calibration between brews! Crushed ice in water ~=32 and then boiling water after ~=212.
 
That's like saying, don't bother with seatbelts, just don't crash.

While there are better units out there, this one is fine once you find out whether it reads a couple degrees hot or cold. Do the icewater test and then do the boiling water test. I have two of these and one reads 4F low and the other 2F low. I wrote +4 and +2 on each with a sharpie so I know which is which.

I actually overheated one of the cases so bad that a capacitor popped and blew a hole through the molten plastic. It still works.

The timer and temp alarm is a nice feature.
 
Mine was a $10 Walmart special. I bought 2, one for my HLT and one for my MLT. Oddly enough these ones came with what seems like a silicon coating already on the wire! They are both accurate. The one on the MLT kept falling off and hitting the ground several times the first time I used them during brewing, but still continues to work! So whatever the price, as long as you feel it's working for you...it's fine. You can always upgrade, but I don't think you have to. Here's my thermometers mounted...Click pics to see...

the HLT...

ESB_HLT_whole.jpg

and the MLT...

ESB_mash_tun_thermometer_cu.jpg
 
Thanks! I did like the alarm thing, since watching water heat up is not something I really want to obsess about while brewing. Although I don't plan to walk too far away from my first batch, I would eventually (ie read on the second) like to multi-task while brewing.

I do plan to get the hubby to drill a hole in the lid so that I can just have it dip so far for most readings, but at the same time haven't yet checked how high my water will be compared to how long the stick is. Even still I figure that waterproofing saves me two things

1. Posting about what an idiot I was for ruining my $20 therm by dropping it into my wort/ primary/ the toilet (j/k on the last, I don't brew/ferment in the bathroom, so this isn't a worry.)
2. Buying a new thermometer before I get geeky and want a better one just 'cause.

I will also take the time to calibrate it. (ie check how high/ low it reads vs reality.)

Thanks again!
 
1. Posting about what an idiot I was for ruining my $20 therm by dropping it into my wort/ primary/ the toilet (j/k on the last, I don't brew/ferment in the bathroom, so this isn't a worry.)
Thanks again!

As long as you dont drop the whole thing in liquid, you can dry out the probe/cable in the oven as I suggested earlier. There is a good thread here, search it (i'm too lazy to give the link). I did this several times with mine and brought it back to life!
 
Don't bother with all the waterproofing, just never let the cord get wet. You only really read at the tip, so just use that. Think of it like a dial thermometer, you wouldn't just toss the whole thermometer into the wort! Just get the tip in there. If you need to hold it in place use something like a clothespin.

I was very careful to not get more than the tip submerged in mine. But the humidity of my mash tun was apparently enough to fubar mine.
 
Mine crapped out after awhile, even with the waterproof job. Too many brews & roasted meats did it in. If you can afford to, it always works out to buy better from the start. Nothing worse than mashing 20 degrees off because of some moisture in the probe wiring.
 
Well, here's the thing. If you plan to keep using it in the oven, you have to use 100% silicone tubing, not the stuff at the pet shop labeled silicone. I melted that crap all over a ham in the oven once.
 
I have the Polder unit. Looks the same sort of but is supposed to be water resistant.

It's got a timer and a heat limit alarm too, both are useful Functions


Taylor has disappointed me with their other (probe pocket type) thermometers. They made 'em so cheaply that a little ambient humidity (steam above a boiling volume) will make them useless.

If I was worried about water getting onto the sheathing I'd think about using silicone sealant and a length of vinyl tubing that just fit over the sheath and probe.
 
The info with the therm does mention "drying it off" if it gets wet, but not sure if you can rescue it.

FYI the waterproofing thread is https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/remote-probe-thermometer-wort-proofing-26905/.

i've dipped the end of mine into a mash and then dried it off holding it in the flame from the turkey fryer.

and as for the dials being more reliable i was having problems hitting my njmbers when i bought my 1st digital. turned out the dial was almost 20 degrees off.
 
I've got two of the yellow taylor pocket digitals and they are waterproof and recalibratable. I've even dropped one into my boiling wort, retrieved it 5 minutes later and it was still working fine. It was $15 instead of the cheaper one at $7.
 
Back
Top