Best digital thermometer

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JWest

JWest

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For you experienced AG brewers, do you have any suggestions on good digital thermometers that you use for measuring strike water, mash temps, sparge water, etc.?

Thanks...
 
Thermoworks Thermapen. Awesome, works great for brewing (and for BBQ, meats, sauces, etc.). Pricey, but works perfectly for brewing!
 
+1 to the Thermapen. Best.Damn.Investment.EVAR. I use it everywhere. Not just brewing, but cooking, etc. You'll never have to buy another portable thermometer ever.
 
It's probably a little premature, but CDN is coming out with their thermapen competition in mid April. As far as I can tell, it's a direct copy but it's waterproof rather than splash proof and it will absolutely be cheaper. I should have my first shipment 3rd week of April and I think it will be priced around $60 give or take.
 
Awesome Bobby.. had no idea they were doing that.

I've had my Thermapen for about 5 years and abuse the hell out of it. I've even dropped it into my HLT. After drying it out without the batteries in it the thing fired right back up. I can definitely see where a waterproof version would be a big deal for me.

Though I have to tell you given the abuse I've put my thermapen through I can't imagine retiring it until it blows up :)
 
Bobby_M said:
It's probably a little premature, but CDN is coming out with their thermapen competition in mid April. As far as I can tell, it's a direct copy but it's waterproof rather than splash proof and it will absolutely be cheaper. I should have my first shipment 3rd week of April and I think it will be priced around $60 give or take.
Click to expand...

Bah! My splash proof thermapen arrived last week!
 
I'm not making any argument at all that the thermapen isn't awesome. I'm sure it is. I'm just happy that there may be an equal or better option coming for less. Maybe they'll drop the price to compete. We all win. Once I get my hands on the CDN and verify that it's great, I'll pony up for the Thermapen to be sure they are on par before I advertise it as a thermapen killer.
 
Call me crazy, but I got a good deal on eBay for a Fluke 51-2 digital thermometer. It's pretty slick, although not as convenient as a 1-piece unit:

Fluke 51-2
 
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I'm a little late to contribute here but I've bought one from the company that makes thermopen:

http://thermoworks.com/

I didn't go with the pen because I wanted one like the cheap-o kitchen ones that I could toss a prob in. So my brewing friend and I each got:

http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html
It's the MTC model

and then we each got the long waterproof probe with it:

http://thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_wire.html
It's the Model: 113-372/373/375-T

It's almost a little too long but I didn't want to end up too short. Not much difference in price for the long one anyways.

I called them up to ask about if this works for me in a mash tun. I asked my sales person if this was the correct thing to order for an all grain brewer with grain, 170 degree, sit in water, etc. I heard her ask the head sales guy and I could over heard him say "Yep, that is the combo the brewers use who put it into their big grain tub, no problem". The probe can be used to test the temp in a dish washer and the hand held part is mostly water proof. We've made 30 batches of beer over the last year with it, rain or shine, no problems and the battery is still fine. I suspect the handheld part into boiling water it wouldn't turn out so well but I've certainly gotten it wet. I would highly recommend it.

I got sick of using the $15 kitchen ones from walmart to have them die or be off by 10 degrees after 2 batches. This is money well spent IMO. Hopefully this helps somebody else.
 
Just ordered thermometer based off your recommendation sniperd. I have had the same problems with thermometers being used a few times during BBQ and then being off. I will see how this one works, might also get another one for my Big Green Egg...

Thanks for the recommendation.
 
Awesome, you'll really like it. We did have a 'problem' recently. All of a sudden one of our thermometers just started reading 400, 22, 650, etc. every few seconds. Oooohh no here we go..

So I called them up and the guy was pretty surprised I had a problem. It was under warranty so he said I could certainly send it back but he wanted me to try a few things. He had me take a paper clip and plug it into the mtc, where the probe plugs in. That read just fine so he said it was something with the probe. He then had me unscrew these 2 little screw on the probe and right away I noticed one was very loose.

I opened it up and a wire had come loose on the probe (the cable part) so I just put it back and tightened it up. Plugged it in and it was fine.

I'm a very happy customer.
 
The thermometer is working very well! I use it for both BBQ and brewing...I also have a thermopen that I use too, and they are generally like 2 degrees off. But the thermopen you suggested was right on 212 when I boil water.
 
Awesome. I'm so glad I could help somebody. We probably went through 4 different cheap-o $10-$15 kitchen ones. We had one day where 2 gave us different readings (off by 20) so we boiled some water (since that is 212) and put them in to see which was right. One read 222 and the other was 202... that's when I went on the hunt for whatever would be the best.

We just had to take the plunge and spend the cash and hope for the best, I'm glad it's worked out for all of us.
 
You can't go wrong with a Thermapen! They are also great for calibrating your Auberin, Love, or Johnson temp controllers, or any other thermometer for serious accuracy. Bobby let us know how that new product stacks up!

John
 
I have the Thermoworks RT301WA ( http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt301wa.html ). Its cheap at $19 but its super fast (5-6 secs temp reading) and accurate to within 0.9ºF up to 212ºF. Best of all it's waterproof since my friend dropped it in the mash during the last brewday. It floats slightly btw!

I think its a great option if you can't afford the thermapen. Thermoworks has a great line of low cost options including some with a 18" or 24" long probe! http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/
 
I've owned a few other ones that always gave up on me after a couple years, here are the 3 I own right now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GD1WHU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007CLVC98/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AQL25/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

While I like all 3, the Taylor (first link I posted), is by far the best digital thermometer I've ever owned, I'm not saying it's the best out there but for the money it's a heck of a buy. It is the one I use for brewing. Oven style thermometers are my favorite, they are very versatile and you can set your target temperature and walk away. The Taylor has a timer built in which comes in handy, especially when brewing. I can stick the probe in my mash tun and leave it there, don't have to open the lid to check temps. I can stick the probe in my brew pot when heating strike water and set the temp alarm, and when it hits the temp, "beep beep", done!
 
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Bobby_M said:
I'm not making any argument at all that the thermapen isn't awesome. I'm sure it is. I'm just happy that there may be an equal or better option coming for less. Maybe they'll drop the price to compete. We all win. Once I get my hands on the CDN and verify that it's great, I'll pony up for the Thermapen to be sure they are on par before I advertise it as a thermapen killer.
Click to expand...

Hey Bobby,
Is this still in the works?
 
The first couple units I got as samples for testing when they first came out had either a design or manufacturing flaw that made it the slowest digital thermometer I've ever seen. That's pretty bad considering that the package said "super fast 3 second reading". Over the next few months, they worked on it and I received a sample recently that does appear to be performing to spec. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to really put it through its paces. I also think I've been procrastinating because I'm not sure it is going to have a real market. You have your camp that believes the thermapen is the only thermometer worth spending money on and the $96 price tag is just an inconvenience. For those who think it's absolutely insane to spend that kind of money on a thermometer, the CDN DTQ450 is a clear winner for under $20. I don't believe there is a unit out there for $40 that is twice as good as the DTQ. In fact, I think it's the best you can do until you're willing to spend $96.

Ok, now the folding unit from CDN would be priced retail around $70 if I do start selling it. I'm not a psychologist but I'm speculating that at that price point, most people would be willing to spend the extra $26 for the thermapen based purely on how many people promote it as the best you can do. For sure I need to spend more time with the CDN to get a full appreciation of how it stacks up. From now on, I'll use them in pairs when I'm brewing, grilling or whatever.
 
I forgot to mention that if it does indeed keep up blow for blow, the lower price AND some other convenience features may be enough... For example, it does have an on/off button and the thermapen's probe out on/auto off feature annoys me. It does have back lighting if you're brewing in dusk/night outside. It does have a min/max feature. Of course, none of it matters if the performance is questionable... I'll see about that.
 
ScottSingleton said:
+1 to the Thermapen. Best.Damn.Investment.EVAR. I use it everywhere. Not just brewing, but cooking, etc. You'll never have to buy another portable thermometer ever.
Click to expand...

4th? it works great and fast. Think of how much time, money and beer has been lost to bad thermometers!!!
 
sniperd said:
I'm a little late to contribute here but I've bought one from the company that makes thermopen:

http://thermoworks.com/

I didn't go with the pen because I wanted one like the cheap-o kitchen ones that I could toss a prob in. So my brewing friend and I each got:

http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html
It's the MTC model

and then we each got the long waterproof probe with it:

http://thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_wire.html
It's the Model: 113-372/373/375-T

It's almost a little too long but I didn't want to end up too short. Not much difference in price for the long one anyways.

I called them up to ask about if this works for me in a mash tun. I asked my sales person if this was the correct thing to order for an all grain brewer with grain, 170 degree, sit in water, etc. I heard her ask the head sales guy and I could over heard him say "Yep, that is the combo the brewers use who put it into their big grain tub, no problem". The probe can be used to test the temp in a dish washer and the hand held part is mostly water proof. We've made 30 batches of beer over the last year with it, rain or shine, no problems and the battery is still fine. I suspect the handheld part into boiling water it wouldn't turn out so well but I've certainly gotten it wet. I would highly recommend it.

I got sick of using the $15 kitchen ones from walmart to have them die or be off by 10 degrees after 2 batches. This is money well spent IMO. Hopefully this helps somebody else.
Click to expand...

Just throwing an update in here. We are a year later, 60 more brews, and now we have 3 of these probes. 2 with 6 foot cables and 1 with a shorty cable. Brew day is usually 2 or 3 batches going at the same time. All probes work perfectly, never a problem, and they have all gotten wet. Batteries are still good too (they just take a little watch battery so no big deal for when it does go). I'm extremely pleased with our purchases and can't recommend these highly enough.

We had 1 'incident' where the numbers were reading 400 degrees, then 10 degrees and bouncing all over. I called the company and told them something was wrong, he asked me to unscrewed the backing of the wire probe connector and make sure the wires were in tight, and told me how to make a loop back to test the prob itself (just bend a paper clip). I sort of didn't want to bother and told him I'd like to just exchange it, it was funny. He said, "Sure, no problem, let me look up how to do that..." While I was waiting I did what he suggest and yep, the wire inside under a loose screw had pulled out. So I just pushed it back in, tightened the screw and it worked. He got back on the phone, "Sorry about that, In the time I've worked here I've never had anybody make a warranty claim, I had to look up what to do, these things never go bad.." But since I had it fixed, clearly I didn't need to exchange it. We had a good laugh, they are very helpful.

If we just owned 1, we'd go with the 6 foot cable. The shorty works most of the time but often enough the table we use isn't close enough to the kettle or mash tun and the extra length is worth it, even if it does get a little tangled sometimes.
 
sniperd said:
Just throwing an update in here. We are a year later, 60 more brews, and now we have 3 of these probes. 2 with 6 foot cables and 1 with a shorty cable. Brew day is usually 2 or 3 batches going at the same time. All probes work perfectly, never a problem, and they have all gotten wet. Batteries are still good too (they just take a little watch battery so no big deal for when it does go). I'm extremely pleased with our purchases and can't recommend these highly enough.

We had 1 'incident' where the numbers were reading 400 degrees, then 10 degrees and bouncing all over. I called the company and told them something was wrong, he asked me to unscrewed the backing of the wire probe connector and make sure the wires were in tight, and told me how to make a loop back to test the prob itself (just bend a paper clip). I sort of didn't want to bother and told him I'd like to just exchange it, it was funny. He said, "Sure, no problem, let me look up how to do that..." While I was waiting I did what he suggest and yep, the wire inside under a loose screw had pulled out. So I just pushed it back in, tightened the screw and it worked. He got back on the phone, "Sorry about that, In the time I've worked here I've never had anybody make a warranty claim, I had to look up what to do, these things never go bad.." But since I had it fixed, clearly I didn't need to exchange it. We had a good laugh, they are very helpful.

If we just owned 1, we'd go with the 6 foot cable. The shorty works most of the time but often enough the table we use isn't close enough to the kettle or mash tun and the extra length is worth it, even if it does get a little tangled sometimes.
Click to expand...

With a review like that, this is definitely going on my Christmas list. Like many here, I have a great appreciation for high quality products and customer service, even if they cost a little more. Why did you go with that particular probe? It looks like the Heavy Duty one (3rd one down) is also waterproof, is less expensive, and gives faster and more accurate readings.
 
I don't know if the heavy duty one is waterproof. That might have been what I was originally going to buy but I know when I called in they told me to go with the PTFE/FEP TIP PROBES 113-372/373/375-T one as it's made to be put into a dishwasher, so it would figure that a mash tun or kettle would be in that same ball park. The one I bought I can also put in the mash tun and close the lid right on the probe and it's fine, it's a pretty thin wire. You'll love this setup, I can't praise it highly enough vs the cheap thermometers. They do have a steep cost but it's well worth it to hit that mash temp, monitor for heat break/boil over, and monitor chilling.

Oh, and one selling point (that can help with the wife/husband) is you can just change the probe out for a sharp pointed one. So you can use this to check internal temps on meats or the Thanksgiving turkey.
 
sniperd said:
You'll love this setup, I can't praise it highly enough vs the cheap thermometers. They do have a steep cost but it's well worth it to hit that mash temp, monitor for heat break/boil over, and monitor chilling.
Click to expand...
I second this. I have the same setup. It's very convenient to just leave the probe in the mash or pot to monitor temperatures, and I don't have to worry about its accuracy.

Throw in the "Low-cost Oven Cooking Probe" for $30, and you have a really accurate meat thermometer, too.
 
Doed said:
I have the same Thermoworks high temp waterproof probe that sniperd has but I have the Therma K thermometer.
Click to expand...

I have not replaced the batteries in my ThermaK yet and it is still going strong. The 39" waterproof temperature probe still looks like new. My best guess on how many batches would be about 20 - 25 in the year since I wrote the above post.

EDIT: I went back through my notes and it has been 20 batches.
 
Just a follow up on a post from a long long time ago :)

We've got 3 of these now:
http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html
The MTC model.

Two with the long probes and one with the short. In 2 years we have replaced two batteries and these things are ROCK SOLID. The only very small issue we have had is it is possible to pull on the probe too hard and make the connections pull out, then you just get crazy readings. Stuff like -100F then 450F. So you know something is wrong. It's easy to fix with a screw driver by opening the probe, pushing the wire back in, and closing up the probe.

It is a very solid product though, we've used it in the winter, summer, snow and rain. Dropped the handheld part on the ground and dropped it into water and it works great. We've gotten the probe cable pretty close to the flame from the burner and it was ok (got a little black but caught it before the plastic melted).

In any event, these things are made to last and are money well spent.
 
sniperd said:
Just a follow up on a post from a long long time ago :)

We've got 3 of these now:
http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html
The MTC model.

Two with the long probes and one with the short. In 2 years we have replaced two batteries and these things are ROCK SOLID. The only very small issue we have had is it is possible to pull on the probe too hard and make the connections pull out, then you just get crazy readings. Stuff like -100F then 450F. So you know something is wrong. It's easy to fix with a screw driver by opening the probe, pushing the wire back in, and closing up the probe.

It is a very solid product though, we've used it in the winter, summer, snow and rain. Dropped the handheld part on the ground and dropped it into water and it works great. We've gotten the probe cable pretty close to the flame from the burner and it was ok (got a little black but caught it before the plastic melted).

In any event, these things are made to last and are money well spent.
Click to expand...

It looks like these are the best investment of the group with them being pretty accurate. I was planning on having two probes, one for the mash tun and one for the boil kettle. Now, do you submerge the probe in the boil or just above the boil? I just want to make sure I'm getting accurate readings on these.

Thanks for the updates.
 
You can throw the probe (the long yellow cable) directly into the water or mash tun. One of the uses for this thing is to measure and calibrate an oven or a dishwasher, so you know it can withstand a beating! The prob plugs into one of these:

http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html

Since we own 3 of these we have done tests of putting all 3 into boiling water and they all read within 1 degree of each other, so they are very accurate.

The only things to keep in mind is if the probe is touching the bottom of the kettle it might read 1 or 2 degrees higher as it could be picking up the temp of the metal, so we have noticed during boil if we throw a prob in it will read 213 or 214 sometimes if the prob is laying on the bottom.

Also in your mash tun you'll notice that the edges of the mash tun are cooler than the middle. We'll.. that's what we have found to be the case. Kind of neat.

On probably brew 60 with these things, and I'd say you have to replace they battery about every 18 months? They are little cheap watch batteries that you can get anywhere for a $1 or so.

It's a great tool, one of the best things we have bought for brewing.
 
I also use type K thermocouples, they are cheap and really accurate. You can get long probes and reader on the amazons for like $20 total.
 
I too have a thermoworks MTC with a probe and then the yellow wire that just sits in the mash tun. It works great but the thermapen does take slightly faster readings from the probe, 1 second vs 2 seconds...

For brewing I think the MTC is the way to go.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I will grab one of these with two probes; one for the mash tun and one for the kettle
 
Great read. I was in the market for getting a nice probe. Had been looking at the Thermopen as it seems highly recommended. Stuck with the company but went the MTC route as many here have suggested. Got the MTC, the recommended cable/probe along with a regular probe that is the same one on the Thermopen and gives faster readings then cable version. Nice being able to keep one main component (MTC) and multiple options with other probes without dumping a large chunk for another dedicated unit.
 
Thanks for the suggestions on a digital thermometer. Just a heads up (maybe they always do this but) the website suggested is having a 15% off sale through the end of today and only 3.99 shipping so I was able to get the thermometer and probe suggested for around $50. Im glad i finally pulled the trigger on a decent thermometer after ruining many cheap thermometers from the big box stores.
 
I use a Thermoworks ChefAlarm. Very accurate, calibratable, a little slower than the Thermapen, but has timers and alarms and heat proof remote probe. I upgraded to the 12" professional probe.

And I have a cheaper Taylor hand held that is well constructed, and it's about 1° C different than the ChefAlarm. I think it's called a weekend warrior or something and is like $20-ish. Its been through hell and still works great.
 

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