Opinions on Thermometer

IrregularPulse · May 18, 2009

Been looking ofr a Thermometer for a Hwile now. Currently using my Fluke meter with Temp probe. Works good but would like a smaller Brew dedicated Thermometer. Found this at Lowes for 20 bucks.

MAN THAT'S A HUGE PICTURE!!

pizzaman · May 18, 2009

From the reviews on Lowes.com:

Lowes's Customer from TX - May. 12 said:
"Proceed with caution when buying these digital thermometers. I have bought two different types from Lowes and they ceased working after a short time. KEEP YOUR RECEIPT!"

Lowes's Customer - May. 17 said:
"I bought this to use with my smoker and was very disappointed. I stuck the probe into the meat and within a few minutes the probe was registering temperatures much higher than the meat. I can only guess the probe was absorbing heat from the air too. Since it was no use as a meat thermometer, I thought I could use it to measure the temperature inside the smoker until I found out that readings in excess of 212F were displayed as "Hi." Wish I had kept the package so I could return it, but alas this piece of junk will just have to sit in a drawer. My advice: spend the extra cash and buy a worthwhile thermometer."

Bobby_M · May 18, 2009

I like to mash at medium rare.

Catt22 · May 18, 2009

It will work, but I believe that it has the braided wire type probe which you must keep dry or it will short out and give you very erratic readings. This can be avoided by waterproofing the probe. There's a thread or two showing how to do this. Accuracy may be another issue. Check it with your Fluke meter and see where it's at. You may not be able to calibrate it, but if it's off any you might only need to know by how much and adjust the readings accordingly.

TwoHeadsBrewing · May 18, 2009

Bobby_M said:
I like to mash at medium rare.

Ditto, and mash out at Poultry! I actually have a similar thermometer from Lowe's, and I believe it is the predecessor of this model. Works great, but I make sure to check it against some normal lab thermometers once every couple brews. I don't expect much out of at sub $20 thermo...but it does the trick.

springer · May 18, 2009

I didnt have that exact one but I went threw 3 Taylor units before buying a thermometer with a k-probe stay with what your using

Bobby_M · May 18, 2009

The $15 equivalent at Walmart was all over the place. I had one read 4F high through the whole range and another that was 1-5F off depending on the temp.

Sean · May 18, 2009

Why not go with a glass floating Thermo, with lead BBs, and mercury in it??

Sawdustguy · May 18, 2009

Buy a Thermopen and be done with it. They are the most reliable, accurate and fastest thermometers you can buy for under $100. They are having a special on them now because they are coming out with a waterproorf model. I use mine for competitive BBQ and Homebrewing. They cost a little more but it could be the last one you ever buy. Here is the URL:

ThermoWorks - Home of the Original Super-Fast Thermapen!

stoutaholic · May 18, 2009

See this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/recomend-digital-thermometer-116261/

It is kind of old, but Evan, who apparently has researched this topic, seems to have had success using this probe: model #113-372-T

It is heat and waterproof, so you can just drop it right into your mash, HLT, or boil kettle.

If you buy the probe, you can then buy pretty much any digital thermometer that accepts a Type K thermocouple probe.

jldc · May 18, 2009

Sawdustguy said:
Buy a Thermopen and be done with it. They are the most reliable, accurate and fastest thermometers you can buy for under $100. They are having a special on them now because they are coming out with a waterproorf model. I use mine for competitive BBQ and Homebrewing. They cost a little more but it could be the last one you ever buy.

+1.

Cheap digital thermometers are just that: cheap. And unreliable.

Edit: also look at the therma-3 for $79.

LooyvilleLarry · May 18, 2009

For just a couple of bucks more, get this $25 one from Cole-Palmer.

Also, the $20 CDN from AMAZON is unique that it can be adjusted.

IrregularPulse · May 19, 2009

Sawdustguy said:
Buy a Thermopen and be done with it. They are the most reliable, accurate and fastest thermometers you can buy for under $100. They are having a special on them now because they are coming out with a waterproorf model. I use mine for competitive BBQ and Homebrewing. They cost a little more but it could be the last one you ever buy. Here is the URL:

ThermoWorks - Home of the Original Super-Fast Thermapen!

jldc said:
+1.

Cheap digital thermometers are just that: cheap. And unreliable.

Edit: also look at the therma-3 for $79.

Where I would love to pick up a thermometer like this, I can't see paying 70-80 for one right now. I have other brew purchases more imortant. My fluke is VERY accurate and useable for now, just a bit annoying.

jldc · May 19, 2009

IrregularPulse said:
Where I would love to pick up a thermometer like this, I can't see paying 70-80 for one right now. I have other brew purchases more imortant. My fluke is VERY accurate and useable for now, just a bit annoying.

I understand the reluctance to spend $80+ on something that it seems can be bought for $20, and it is your budget, but I bought at least 3 unreliable digitals at about $15-$20 each before I settled on the thermapen. Mash temps are pretty important, so if you trust the accuracy of your current thermometer, go with it.

L

Whiskey · May 19, 2009

I bought a cheapy $17 one at Target a few months ago, it has a nice long silicon coated probe wire. I can not remember the brand, but it has the standard timer and "set temp" So far it has been within +/- 1 degree, at least according to my ratty floating thermometer.

Sean · May 19, 2009

Digital Waterproof Pocket Thermometer, -40-450°F, 4-5/8 Stem DFP450W-0 | Thermometers Timers - Wasserstrom

Cooper thermometers are very widely used in food service. This digital looks cool, though I use the $7 dial thermo. You have to keep it calibrated. I think simple is sometimes better.

Ryno · May 20, 2009

This one has been very reliable and accurate. Just dont buy it from sciencelab.com (they have terrible customer service if you can ever get through on the phone) Thermometers - NIST Traceable® Water-Proof Thermometer °F/°C Control Company 4038 4039 4339 :rockin::rockin: Oh and its certifide if that means anything ....or maybe it's bonifide??

IrregularPulse · May 20, 2009

jldc said:
I understand the reluctance to spend $80+ on something that it seems can be bought for $20, and it is your budget, but I bought at least 3 unreliable digitals at about $15-$20 each before I settled on the thermapen. Mash temps are pretty important, so if you trust the accuracy of your current thermometer, go with it.
Yeah I have no problem trusting a FLUKE, Pretty well know name. I'll stick with it till the rest of my system comes together..

L

Ryno said:
This one has been very reliable and accurate. Just dont buy it from sciencelab.com (they have terrible customer service if you can ever get through on the phone) Thermometers - NIST Traceable® Water-Proof Thermometer °F/°C Control Company 4038 4039 4339 :rockin::rockin: Oh and its certifide if that means anything ....or maybe it's bonifide??

That looks pretty good.

LooyvilleLarry · May 20, 2009

Ryno said:
This one has been very reliable and accurate. Just dont buy it from sciencelab.com (they have terrible customer service if you can ever get through on the phone) Thermometers - NIST Traceable® Water-Proof Thermometer °F/°C Control Company 4038 4039 4339 :rockin::rockin: Oh and its certifide if that means anything ....or maybe it's bonifide??

I have/had this one.

It has a 10Ft cord. Yeah that is long, especially on a brew rig - but easy enough to wrap up.

You cannot disconnect the probe from the display.
The display is NOT water proof, so if your probe is going to be permanently installed in your MLT, be careful when washing it out. That is why I HAD one.

Oh yeah, and the battery cover sucks.

My new one is listed above, and I'll have multiple probes just switch as necessary.

AnOldUR · May 20, 2009

I have a real collection of thermometers, but the CDN Proaccurate is the one I use and trust the most. Waterproof, fast, accurate, recalibratable, and it's cheap compared to the others.

http://www.cdn-timeandtemp.com/pdf/products/DTQ450en.pdf

Got mine from Amazon.com

springer · May 20, 2009

Ryno said:
This one has been very reliable and accurate. Just dont buy it from sciencelab.com (they have terrible customer service if you can ever get through on the phone) Thermometers - NIST Traceable® Water-Proof Thermometer °F/°C Control Company 4038 4039 4339 :rockin::rockin: Oh and its certifide if that means anything ....or maybe it's bonifide??

Ask Evan! about these thermometers POS

stoutaholic · May 20, 2009

+1 on ask Evan. His previous post was very helpful.

I think the main thing is to get a thermometer with a detachable thermocouple probe. Worry about whether the probe is waterproof / high-temperature rated, not whether the thermometer itself is. Then it should be pretty easy to keep the thermometer itself out of harm's way if you have a long enough thermocouple. If any piece of the thermometer is likely to be damaged it is the probe. If it is not detachable, and you damage it, then you have to buy an new thermometer. I've accidentally melted a thermocouple before. Also, detachable probes give you more flexibility with how you use your thermometer. You could use an NPT pipe plug probe for one application, a simple immersion probe for another.

SPLASTiK · May 20, 2009

Ryno said:
This one has been very reliable and accurate. Just dont buy it from sciencelab.com (they have terrible customer service if you can ever get through on the phone) Thermometers - NIST Traceable® Water-Proof Thermometer °F/°C Control Company 4038 4039 4339 :rockin::rockin: Oh and its certifide if that means anything ....or maybe it's bonifide??

I had that one but was using it when cooking and turned on the wrong burner which the long ass probe happened to be touching...

I bought the same thing but the lollipop version. I like it better:
Traceable® Waterproof Thermometers - Digital Thermometers

Ryno · May 21, 2009

I guess I got lucky.......Yeah, Evan was pissed!! Hee heeee

Evan! said:
This is the second one to malfunction. I do like the thermometer itself, when it's working, but for $40, man...eff this. The first time, the probe wire disconnected from the body. Nothing I did, I just pulled it out of the box one day and it was like that. I'm very careful with these things! So I called professional equipment, who sold it to me, and they said they don't stand behind it, and that I'd have to talk to manufacturer. Not wanting to deal with it, I just ordered another one.

Well, I pulled that one out of the box last night. Guess what? It's done too. Same f*cking thing!!! This time, those ******** at Control Company are gonna replace it. I'm gonna go all customer-service-ninja on those bitches.

Does anyone know of a more versatile digital waterproof thermometer? This is ridiculous.

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