Lord, make me fast and accurate [Thermometer question]

Hi all,

I'm still learning my way around HBT, so if I've missed the answer to this question I apologize (and maybe someone can point me in the right direction)

Basically, I'm looking for a digital thermometer that is reasonably fast to produce readings, and ACCURATE. Swmbo has been letting me use her digital meat thermometer, and while it's not bad, It doesnt line up with my floating (analog) thermometer by about 6 degrees! I also dont like the floating thermometer, because the damn things break so easily.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good digital thermometer, preferably one with a remote probe or one on a wire lead?

Thanks!!

-John

Thermapens seem to be the cat's @ss when it comes to stick thermometers. What price range are you looking at?

This comes up at least once per week. I always go with my recommendation for the Thermapen.

Although Thermoworks do make other products that are just as fast and accurate that are bit more versatile. I also have a Mini HTC from them and a long waterproof wire probe for it so I can monitor mash and fermentation temps without having to open anything.

Unfortunately the thermapen is a bit out of my price range. I think I'd be willing to spend up to about 40 bucks or so?

OK I'm just going to put this out there, but I spent around $200 on thermometers that either didn't work well or broke after a few batches before I finally spent $80 on the Thermapen. That was like 2 years ago. Thermapen is still rock solid and I would rather lose a toe than that thing.

I agree with the Crazy price of a thermapen and can't imagine dropping that cash on one, but I also see weirdboys point about going through dozens of 5-20 dollar cheapies. I'm building an electric rig so I'll have temp control and monitoring through the PIDs.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...ame=Thermometers&sid=IAx20090815x000001&aff=Y

I have one that looks like this one, I will edit or repost when I get home in an hour and let you know what I have. It reads in just a few seconds and costs about the same as this one.

Edit here is the one I have.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00064BCPM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I was unsure about the dial thermometer I had. The calibration nut allowed me to callibrate to boiling or ice bath ( 212 or 32 F) but it lost accuracy toward the opposite end of the temp range it was calibrated for ( ~208 in boiling...or 38 in an ice bath.)
I just bought the glass thermometer from Williams brewing, and it's accurate at boiling and in an ice bath. So, I keep it now to calibrate my original dial thermometer to 150F. This is very accurate and very affordable; I opted for this choice.

Stuntman said:

Edit here is the one I have.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00064BCPM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Click to expand...

Have one of these as well, It can be calibrated and reads in a few seconds. I love it! (and I can buy 6 of em for the cost of a thermapen)

I don't know about the $40 therms, but I went through 2 of the 25 dollar ones after a few brews each and they were better than the dial therms I had prior. I wisened up before dropping any more and got the thermapen - you really can't go wrong with this.
It probably gets more use now in the kitchen and grill. It gives a quick easy read every time. It is one piece of equipment I don't need to worry about the misses fubar-ing up either.
It would make a nice Xmas gift........
jason

Wow... Based on the Subject line, I thought this was going to be a post from a child-challenged gentleman whose woman was ovulating but he wanted to go to sleep since he had a big meeting early in the morning.