What is a good thermometer?

What thermometer is good for brewing,I use one with a SS stem but the stem is only 4" long. It does a good job but I'm always getting gift cards form work and thought I might get a regular food thermometer. I've seen the ones with a thermocoupler, are they any good?

Willy Boner said:

What thermometer is good for brewing,I use one with a SS stem but the stem is only 4" long. It does a good job but I'm always getting gift cards form work and thought I might get a regular food thermometer. I've seen the ones with a thermocoupler, are they any good?

Click to expand...

I just got this one. Pricey but worth it, as it's NIST traceable. Used it for the first time yesterday. Rocked! Highly recommended!

Digital from Target about 15 bones
JJ

Jaybird said:

Digital from Target about 15 bones
JJ

Click to expand...

I got a digital from target also. I tested it against a calibration thermometer and it was a 5* F off at 165* F.

I just took a sharpie and wrote the actual and indicated temp on the thermometer.

abracadabra said:

I got a digital from target also. I tested it against a calibration thermometer and it was a 5* F off at 165* F.

I just took a sharpie and wrote the actual and indicated temp on the thermometer.

Click to expand...

I would take it back then I work with calibrations alot in my field of work and I have tested 4 of them and they were all less than a 1 deg off at 32 - 55 - 100 -150 and 200 deg F
JJ

I found this bad boy: Traceable® -100.0 Platinum Freezer Thermometer (scroll all the way down to the bottom). Only bummer is you have to contact a sales rep to get pricing. Somehow I get the impression it's not competing with the $16 Target meat thermometer. In any case I'm waiting to hear from a sales rep, will report the findings here.

Update: Never heard back from the sales rep even after two contacts. Guess they don't like new business. I wound up buying the one Evan linked.

I also use one of the yellow VWR ones. Once I wasn't sure my thermometer was right about my mash temp, so I threw in another thermometer. It was the exact same model of candy thermometer from Wal-Mart. Both varied by about six degrees. So I threw in my digital meat thermometer, and another analog instant-read thermometer. In the end, they all read something different and the range of temps was a bit scary when you're trying to keep a real close temp window for mashing.

I'd get a good, calibrated digital thermometer and back it up with a nice simple lab thermometer.

Evan! said:

I just got this one. Pricey but worth it, as it's NIST traceable. Used it for the first time yesterday. Rocked! Highly recommended!

Click to expand...

How did this work out for you?

I bought one last week, used it Saturday...liked it a lot. Got to cooling my wort and transferring it to the carboy and it started reading high, like 109. It is still stuck in that range. Called Professional Equipment today and they are sending a replacement (they don't even want the old one back). I am almost positive it isn't anything I did since it is waterproof and my boil wasn't over 572F. Oh well, good customer service though!

That does sound like a defective unit. Mine works like a charm.

I got mine from MoreBeer. It has beeping alarms for high and low temperature settings. I like it alot. It has a long "L" shaped temperature probe that is not shown in the picture, perfect for hanging into a steeping pot. It also has a big magnet on the back. I have used it for brewing and for BBQ.
http://morebeer.com/view_product/18686/102228

$29.95

I really like the traceable one, it is water proof, no need to worry about getting the cord wet.

Beerific, I had a similar problem with the Traceable digital thermometer - it worked well for a while, but then it started reading REALLY high - it said the ambient temp. was 200F. I got mine through Fisher scientific, I called them up and they sent me a new one, seems to be working fine.

Professor Frink said:

Beerific, I had a similar problem with the Traceable digital thermometer - it worked well for a while, but then it started reading REALLY high - it said the ambient temp. was 200F. I got mine through Fisher scientific, I called them up and they sent me a new one, seems to be working fine.

Click to expand...

Think they might not be as waterproof as they claim?

I think they're either not waterproof, or they're waterproof as long as it's just water. Mine seemed to have crapped out when I put it in my primary to keep track of the fermentation temperature.

Mine did fine through heating strike and sparge water, fine in the mash, fine up to boil, then started to get weird when I was cooling/whirlpooling.

I had the same issue with the Traceable, started reading high out of the blue. I thought perhaps the battery was dying so I replaced it, but no help there. Luckily it wasn't a progression, it was a large noticable change so I didn't lose any beer over it.

I still plan to get one of these!

Rhoobarb said:

I still plan to get one of these!

Click to expand...

I'm thinking of getting one of these also.