Good Thermometers!

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noobrewer

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So I JUST started my boil when my china made probe-wire thermometer just stopped working. Subbing with my roast-thermo yay... Any brands out there that work for over 1 yr?

-The one I have is a Taylor Wire probe style. It was nice because I tied it onto my pot handle and let the probe hang in the wart (sanitized of course). That way I get a constant real time reading so I can fine tune my POS stove.
-Another thing on stoves. Anyone with electric doing 3 gal concetrated wort boil max out their stove @ 210 degree F?? Seriously, my stove cannot get it hotter than that.. it is done..gave up.. Thanks!
 
I've had similar problems with the probe style thermometer. I stuck the probe directly in a mash and it fried it. I believe the probes are meant to be used by sticking into large pieces of meat and not immersed in liquid. I'm thinking if liquid gets into where the wire/cord goes into the probe it will ruin it.

Regarding your stove...are you getting your wort to boil? The thing is, Water/Wort boils at 212 deg F and will stay at that temp until the entire volume of liquid is turned into vapor. You aren't going to get the liquid above 212, regardless of how powerful of a stove/burner you are using. It has to do with the physics of the phase changes of water (from liquid to gas).

In fact there is no reason to measure the tempurture of your boiling wort. If its boiling, its going to be at/around 212 (actual temp will depend on your altitude).

If you are having problems getting your wort to boil (or if it taking too long), then consider the more powerful burners. Chances are your range isn't a POS though...
 
the stove tops off @ 209 F, but thats probably close enough, no one ever hits their temps right on. Good point on getting liquid into the probe, that is probably the problem. Thx
 
If its boiling at 209 F then most likely your thermometer is off a little. I like using a themometer with my boil kettle because it gives me a better idea of when its about to boil.
 
The best is one from professionalequipment.com. I don't feel like looking up the link right now, but it's waterproof, digital, NIST-certified.

Go there and search for digital thermo's. It'll come up. It's yellow and about $40. They even specifically mention AG brewers in their prod description.
 
modenacart said:
If its boiling at 209 F then most likely your thermometer is off a little. I like using a themometer with my boil kettle because it gives me a better idea of when its about to boil.
It doesn't take much altitude for a 3 degree shift in boiling point. I am at 800 feet and it is 1.5 degrees.

As for the probe issues, you are correct - they get a bit funky if the braid gets wet. Don't toss it out - it is salvagable! All you have to do is dry it out in the oven and it should come back from the dead. I have had to do this on 3 different occasions and it has worked every time.
 
I use one of these with good results, It's a "ready check" that I got at Bed Bath & Beeeeyonnnnd...

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Can anyone recommend a decent dial probe thermometer with a stem about 12" or so long? The few I have found are fairly pricey...
I have a rubbermaid cooler I use for mashing, and I'd like to put a small hole through the top for a thermometer so I don't have to keep opening the thing to verify temperature throughout the mash.

The best I can find for a decent price is this one, but I am not sure it will reach far enough into the mash.
http://www.target.com/Taylor-Weeken...&field-browse=13003671&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=4
 
broadbill said:
Regarding your stove...are you getting your wort to boil? The thing is, Water/Wort boils at 212 deg F and will stay at that temp until the entire volume of liquid is turned into vapor. You aren't going to get the liquid above 212, regardless of how powerful of a stove/burner you are using. It has to do with the physics of the phase changes of water (from liquid to gas).

In fact there is no reason to measure the tempurture of your boiling wort. If its boiling, its going to be at/around 212 (actual temp will depend on your altitude).

...

I do maple syrup also . And while water can not go above 212 deg without turning to steam at sea level but when you boil down sap /wort the sugar concentration goes up. With wort the temp may stay at 212 or a little higher I dont really know as I have never taken a temp reading.

But the time honored way to tell if your Maple syrup is done is the boiling temp rise's 7 degrees above the temp it started to boil.

Not trying to be a wise a$$ just a little FYI.:)
 
noobrewer said:
So I JUST started my boil when my china made probe-wire thermometer just stopped working. Subbing with my roast-thermo yay... Any brands out there that work for over 1 yr?

-The one I have is a Taylor Wire probe style. It was nice because I tied it onto my pot handle and let the probe hang in the wart (sanitized of course). That way I get a constant real time reading so I can fine tune my POS stove.
-Another thing on stoves. Anyone with electric doing 3 gal concetrated wort boil max out their stove @ 210 degree F?? Seriously, my stove cannot get it hotter than that.. it is done..gave up.. Thanks!

From reading your post it seems that you are doing extract brews. You really don't need a thermometer for that.

Since you are simply bring your wort to a boil you can look and see whether it's boiling or not. The temp. that your wort is boiling at is really meaningless.

As far as hitting the temps. exactly that's one of the critical things All Grain brewer shoot for. But that's for the mash not the boil. That's also why you see folks paying $40 for a thermometer. I use a cheap kitchen digital unit ($15) I got at Target well over a year ago and a calibration (lab) thermometer ($6) I got at the LHBS. I measured the digital unit against the calibration unit and wrote the indicated temp on the digital thermometer vs the actual temp the calibration themometer said. Then put the calibration thermometer up for safe keeping.
 
its for mini mash, I may just try to raise the old one from the dead and make sure the cord does not get wet. Or just buy that sweet one mentioned earlier! Now just have to break SWMBO to spend more $ on beer stuff.
 
max4677 said:
Can anyone recommend a decent dial probe thermometer with a stem about 12" or so long? The few I have found are fairly pricey...
I have a rubbermaid cooler I use for mashing, and I'd like to put a small hole through the top for a thermometer so I don't have to keep opening the thing to verify temperature throughout the mash.

The best I can find for a decent price is this one, but I am not sure it will reach far enough into the mash.
http://www.target.com/Taylor-Weeken...&field-browse=13003671&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=4

That's about the same price as a decent digital. Target has a calibratable and waterproof digital for $14.99 that I like. You'll know when you find it, it's yellow. It's not long enough to sit down through the lid, but you really don't need to be watching the mash temp for a hour. Verify you nailed it 5-10 minutes into the mash, then MAYBE check it once more in 30 mintues. Coolers hold heat really well.
 
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