Best Thermometer for Brewing Day?

[LazySumo]

I've had enough! I fought with my POS thermometer in my last brew session and have decided that this critical piece of gear in my toolbox needs some TLC.

I mash in a 10g water cooler and boil in a converted keg. I don't plan on mounting a thermometer in either vessel so I'm looking for suggestions for great thermometers.

- Hand held
- Instant or nearly instant read
- Accurate
- Can withstand the rigors of a brew day

Thoughts?

 

[Blitzkrieg]

1) Thermapen
2) Thermapen
3) Thermapen
4) Thermapen

Any other requirements?

 

[kharper6]

I have a cheap Polder probe thermometer from Amazon, a Thermapen, and a Thermopop (same company)


All read exactly the same temperature during the mash and strike, makes me feel silly for dropping the $$$ on the thermapen.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

The Thermapen gets a lot of hype but I personally like the Thermoworks TW8060 a lot more.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/TW8060.html

I have the ceramic type K thermocouples for it so I can stand about a foot away from whatever I'm measuring. They are flexible/bendable so you can arrange them however you want. Also because it has dual channel capability I can monitor mash temp and the temp of my sparge water at the same time. It also has alarm settings. As far as I know a Thermapen cant do any of these things and costs $20-30 more. The only thing the Thermapen seems to have the advantage on is speed and considering the TW8060 only takes ~20 seconds I think all the extra capabilities outweighs the extra 17 seconds it takes. Another bonus about of the TW8060 is you can use an array of K probes for just about anything from which to my knowledge the Thermapen cannot do. I don't think the Thermapen is a bad product but IMO the TW8060 is vastly superior in versatility. Here's mine...



The ceramic probes...

 

[PeteNMA]

The CDN DTQ450X is a great thermometer. Super cheap, less than $20 each, reads fast, very accurate and very robust. I have dropped mine into my boil kettle and it hasn't suffered a bit


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Falcon3]

ThermApen. Or that probe meter from thermoworks mentioned above. Think about how important temp is to great brewing. Then think about how much money you've spent on other brewing stuff that doesn't have as big an effect as temp

Then pony up the money to buy the Thermapen.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I'm telling you the probes are where its at. Good luck using a Thermapen in a grill or a smoker. You practically have to stick your hand in whatever your measuring with a Thermapen and you still can't read the bottom temp of the mash tun. I was initially set on getting a Thermapen and I couldnt be happier that I went with the TW8060 instead. I sit it on a stool next to my mash tun and BK on brewday and never have to touch it again to take all the readings I want thanks to the ceramic probes.

 

[monkeyman1000]

I have been very happy with my Thermapen. I bought it for cooking originally but when I started brewing it proved to be a great tool.

 

[sumbrewindude]

The Thermapen gets a lot of hype but I personally like the Thermoworks TW8060 a lot more.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/TW8060.html

I have the ceramic type K thermocouples for it so I can stand about a foot away from whatever I'm measuring. They are flexible/bendable so you can arrange them however you want.

Agreed.

I'm using my old Fluke 87V with the 80TK module to run the K thermocouple. Way overkill, but I already had the meter and the module in the garage, so why spend money on something that's just hanging around doing nothing.

If I was to get a dedicated unit just for temps, it'd be the TW8060 so I could run two independent sensors to watch both mash and kettle from the same device.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

That dual probe meter is pretty sweet, but I wouldn't trade my thermapen for it. I use my thermapen literally every day while cooking, and the speed really is what makes it so useful. I open the bbq, poke the salmon and I'm out with my reading in like 5 seconds flat.

When brewing ive got it in my pocket, water is heating up, give it a quick stir and take a temp reading. Mashing in; poke it here poke it there, poke it over on that side, Good no hot spots. Close the lid and wait an hour, with my cooler mash tun it would do no good whatsoever to know the temp inside once it's closed. If I had a big RIMS or HERMS system then I would definately go with a multiple thermocouple setup for adjusting on the fly.

It really depends on your system, but for a system like mine (and the OP's) I think a small, quick, handheld thermometer with an attatched probe and unquestionable accuracy is the way to go.

 

[satph]

The Thermapen is awesome in the kitchen. I also use it brewing. But I prefer the ThermoWorks MTC for brewing, it sits in the mash tun. If everything is working properly, I usually don't use the Thermapen at all. The MTC uses the same probes as the TW8060 that KeyWest recommended and is cheaper, but it can only monitor one probe. Keep in mind that they sell quick response probes and others so you can use the MTC or TW8060 for cooking too.

I think:
The TW8060 is the best for brewing and what I'd recommend.
The MTC is 1/2 the probe of the TW8060, but a cheaper way to monitor a MLT if you want to save money.
The Thermapen is great if you want to use it for cooking as well.

 

[beernbourbon]

The Thermapen gets a lot of hype but I personally like the Thermoworks TW8060 a lot more.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/TW8060.html

I bought this one on either yours or someone else on here's recommendation a few weeks back. It lives up to the hype and the challenge, and I agree with all your points. Less expensive and more versatile than the Thermapen. I have nothing against the Thermapen, just wanted something I could have the long probe to do exactly what you say.....mash and sparge water at same time.
I love mine, and would highly recommend it to anyone that asks.

 

[Setesh]

Another vote for Thermapen here. It's fast, accurate, lite, and small. I can carry it around in my pocket on brew day and whip it out when I want a reading. I also use it constantly for cooking. It especially handy for grilling.

 

[Drk93TT]

Just bought my thermapen and used in my mash this week. Ill never go back to ordinary thermometer/probes for temps. Love this thing. Perfect for checking chicken and steak grilling temps to boot to justify the price to the mrs.

 

[Setesh]

Just bought my thermapen and used in my mash this week. Ill never go back to ordinary thermometer/probes for temps. Love this thing. Perfect for checking chicken and steak grilling temps to boot to justify the price to the mrs.

I forgot another use, to check my kiddo's bath water temp.

 

[Goolsbymd]

I'm telling you the probes are where its at. Good luck using a Thermapen in a grill or a smoker. You practically have to stick your hand in whatever your measuring with a Thermapen and you still can't read the bottom temp of the mash tun. I was initially set on getting a Thermapen and I couldnt be happier that I went with the TW8060 instead. I sit it on a stool next to my mash tun and BK on brewday and never have to touch it again to take all the readings I want thanks to the ceramic probes.

Good luck using a thermapen in a grill or smoker? Its incredibly easy almost every bbq comp team and bbq enthusiasts use them...
Perhaps you mean for ambient temp, which case most use a guru type setup or use an offset and cook in a band. Never seen anyone use it for ambient temp.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Good luck using a thermapen in a grill or smoker? Its incredibly easy almost every bbq comp team and bbq enthusiasts use them...
Perhaps you mean for ambient temp, which case most use a guru type setup or use an offset and cook in a band. Never seen anyone use it for ambient temp.

Yea I meant monitoring grilling/smoking temps. Not trying to start a pissing contest here, I think the Thermapen is a great unit. There's just a lot of stuff you can do with the extensive list of thermocouples out there that Thermapens dont seem to be made to do.

 

[JDGator]

i use a $10 dollar cheap digital probe thermometer. compared it's read out to 3-4 high end kitchen ones (buddy is a local chef) and it reads the same. my dial thermometer on the side of my pot is also the same.

i'm not all that concerned with being off by 1-2 degrees. hard to be that precise when brewing outdoors with a propane burner.

 

[LazySumo]

Wow, GREAT thread folks. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. I just ordered the TW8060 that Key West suggested at the top of the thread. I smoke a lot of ribs and stuff so this will have MULTIPLE uses. Thanks again all!

 

[Ramitt]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GE2XF8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

19 bucks fast and accurate.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Wow, GREAT thread folks. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. I just ordered the TW8060 that Key West suggested at the top of the thread. I smoke a lot of ribs and stuff so this will have MULTIPLE uses. Thanks again all!

Brewing up an amber and just thought I'd show a pic of the TW8060 in action. Sparge heating up on the left(top) and mash on the right(bottom)...

 

[LazySumo]

One last run to HD for a gasket or two then I'm going to be using mine to brew a vanilla wheat! Super excite to work with my new toy!

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

I use this one from thermoworks and it's absolutely great. It's pretty much waterproof, I've dropped it into my mash and never had an issue. It reads VERY quickly and it's been very accurate. And for 19$? It's a winner

http://thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt600b.html




- ISM NRP

 

[BullGator]

I know the thermopen crowd loves their thermopen. That's a fact. I brew with a guy who has one and there is a place for them. The only problem is it is only useful when the thing you want to measure is accessible. The problem is, I often want to have the lid on something and know the temperature. For that reason, these little things have been one of the single best beer equipment purchases I have made:

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

Similar to the dual one posted previously, this is a single version. I started out using them for brew-in-a-bag while mashing in the oven. I had the mash tun pot in the oven and these things let me know the exact temp of the mash without opening the door. Thinking out loud, while the dual one does seem cool, I often measure temps several feet apart. Really depends on your setup.

This is the probe you want: PTFE/FEP Tip Probes (k-type). make sure to get the teflon tip. They are rated to 482 deg F and are completely waterproof. I have even dropped one of the readers into the boil kettle and they still worked.

 

[bobby4]

Bull - exactly which tips do you mean? Could you post a link?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Bull - exactly which tips do you mean? Could you post a link?

Its not exactly the answer you were looking for but if you look at the probes listed on Thermoworks website they have temperature ranges for all of them.

 

[cpa4ny]

Unequivocally - Thermapen!

I had an el cheapo digital thermometer previously and it took it ages to lock in on the temp.

Thermapen is virtually instantaneous.

SWMBO churns homemade ice cream and she uses it too