Lousy Digital Thermie

[Monk]

I just discovered, after some troubleshooting, that I have a stupid digital thermometer that measures about 5-6F higher than is correct. That means my last mash was only ~145-146F. I'm going back to using my old floating dairy thermometer. Anyone else had this experience?

(Incidentally, I've been returning to several classic techniques/pieces of equipment, after finding that my new, higher tech ones were not working.)

 

[jldc]

Only off by 5-6 degrees? I had one that was off by 30.

 

[TheTower]

Classic is classic for a reason

 

[Tonedef131]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/sd-link-thermapen-digital-kitchen-thermometer-69-shipping-109222/

 

[Monk]

Only off by 5-6 degrees? I had one that was off by 30.

Dang!

I only figured this out because I made two-three batches in a row that came out around 60% efficiency. I started thinking, "yeah, I suck...but not THAT bad."

We'll see if I really suck that bad this weekend when I try again with my dairy therm.

 

[Catt22]

Handheld Thermocouple Meters And Cole-Parmer Workhorse Thermocouple Thermometer - Cole-Parmer Catalog

Accurate, fast and economical

 

[springer]

I just had an online discussion with a rep at Cole-Palmer and this is the one that they recommend for wet and damp locations. the probe is water proof up to where it connects to the unit. And its under 30$the girl even called the manufacturer to make sure

waterproof

 

[noisy123]

I just had an online discussion with a rep at Cole-Palmer and this is the one that they recommend for wet and damp locations. the probe is water proof up to where it connects to the unit. And its under 30$the girl even called the manufacturer to make sure

waterproof

Looks tempting, but the accuracy is pm 2 degrees F. Is that accurate enough?

 

[Catt22]

Looks tempting, but the accuracy is pm 2 degrees F. Is that accurate enough?

The +/- 2 F is the certified not-to-exceed tolerance. The reality is that these traceables are much more accurate than that in actual use. I've checked mine at various temperates against a glass calibrated lab thermometer and it's been dead nuts on the money every time. Certainly there is some inherent error as no instrument is perfectly accurate, but whatever the error actually is, it's very small. More than accurate enough for brewing purposes.

FWIW, you can use any standard "K" type thermocouples with these units. I've been using mine with a plain end type. Immerse it all the time with no problems. Most are supplied with a multi-purpose thermocouple probe but there is a wide variety of styles to choose from or if longer leads are required.

I have often wondered why the cheapy kitchen type digital thermometers are so prone to malfunction when exposed to moisture as they also use a thermocouple type sensor. Seems that a minor change in the probe design would eliminate that problem.

 

[springer]

Doh linked the wrong unit its this one +/-1°

 

[springer]

What I liked about the unit the probe is ultra thin and can be used with fridges and in our case stoppers,tuns etc .

 

[noisy123]

Um. Sold! Thanks a ton springer.

 

[Monk]

Brewed another batch yesterday, incidentally, using my old floating dairy thermometer. My efficiency went up 13% to 73%.