Thermapen sucks

[jsguitar]

It stopped working the first day I used it in a CFC port. It had the shortest life of any thermometer that I have ever owned.

 

[vincentAlpha]

I can't say as I'm in love with my CDN, not because it doesn't work great (it really does) I just wish the probe was longer(or detachable) and was a bit quicker at hitting the temp. It doens't do anything BAD just doesn't seem great. That being said I've not exactly been kind to it since I've gotten it but for the ~$20 it cost it is a quality (near)instant read thermometer that you can calibrate. I think my next investment might be an rPi and some long SS temp probes for continual monitoring so I don't have to keep walking over to the kettle to check my temps. Might just break down and buy a Fluke instead, I do enough random electrical crap that a quality Fluke will be worth the money.

 

[Bobby_M]

It stopped working the first day I used it in a CFC port. It had the shortest life of any thermometer that I have ever owned.

They have a no questions asked 5 year warranty. I'm not saying it should break on you immediately but that's not really how you should judge a product. It's a piece of commodity electronics and one in a hundred will have a problem. It's more about how easy it is to get it corrected.

 

[balrog]

My CDN was great until I streamed it for 20m in a mash, unknowingly. Loved it till then. Replaced w the longer CDN DTW450L for about $25.

 

[chisena]

I've been using my $20 ThermoWerks RT600B for years. Great probe. No issues.

 

[NoPantsBrewing]

My CDN has been a beast. It has survived falling in the mash, falling in the boil, soaking in starsan, and most recently going through the wash and dry cycles in my laundry when I forgot it was in my pocket after brewing.

 

[podz]

Wow. Is this like what the rant-flame-religious-wars of old were like when we'd fight to the death over our favorite programming editor or language in the 80's?

I had a CDN and loved it. It got damp and immediately failed. I was surprised but only out $20 buh. I got the longer probe CDN (size matters when you don't want to burn your delicate fingers in the mash) for about $21.

Brew on.

Oh, and WordStar still rules! So there.

Thermopens are a bit of a cult. Their primary market is people who don't have much, if any, cognitive intuition. Let me grab my gadgets and it's off to try to win the pitmaster contest, Yay! One EMP blast later and I am completely unable to cook, Boo :-(

I have a 30cm long glass lab thermometer that is really old. It's got a hole in the top of it for a string. I drop it into my wort when cooking and hang it on the wall when fermenting.

 

[Gameface]

Thermopens are a bit of a cult. Their primary market is people who don't have much, if any, cognitive intuition. Let me grab my gadgets and it's off to try to win the pitmaster contest, Yay! One EMP blast later and I am completely unable to cook, Boo :-(

I have a 30cm long glass lab thermometer that is really old. It's got a hole in the top of it for a string. I drop it into my wort when cooking and hang it on the wall when fermenting.

Yeah, thermapens are for people without cognitive intuition. Good observation.

I, like many, went through more than $100 worth of thermometers before I bought a thermapen. Since then, the thermapen has been by far my most reliable temperature reading device I've ever owned. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, one time I thought my thermapen was wrong because after finding that my brewmometer and thermapen no longer agreed with each other I busted out the laboratory alcohol thermometer and it didn't agree with my thermapen, either. Well, when I attempted to calibrate my thermapen I discovered it was accurate at freezing and boiling temps. I discovered my laboratory thermometer was not.

Since then I have been happy using the thermapen as my "standard" that I use to set delta on all my other temperature reading devices (PID RTD temp probes, kettle mounted thermometers, STC-1000 temp probes, etc, etc.). It hasn't let me down.

If an EMP were to go off in my brewery I would be able to use my lab thermometer because my thermapen has allowed me to determine how far off it is from the actual temp (thanks thermapen!).

I'm not saying I DON'T lack cognitive intuition (although I don't see what that has to do with anything) but I do know that my thermapen is faster than any other thermometer I've used and at the same time is more accurate than any other thermometer I've used.

So when's the next Temple of the Thermapen cult meeting?

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

http://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/cdndtq450.htm

Is the thermometer with the corded probe any good? I like the ones with a corded probe. https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/cdndttc.htm

 

[balrog]

I used one in normal cooking and like it very much. The corded probe is *NOT* waterproof and I have ruined one when condensate dripped down the braid into the probe. Heating in oven several hours did not revive but replacements are inexpensive.

 

[Staestc]

I had a thermopen and loved it but it died after years of using it for grilling, forgetting it was outside in the 100 degree Texas heat, occasionally getting rained on, etc. When it died, it was the switch that turns it on when you open the probe though, so it may not have had anything to do with the weather, just a weak link in the design.

I bought another, because I to have no cognitive intuition, and it's just great. I used it to figure out that my first all grain was mashed 3-4 degrees to low when after the mash I checked out the other kitchen thermometer I was using against the thermopen.

I too have a 30 cm glass lab thermometer, but I honestly have no idea between my shop and my garage where it is. I really need to do some cleaning and organizing.

I also just ordered a CDN. You just can't have too many tools!!

 

[Staestc]

Oh, and I keep forgetting this.

AZ, I just love the Proper Goat Anatomy avatar! I found it on the net and have sent it to my baby goat loving daughters and my wife!

 

[Homercidal]

If anyone wants to send me a Thermapen, I'll take it.

Till then I'll keep using my CDN. The same one I've been using for I don't know how many years! I think I spent $15 at Walmart for it.

 

[dstar26t]

Thermapen is the most accurate thermometer under $100. +/- 0.7°F
The CDN is +/- 2°F. I have the type k Thermapen (not in production anymore for some reason) that has been abused for 7 years. Auto off is annoying but I deal with it and don't lose battery life.

 

[day_trippr]

Where's that eyeroll emoticon??

Ah, there it is.

 

[passedpawn]

Sure, I guess it's okay and relatively instant read. If you can actually get the dumb overpriced thing to turn on and stay on.

My CDN DTQ450X is as accurate, just about as quick (more so, since it actually turns on), and a helluva a lot cheaper. Think I bought it from Bobby_M for about ~$14.

/rant

I got this one from my grocery store with the grilling stuff. It works so well, I have 3 of them now. Backlight, fast, accurate, waterproof, C/F. Not sure what the allure of the Thermapen is, but I've found a great solution for kitchen, grilling, and brewing.

 

[lschiavo]

I got this one from my grocery store with the grilling stuff. It works so well, I have 3 of them now. Backlight, fast, accurate, waterproof, C/F. Not sure what the allure of the Thermapen is, but I've found a great solution for kitchen, grilling, and brewing.

Certified is the keyword I guess. Thermapen is (sorta) if you look up the specs. I had nearly a dozen "cheap" thermometers when I decided to get my Thermapen. I put them all to the boiling/ freezing test and all they all read pretty close.

As a brewer, I realized that I didn't really care about the temperature of boiling or freezing H2O (both are pretty obvious without a thermometer). I wanted to accurately measure a temperature somewhere in between.

I found a +/- 10 degree max variance in my cheap thermometers compared to my Thermapen at strike/mash/sparge temperatures. I was quite stunned by the inaccuracy because "everything digital is completely accurate" right?

I did have one gem in a $10 digital that matched the Thermapen all the way. You may have one as well if your beer is good. But what if you are off by one degree in the mash (temps in recipes are given to the degree)? Would the beer be even better if you weren't?

 

[passedpawn]

Certified is the keyword I guess. Thermapen is (sorta) if you look up the specs.

Yea, I assumed that part of the extra cost of the Thermapen was probably a calibration of them. I didn't trust these cheapies at all when I bought them (for grilling), but they give they all give the same exact temperatures, and are accurate in boiling and water slush, so I guess I got lucky.

I should note that I've been using them for a few years. They are pretty grungy from falling in all sorts of stuff, but they still work perfectly.

No criticism here of the more expensive product. I'd still like to have one of them, but no need atm.

 

[bob1852]

Finally sent my Thermapen back in. Was sick of it not working.

So, with the shipping cost to send it back, and the repair cost (probably at least $25), I could've got a couple more thermos that actually work.

 

[Homercidal]

My CDN finally died the last time I tried to use it. The case had a crack for a while and I guess I dunked it one too many times.

I bought a cheap replacement at Meijer. Got it home and found the 2-piece plastic case comes apart VERY easily. Luckily I also bought a kitchen thermometer with a long lead.

Thermapen is officially entered into my Santa list for the young one. She seemed to be taking notes on which thermometer I would like while we were shopping. She even checked prices online while I looked at the cheap store brands.

 

[PlexVector]

Where's that eyeroll emoticon??

Ah, there it is.

I've always considered the eyeroll emote looking up at the previous post in envy...

 

[PlexVector]

What sucks about your CDN? Of all the units I've tested, they are badass. I too have a thermapen and it's fast and accurate just like a $90 thing should be. I leave it in my kitchen drawer for cooking and grilling. I use it to spot check a few of the CDNs with every shipment of a gross. See, even though the CDN is less than 25% of the cost of the thermapen, it's reasonably close in performance and I don't care if I lose it or break it. Incidentally I'm still using one I've had for 4 years and it survived one accidental dunk in 175F strike water and one full dunk in a bucket of starsan.

I just got one recently and use it for grilling and as reference for all the brewing thermometers to reduce the number of calibration checks.

For grilling it's great as I can get in and now measure the meat temp before the hair on my knuckles singe.

 

[j1n]

wow i thought everyone loved the thermopen. my only complaint is the high price.

 

[brewing_clown]

I have a thermapen, but hardly use it any more because it turns on only when it wants to. I got a DOT from thermoworks and a couple of Pro Series probes for half the cost of the thermapen, and they work extremely well.

 

[day_trippr]

I bought a Splashproof when they first came out, primarily for the kitchen, where it is truly unsurpassed.
wrt brewing, I use it mostly for yeast starters and the like - and to calibrate the bazillion temperature probes across all of my control systems.

I've changed the batteries once. It's more reliable than the sun...

Cheers!

 

[chisena]

The ThermoWorks RT600C has worked great for me for years and it's like, $18. Not sure why anyone would need to make the jump to ThermoPen unless your working in a super high paced environment (i.e. not a garage).

 

[bob1852]

They've fixed my pen for free and are sending it back. I guess the calibration component is toast and can't be fixed, so if it gets out of whack, I'll just have to toss it.

Their customer service is good.

I hope the pen works better than it did and holds calibration for awhile.

 

[podz]

I feel that people who use Thermapens are "tools". In the same category with people who wear Leathermans and pagers on their belts, hell in the same category with people who wear belts.

 

[b-boy]

I feel that people who use Thermapens are "tools". In the same category with people who wear Leathermans and pagers on their belts, hell in the same category with people who wear belts.

No belts in Finland? What's your opinion on socks?

I love my Thermapen. I've been using it for a few years now. I use it for cooking/grilling too.

It replaced 3-4 other thermometers that either sucked or stopped working. I probably spent the equivalent of 2 Thermapens on them.

I'm not a thermometer snob. I just like stuff that works well. I don't mind paying more for something that is built well, and gets the job done.

 

[bob1852]

I feel that people who use Thermapens are "tools". In the same category with people who wear Leathermans and pagers on their belts, hell in the same category with people who wear belts.

How many times are you going to troll this thread, dude?

I feel that people like you are tools...