Thermometers

[Dude]

What do you guys use?

I've been using one of those digital wonders with the probe, and I'm beginning to suspect how accurate it is. It is pretty sad when I've spent 50 bucks on various thermometers and the best one I have is the free one I got with my turkey fryer. I don't mind using that but I don't like that I can't pinpoint an exact number on the dial.....

Again, what do you guys use?

 

[loopmd]

The one that came with my turkey fryer. (before I dropped and broke it) You can calibrate it rather easily. Just have a glass full of ice water and stick your thermometer in it. Should be 32 degrees. If it is not take some pliers to the "nut" on the back side where the probe part attaches to the face part and turn it until it is at 32 degrees.


loop

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I got a floating thermometer from my HBS for ~$7 if I recall correctly. It's got a rubber/vinyl grabbie on top and some type of ballast in the bottom to make it float upright. Reads 34F in ice water and 210F in boiling water, so at least it's consistent in it's error! Probably perfectly accurate ~120F. I use it for measuring my mash/sparge water, as well as the mash itself. I wouldn't mind installing a dial thermometer through a fitting in my coolertun.

 

[Walker]

I stopped using my digital probe thermometer after sticking it in a pot of water I was heating up for steeping a few batches back and seeing it read back a temp of 333F. No idea what happened to it, but it seems to have stopped working completely as a thermometer. It's only use now is as a timer.

edit: I now use two different thermometers. One is a floating one like BeeGee described, and the other is a clip-on candy thermometer.

During steeping, I use the candy thermometer since it clips right onto the side of the kettle. I would use ONLY this one, but the lowest reading on it is something like 110 degrees. Not much good for a wort cooling monitor, so I use the floating one for that.


-walker

 

[Mindflux]

Walker, you got the braid wet. You cannot get anything but the metal probe wet on those at all. They do exactly what yours has done.

People on other forums have 'baked' their probe back into working order . I don't recall the specifics, though.

 

[Dude]

I stopped using my digital probe thermometer after sticking it in a pot of water I was heating up for steeping a few batches back and seeing it read back a temp of 333F. No idea what happened to it, but it seems to have stopped working completely as a thermometer. It's only use now is as a timer.

edit: I now use two different thermometers. One is a floating one like BeeGee described, and the other is a clip-on candy thermometer.

During steeping, I use the candy thermometer since it clips right onto the side of the kettle. I would use ONLY this one, but the lowest reading on it is something like 110 degrees. Not much good for a wort cooling monitor, so I use the floating one for that.


-walker

A temporary fix for that probe thermometer is to bake it only the probe, leave the connector for it outside the oven ) in the oven @ 350° for 30 minutes. It worked on mine, but either mine is completely shot now or I need to bake it again.
Or buy a better one.

 

[Walker]

Walker, you got the braid wet. You cannot get anything but the metal probe wet on those at all. They do exactly what yours has done.

this is what I suspected. My wife let me borrow it (I had just been using the floater, which is almost a decade old) but I thought I could use the fancy "temp alert" feature to notify my when the water got to the proper steeping temp. It worked on two batchs, but then this crazy stuff happened.

When it went haywire, I turned to her and said, "Is this thing supposed to be used with liquids? I mean, what happens if it gets wet?"

She made a "oh ****" face and said, "Whoops.... I don't think you're supposed to get it wet."

thanks for the tip about baking it. I see if I can revive it.

-walker

 

[tnlandsailor]

Here is what I use.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS_EDGE_THERMOMETER_P546C102.cfm

I've been extremely impressed with how durable and consistent the bi-metal thermometers are. They are fairly cheap so you can buy a spare. I also use one in the kitchen. I do have one of the digital thermometers in the kitchen but I save it for roasts and stuff and treat it like a glass egg filled with nitro glycerine. The thermocouple probe on it is basically a piece of crap and when it does finally go, I doubt I will replace it, but it sure is handy. Personally, I don't trust electronic thermometers without verifying them with another thermometer.

To calibrate the bi-metal thermometer from the link above, I use a mercury thermometer like this:

http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=18678

Don't attempt to brew with a glass thermometer like this. You will regret it. Use it to calibrate your dial thermometer and put it away.

BTW, the red-dyed alcohol thermometers are not nearly as accurate as the mercury type. Get the mercury one. In total, you can spend about $50 and never have to worry about accurate temperature measurement again.

For bi-metal thermometers with threads on the back for installing into an HLT or boil kettle, St. Pat's has a great deal on these:

www.stpats.com
Scroll down to Test Equipment and click Thermometers. The ones I'm talking about are about 1/2 way down the page.

Prosit!

 

[david_42]

Another good reference point for temperature is the boiling point of ethanol. 78.3C or 173F Since it is closer to strike temperature than ice or boiling water, it's worth your time to check it. Put some cheap vodka in a small tin can in a pan along with your thermometer. Put some water in the pan and heat it slowly. The temperature of the vodka will rise until the ethanol starts boiling off. It will stay there until the ethanol is gone. Note the reading on your thermometer.

This assumes you are near sea level and it isn't storm season. You can adjust for the actual air pressure, if you'd like. 30 mmHg = 1C change. Cheap vodka doesn't have exactly the same boiling point as pure ethanol, so subtract another 0.2C.

Considering how small the dials are on my thermometers, I don't worry about one or two degrees, but 4-6F is a concern.

 

[insco2]

nice links salior thanks

 

[homebrewer_99]

this is what I suspected. My wife let me borrow it (I had just been using the floater, which is almost a decade old) but I thought I could use the fancy "temp alert" feature to notify my when the water got to the proper steeping temp. It worked on two batchs, but then this crazy stuff happened.

When it went haywire, I turned to her and said, "Is this thing supposed to be used with liquids? I mean, what happens if it gets wet?"

She made a "oh ****" face and said, "Whoops.... I don't think you're supposed to get it wet."

thanks for the tip about baking it. I see if I can revive it.

-walker

Funny, I thought all meat was wet?!

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

i wasn't too impressed w/ the Saint Patrick's thermometers. i bought three when i had my system built. one came in broke (spinning needle) and the others are just sub-par. i ended up buying the Brewmometer from Bleichman Engineering for my mash/lauter tun. much, much better IMHO.

 

[insco2]

i thought the prices were nice so no go huh??? Anyone else with any replies?

 

[smorris]

This made me think. I use my noncontact IR theromometer for lots of things and it is pretty darn accurate. I'll have to try it on wort next time and compare to my floating one.

 

[tnlandsailor]

i wasn't too impressed w/ the Saint Patrick's thermometers. i bought three when i had my system built. one came in broke (spinning needle) and the others are just sub-par. i ended up buying the Brewmometer from Bleichman Engineering for my mash/lauter tun. much, much better IMHO.

Thanks for the tip on the St. Pat's thermometers. I've not ordered any from them so maybe the price was too good to be true.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

yea, i'd stick to the ol' saying "you get what you pay for".

spend the extra $$$ and get a good one. plus the probes are only 2"....

 

[Rhoobarb]

A temporary fix for that probe thermometer is to bake it only the probe, leave the connector for it outside the oven ) in the oven @ 350° for 30 minutes. It worked on mine, but either mine is completely shot now or I need to bake it again.
Or buy a better one.

I like the accuracy and the alarm feature of the more expensive digital probe thermometers, but the braided probes are so fragile! I am now on my third braided probe!

I'll take the last two I have and give this oven trick a shot. I've been using the turkey fryer thermometer, my Brewers Best floating thermometer and a small Polder digital probe thermometer (about the size of a pen, with no braid) in the interim.

 

[El Pistolero]

I'll take the last two I have and give this oven trick a shot. I've been using the turkey fryer thermometer, my Brewers Best floating thermometer and a small Polder digital probe thermometer (about the size of a pen, with no braid) in the interim.

Hey Rhoo, I tried the oven trick on mine yesterday...worked great! Where are you finding replacement probes? I haven't been able to find any.

 

[Fudd]

I was just judging by eye for steeping temperatures until my last batch. My girlfriends mom has this great candy thermometer that goes from like 50 to whatever I need. Threw me off the first time though, I was waiting for the wort to boil again after I added the LME and the thermometer was at 100 but it wasn't boiling, so I guess the boiling point changes after you add the LME. Anyways yes, candy thermometer.

 

[Rhoobarb]

Hey Rhoo, I tried the oven trick on mine yesterday...worked great! Where are you finding replacement probes? I haven't been able to find any.

I, too, tried it last night and it worked! There is about a 1 degree difference b/w the two, but I can live with that.

I didn't get replacement probes; I went out and bought brand new meters! I did some checking online into getting replacement probes, but they cost as much as buying an entire new meter, so I didn't bother.

After I bought my last one, I realized that these things usually have warranties anywhere from 10 years to lifetime, depending on the manufacturer. I now hold onto my receipt!

 

[Dude]

Hey Rhoo, I tried the oven trick on mine yesterday...worked great! Where are you finding replacement probes? I haven't been able to find any.

Morebeer has them!

 

[casebrew]

I bought a digital meat thermometer off eBay, $10, new. Made in France. Meat didn't cook right, but it read 212 in boiling water, so I tried to mash with it. Once I got the braid soaked, it read 335. So I baked it in the oven (as an oven thermometer, it's supposed to be good for 400 degrees). Seemed to work well, so next batch I taped it to the inside of my mash vessel. Seemed handy, I could check the temp without opening lid, but it was not accurate. I think the thermister in the needle is neat the top, not down near the tip. So, in the oven it reads too hot, in the mash it reads the air temp above the mash. Maybe I'll try a piece of hose over the probe to keep the mash water out, then submege the whole thing? I need a mash thermometer more than I need a turkey tester...

ETA, photo stores sell a thermometer for about $7 too. It goes lower than the ones from the brew store, and still to boiling. But may be mercury, I'll have to look.

 

[Dude]

I think I fixed my thermometer woes.

After many hours of searching, I scored this:

It is waterproof, digital, and cheap. I ran it through the ringer last night, cold, warm, boiling, it was dead on at freezing and at boiling. I compared it with my other thermometers, and It was the most accurate of all of them.
I like the bi-metal thermometers, but I just don't trust them. I wanted something digital, and something that wasn't a pain to calibrate (this automatically calibrates). the real test will be when I brew, but from what I've read (other forums) this baby is the answer I've been looking for.

I got mine at Linens 'n Things. I might go back for a few more (for my HLT and a back-up) after I brew with it and it passes the mash test.

http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1355501&cp&sGroup=Other&keywords=thermometer&searchId=10553386521&parentPage=search

 

[deranged_hermit]

happy 2000 posts btw dude

 

[parasonic]

Ashcroft bimetal 5" everyangle thermometers. Accurate to 1 degree, and the scale is nice and visible with the 5" face. Probe depth is 9", and I use a thermowell in all of my kettles.

 

[ajf]

I think I fixed my thermometer woes.

After many hours of searching, I scored this:

It is waterproof, digital, and cheap. I ran it through the ringer last night, cold, warm, boiling, it was dead on at freezing and at boiling. I compared it with my other thermometers, and It was the most accurate of all of them.
I like the bi-metal thermometers, but I just don't trust them. I wanted something digital, and something that wasn't a pain to calibrate (this automatically calibrates). the real test will be when I brew, but from what I've read (other forums) this baby is the answer I've been looking for.

I got mine at Linens 'n Things. I might go back for a few more (for my HLT and a back-up) after I brew with it and it passes the mash test.

http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1355501&cp&sGroup=Other&keywords=thermometer&searchId=10553386521&parentPage=search

Looks just like mine except mine's blue. I've been using it for many years without any problems.

I also have a brewmometer http://www.northernbrewer.com/thermometers.html
It is also accurate within a degree at 32, 120, 140, 160, 180, and 212 degrees, and plugs up the hole in the side of my kettle.

-a.