walmart thermometer

[sputnam]

So i thought i'd save a few bucks and get a $15 meat thermometer. (i've already burned thru 2 $30 one's in just a few months. Anyhow, mashed in at 154° - perfect. 30 mins passes and it 156° - well, that's unusual i thought. so i opened up the tun and stirred...it went to 158°. I started to freak a little...was getting ready to dump some cool water in and i decided to check with two other therms i have. it was like 147°. I hope the POS them was correct when it said 154° at the beginning but I have no idea. So, worst case scenario the mash sat at 147° for an hour. Am i gonna have an extremely dry Boo Slobber or what? What might that change on my OG?

 

[rico567]

Well, if it' TOO high or TOO low, yeah, Boo Slobber sounds pretty much on the money. But if you're a bit low, you'll get a "cleaner" finish, since everything in reach will be eaten by the yeasties. Somewhat higher, there will be more unfermentables, so maybe maltier. One of the fun things to me about this game is what happens when I'm "not quite on." Sometimes the results are pretty good.

As far as thermometers go, I use the foot-long dial type stick thermometer that came with my original kit to monitor coming up to a boil or down to <70F for chilling purposes. For mashing purposes, it's strictly Thermapen all the way. Yep, they're around $100. Yep, you get what you pay for.....

 

[Clonefan94]

Well, if it' TOO high or TOO low, yeah, Boo Slobber sounds pretty much on the money. But if you're a bit low, you'll get a "cleaner" finish, since everything in reach will be eaten by the yeasties. Somewhat higher, there will be more unfermentables, so maybe maltier. One of the fun things to me about this game is what happens when I'm "not quite on." Sometimes the results are pretty good.

As far as thermometers go, I use the foot-long dial type stick thermometer that came with my original kit to monitor coming up to a boil or down to <70F for chilling purposes. For mashing purposes, it's strictly Thermapen all the way. Yep, they're around $100. Yep, you get what you pay for.....

Thermapen here as well. I use a remote thermometer when heating strike and mash temps, but I adjust the temp because it's about 4 degrees off on the high side. Anyways, I use it for the alarm, to let me know I'm close, then I take a final reading with the Thermapen.

As the OP said, he'd already blew $60 of two previous therms. Now another $15, if you look you can find them arounjd $80.

 

[sputnam]

thermapen...got it, thanks!

 

[zardozap]

I buy cheap digital ones for about $10 at my local Ocean State Job Lot. They've always been accurate for me, even if they aren't the fanciest built things. I can't complain.

 

[bondra76]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VXZVNG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

This is the best thermometer I've ever owned. And I can use it in anything - the boil, the mash, the fermentor.

Probably one of the best products I have ever bought on Amazon. Seriously.

The only downside is not a power on/off button. But the battery life is very good.

 

[sputnam]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VXZVNG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

This is the best thermometer I've ever owned. And I can use it in anything - the boil, the mash, the fermentor.

Probably one of the best products I have ever bought on Amazon. Seriously.

The only downside is not a power on/off button. But the battery life is very good.

i'm so glad you chimed in! thanks a lot, I will order this thing this week!

 

[unionrdr]

I use a floating thermometer that cost me $6.50 at the lhbs. Works just fine for me. I also have an All Temp laser thermometer pen for checking fermenters,yeast starters/re-hydrating in my flask.

 

[cjgenever]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_box_?k=cdn

It's water proof and can be calibrated. This is the best thermometer I've owned. It's not a thermopen, but it's almost as good. I use it to 'calibrate' my other thermometers. I love the thin tip for general kitchen use. I have a cdn candy thermometer ($5 find, New) that has a 12" probe. It's great for the mash and deep frying.

There aren't many inexpensive options that will work for the needs brewing. The cdn pro accurates do.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[cjgenever]

I use a floating thermometer that cost me $6.50 at the lhbs. Works just fine for me. I also have an All Temp laser thermometer pen for checking fermenters,yeast starters/re-hydrating in my flask.

I bought a floating rig once.was off by six degrees!. POS.

by laser pen, do you mean ir with laser pointer? Those are affected by the reflective index of the medium/surface being measured, and liquids can wreak havoc on such readings.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[unionrdr]

No,it's not a laser pointer. It's a short fat pen-like device I got from Midwest. You touch the end to the surface of a fermenter,flask,bottle,whatever & press the button. It then reads the temp till it settles on the actual one. Reads to one decimal point. Here's the page from Midwest that shows it; http://www.midwestsupplies.com/alltemptm-digital-wine-food-thermometer-with-clip.html

 

[cjgenever]

No,it's not a laser pointer. It's a short fat pen-like device I got from Midwest. You touch the end to the surface of a fermenter,flask,bottle,whatever & press the button. It then reads the temp till it settles on the actual one. Reads to one decimal point. Here's the page from Midwest that shows it; http://www.midwestsupplies.com/alltemptm-digital-wine-food-thermometer-with-clip.html

Haha! No, I didn't mean a laser pointer! I would not assume anyone were that unintelligent to think a pointer reads temp.

An ir (infrared) thermometer will often utilize a visible laser to indicate where it's taking the measurement. That's what I was referring to.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[unionrdr]

OK,yeah. It does light up so you can see the laser is working. Works pretty good too. But not on liquids or brew kettles. Otherwise it's darn handy.