Hey, anybody know of a dial thermo that’s like the blichmann (3" face) but with a longer probe or stem? I’ve long ago given up on digital thermos and now I’m tired of the constant adjustment and inaccuracy of my Brewers Edge thermo; yesterday I ended up mashing in 10 degrees lower than I what I wanted and that’s after having adjusted the pos earlier in the morning (I think it’s just worn out). I manually check my mash temps by holding the dial above the mash so 8 to 12 inches would be good. Any thoughts welcome. Cheers, j
I’ve got two of the MoreBeer ones that I use. Looks like they’re just 2" and not 3" though. The stem
is 12 inches…
http://morebeer.com/view_product/18682/102228/Thermometer_-_2%22_x_12%22_High_Quality
+1 For the Morebeer / Fermentap dial. I treat mine VERY badly but when I go to calibrate it, its always spot on.
As long as you don’t bend the shaft, these dial thermometers are very durable and repeatable. You should still plan on calibrating with a known thermometer such as a NIST-traceable thermometer or other really accurate instrument at a temperature in your typical mashing temperature range. You CANNOT calibrate these dial thermometers accurately by doing the ice-water and boiling water calibration. They probably won’t be reading the right temp at your mashing temp.
For you homebrew clubs out there, buying a club thermometer that is calibrated is a pretty good thing to have. Then you can bring it to club meetings or functions and members can bring and calibrate their thermometers. I just stick all the units in an insulated cup with water heated to the proper temp and start comparing and adjusting. You can find calibrated units on Ebay frequently for under $100, probably well under that.
This is so important it bears repeating…the often used freezing/boiling point calibration can still leave you far off the mark at mash temps.
and bears repeating yet another time. I calibrated both of mine to my NIST-certified thermo at around 150dF. With them calibrated at that point, they’re not really close at freezing (closer but still not right on at boiling).
REPLY TO ALL:
Thanks, I like the description of the morebeer thermo, looks like I’ll be giving this one a try. Martin/denny, I agree and this is the way I’ve always calibrated my thermo. I think this time around I’ll fork out the cash for a couple thermo that way I have a dedicated thermo for the mash range and one for water heating, etc. If anyone has a dial thermo that they think is better than the morebeer version let me know.
Most dial thermometers, like most dial gauges, are the most accurate in the middle of the range. A 0 - 200f thermometer would be the most accurate around the 100f mark, i.e. the plus-minus variation is the least.
A good mashing thermometer would be one in the 0 - 300 range, of better yet a 100 - 200 range.
McMaster Carr ( www.mcmaster.com ) has just about any one you could imagine.
Since morebeer doesn’t have theirs in stock (imagine that) I guess I won’t go with it. Ok mcmaster was a step in the right direction, thanks. They don’t seem to have a 100-200 range thermo. I know beggars shouldn’t be chosers but…if the world were a perfect place there would be a -
12" stem
2-3" face
silicone-filled
100-200 degree F range (2 deg increments) or even a 0-100 C
Anybody used a milk frother dial thermo for mashing? That’s the right range I wonder if there’s a pro level industrial version.