I’ve been using an inexpensive basic thermometer but it seems to be getting out of wack.
If I calibrate it to a boil it reads too low when in ice water. If I calibrate it in the ice water it reads too high in the boil. It’s the second one I’ve had this happen to after a while.
I was curious if anyone has some thoughts on why that happens, how to fix it, or recommendations on a better thermometer in general?
I was having thermometer troubles too. As I now understand it, both liquid filled (including mercury as well as alcohol) and bimetal types are inherently inaccurate, both slow to respond and difficult or impossible to calibrate across the full range. The best thermometers are those relying on electroconductivity to measure temperature, which is what most modern digital instant read thermometers are. (Infrared thermometers are inaccurate when reading certain materials or reflective surfaces, so no good for taking the temperature of your fermenter, among other things.) I’ve been using this one for all my kitchen and brewing applications, and the fact that my invert syrup as well as everything else comes out perfect now indicates to me that it is very accurate. Just an example, there are plenty of others like it. Lavatools Javelin PRO Duo… Amazon.com
Appreciate all the feedback. Is that Javelin as good as a thermapen? Look’s similar. I’m fine dropping a few $ since it will get a lot of use between brewing and the kitchen.
I have a Thermopen and a Chefs Alarm. I use the Chefs Alarm for brewing most often. I set the base on the shelf and lower the probe into the BK, start the induction cooktop, and go about milling grain and weighing minerals. It tells me when I reach a certain temp to mash in. I also use the timer to tell me when mash steps are complete and when to add additions to the boil. Finally, I check cooling temps before I transfer to the fermenter.
Can’t give you a side by side. My understanding is that the important thing is the principle they work on, and that all the good quality instant read digital ones made in the last several years use the same principle. A really old digital or dial thermometer you find in your kitchen drawer probably doesn’t. If I’m wrong it’s mostly Alton Brown’s fault.
One other thing. Some have a stepped down, very thin tip. This will give a much quicker response than a thicker probe with more thermal mass, but I don’t know how critical this is. It makes me feel safe when making syrup, probably irrelevant in the mash and such.
I have the Thermoworks RT600C. It doesn’t respond as fast and isn’t quite as accurate as the Thermapen. However, it’s only $24. After having it for 5 years it still works well.
Thermoworks is the Thermapen manufacturer, so you have some assurance that their less expensive products are still pretty good. In my opinion, buying Thermoworks’ less expensive products are virtually equivalent to buying a Thermapen. I have several of their less expensive thermometers and check them regularly with my NIST-certified mercury thermometer and they are rock solid.
Save your bucks and buy the less expensive units. They are actually truly worth it.
Whew! Glad to see my Javelin came in second only to the Thermapen at half the price. I trust these guys, didn’t think to check them while researching. Thanks for posting this link.
EDIT BTW their only criticism of the Javelin seems to be that one button controls multiple functions. This has never bothered me because the only function I use is reading the temperature. I’m not even sure what other functions there are. :
I agree with Martin that the less expensive ThermoWorks units can be just as good as the Thermapen in practice. For me, build quality and waterproofing was a top priority. I’ve had other accurate thermometers die when the electronics got wet. Kitchens and breweries are wet places. I chose the 600D for it’s accuracy and waterproofing: Executive Series® Thermometer - ThermoWorks
To me, nearly the same as the Thermapen, but it doesn’t fold, making it cheaper to manufacture and easier to waterproof.
FWIW - I also use the Javlin in both my brewery and my kitchen. It has a tapered tip for a very quick response and was no where near the cost of the ThermoPen.
I have a Thermapen and a temp gauge that is similar to the ThermoWorks MTC Mini Handheld Thermocouple. The temp gauge is probably more useful because it has an alarm and probe that I leave in the media I am measuring so I know that my strike water or meat has hit the desired temperature or that the wort is about to boil so I can turn down the heat to avoid a boilover. I have both a water proof probe and a high temperature probe for use in the oven/bbq. The temp gauge IME is as accurate as the Thermapen (although the Thermapen is my reference) but somewhat slower which isn’t an issue because I leave the probe in the media.
Yea that’s what I thought. I pulled the trigger on it. It does seem universal that the Thermapen is the gold standard but if the Javelin is just as accurate I figured why not. Looking forward to leaving the dark ages of temperature measurement.
I use Thermoworks products in brewing and in cooking. I have never had a problem in terms of calibration, but the Thermapen is the quickest, which means my hand is saved when inserting it into a hot grill with meat on it (I know - just use a glove…but I still like its speed and accuracy). I only calibrate it when changing batteries, which is pretty rare.