Poxy thermometer...

[Dennis King]

Heard mixed results about those hand held infrared ones, interested to hear how you get on with it.

Probably from me. There are cheap ones about and they perform accordingly. I bought one for checking yeast temp in a glass flask before pitching in an effort to avoid contamination via a probe. I have used numerous thermometers from glass to digital. I have had only one worthy of using and that is a Thermapen, fast accurate and robust, £ for £ it is a no brainer.

I also like the Thermopen.

[f00b4r]

Another fan of the thermapen, you can pick them up much cheaper on the manufacturer's (ETI) open box shop on eBay knowing it has been properly calibrated, has a full guarantee and is genuine. They also do cheaper models that are not as quick to tell the temperature but if you can go for the thermapen.

[orlando]

Another fan of the thermapen, you can pick them up much cheaper on the manufacturer's (ETI) open box shop on eBay knowing it has been properly calibrated, has a full guarantee and is genuine. They also do cheaper models that are not as quick to tell the temperature but if you can go for the thermapen.

Yes, I went for the Amazon link to give an example of them. I got mine the way you suggest and paid about £25. Must have had it 3 years now and only changed the battery once. Another factor with it is I find it useful to be able to flame it before sticking it into yeast, properly cooled afterwards of course.

[Matt in Birdham]

+1 to the thermapen. There is no alternative! (their pH meters suck though - at least the one I bought).

[Fil]

the thermapen has 2 major benefits for me, the lcd display is large and clear, if you need to take a reading upside down or at an odd angle or in poor light with aging eyes for any reason its clear and unambiguous, Secondly its pretty rapid at settling on a stable reading, some can take an age to slowly step up/down from ambient temp when you want a quick reading..

its not a cheap device and due to the features above it can quickly become the kitchen thermometer which may not be a bad thing in some households??

[themadhippy]

Dont forget https://www.thermometersuperstore.co.uk/ gives jbk users a 10% discount
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=32942&p=782483&hil ... re#p782483

[ManseMasher]

Wasn't aware of that - thank you! If my latest purchase is only fit for scaring speeding motorists or stunning aliens they will be my next port of call!

[Matt in Birdham]

the thermapen has 2 major benefits for me, the lcd display is large and clear, if you need to take a reading upside down or at an odd angle or in poor light with aging eyes for any reason its clear and unambiguous, Secondly its pretty rapid at settling on a stable reading, some can take an age to slowly step up/down from ambient temp when you want a quick reading..

its not a cheap device and due to the features above it can quickly become the kitchen thermometer which may not be a bad thing in some households??

+ they are very accurate, and come with a calibration certificate (not sure what use that is, but it does at least suggest that they are calibrated before sale..). I recently went to re-calibrate my thermapen after 2 1/2 years and it was still absolutely spot on.
I'm embarrassed to admit that early in my AG career I brewed with a thermometer that was fully 2C out for quite a few months. Hence purchase of thermapen and my new, rigorous biennial thermometer calibration regime

[BenB]

I'm a big fan of the cheaper thermometer made by the thermopen people. Costs half as much and I'm a firm believer in physics! It might cost more but how does it work any quicker? Okay they could reduce the stabilisation time by filling the thermopen probes with some super low thermal capacity compound but I suspect they're solid metal! Certainly the one I've got tends to stabilise in about a second which is more than quick enough for me.

[Dennis King]

The certification was what I liked about the thermopen. I did a test a few years back. At the time I had a cheapish digital one and 3 glass ones. I put them all in jug of hot water at the same time and all 4 showed different temperatures.

[orlando]

Wasn't aware of that - thank you! If my latest purchase is only fit for scaring speeding motorists or stunning aliens they will be my next port of call!

They're not mutually exclusive, get both they can do different jobs so end up complementing each other.

[ManseMasher]

Well it has arrived! Seems accurate in steam from the kettle, and on the surface of a glass of iced water. Added bonus - the dog is going crackers chasing the laser spot around the garden, meaning I can exercise her from the kitchen whilst sampling my last batch. Winner winner chicken dinner......

[labowner]

Haha, I have a similar one and will now be tormenting the dog with it ;)

[ManseMasher]

Haha, I have a similar one and will now be tormenting the dog with it

Good to see you on here mate!

[Tony1951]

I have a cheap Ebay one and I tested it in boiling and ice water and found it was within about half a degree. I test it now and then and it has been working for a few months now.

One thing though, I find the accuracy of mine at test in iced water and boiling water depends on how far I stick the probe into the test water. It reads correctly when the tip is 0ne centimetre into the fluid being measured. Push it in further and accuracy suffers. That's my observation anyway.

The electronic head on mine got soaked once and went all queer, but I removed the battery and left it in a warm spot for a couple of days to dry out and it came back to normal function.