Measuring temp with a Thermapen

Unknown

After reading the thread about thermapens below, I would like some information, please. Everyone states that they get an "instant" read. I too, get an instant read, but then the reading continues to climb over the next 12-18 seconds until it reaches the actual meat temp. I'm not using a cheap knock-off: I have two thremapens purchased from Mollyshark and both operate exactly the same, which is to say, very slowly,it seems.
I have taken burgers completely off the grill and plated, just to remove the chance of "cooker heat" influencing the reading. Inserting the probe will produce a quick read of, say, 76°,84°,then two or three seconds later 93°, and then it bumps up three to six degrees at a time every few seconds until it reaches the actual meat temp of, for example, 150°. I understand that the "instant read" part will have an initial low reading and then bump up to the actual meat temp, but mine will have a 70°-85° spread over almost 20 seconds. This is neither fast nor accurate. Am I doing something wrong?

stike

that doesn't sound right at all.

it should return the final temp much quicker than that. how old is it? i needed to change the batteries on mine after it started to do the "slow climb" thing.

the knock-offs give you an itial temp, then climb in two or three degree increments over ten seconds or so. the thermapen should feel "live" or nearly instant.

fishlessman

i would call thermapen, mines almost instant with meat temps and you can watch it decrease as the probe slides into the center and start increasing as it approaches the other side. now if your taking the tenp of very hot liquid like oil in a frier, its slow and sometimes will even shut off before hitting the highest temp, but for meat its quick

lowercasebill

stick it in some boilng water 212° [assuming you are at sea level]]in 3 seconds no changes after that ...if it does not do that call thermopen

stike

hey... that's odd. the reason i thought my thermapen battery was dying was that it took a long time to register the temps when i was frying in oil (french fries). and it DID shut off. why is that?

i had no idea that was an idiosyncracy with the thermapen, and assumed my batteries were dying. did you see or hear of this somewhere, or just figure it out yourself? ...just looked like a dying battery to me.

reelgem

I've had the opposite problem. I'll get a high reading and think the food is done and then it starts dropping when I get it to the table. So are you supposed to take the food off the egg when you're testing it? I've checked the calibration and it's exactly 212 in boiling water.

fishlessman

i dont know if its the battery, and mine are getting old with the origional batteries. both at the house will eventually read the temp of frying oil, but they usually need to be restarted halfway thru getting to temp. i dont think they work well with hot oil, but it could be the batteries, ill change them when i cant take the temp of a chicken and use a frying probe instead.

stike

well i guess what i mean is that is exactly what happened to me. works fine in meat, etc.

weird.

Celtic Wolf

It will drop after you reach the cooler center.

PhilsGrill

You might want to consider the Taylor Weekend Warrior 806 instant read thermometer. Rated tops in Consumer Reports for speed and accuracy. It's also waterproof and has an antibacterial storage sleeve. The Thermapen has neither. Best of all, it's only $16!

lowercasebill

i think it would be helpful if we made sure we are talking about the same hunks of meat... large chunks of meat will continue to cook and the internal temp will go up for maybe 20 mins after comming off the egg. and go up as much as 10 ° thinner pieces of meat will go up little and begin to cool much quicker.. a 1 inch steak will be cooler by the time it gets to the table and round roast or leg of lamb will probably warmer inside when it gets to the table..
bill

Celtic Wolf

If you went to the 10th Annual Eggtoberfest you were given one of those. Not quite as fast as the Thermopen, but it is a good backup.

However, that sleeve fits too tight and you could stab yourself removing.

fishlessman

you could add to that with cooking temps, high cooking temps have more carry over than low cooking temps and different cooks use a wide variety of temps to cook burgers at.

lowercasebill

yup... lots of stuff to consider.. that's what is great about this forum . thanks

Unknown

I guess I will have to send both units back to Thermoworks. I have changed the batteries in each unit, with no change in function. I tested the quickness of reading in a glass of ice water and it locked in within 3-4 seconds. Meat thickness, or meat continuing to cook during the resting stage has not been the problem: I know that the final reading will change from periods of elapsed time. My problem is that the reading, whatever it ultimately is, is arrived at over a very long time when compared to that indicated by other posters. Since two units both behave the same way I thought maybe I was missing something (besides the hair on my arms). I was hoping it wouldn't need to be sent back. It might be slow, but I still don't want to live without it!
Again, thanks for the help you all have offered.

stike

you said that testing in ice water gives you the reading in 3 seconds.

when does it take you longer?

Grandpas Grub

RVH,

You should call or email Amber and let her know your concerns. I have always received great customer support from Thermoworks.

Amber:

Phone 801-756-7705
Fax 801-756-8948
e- address amber@thermoworks.com

She us usually there M-F 8 to 5 MST (lunch time might be a problem talking with her).


Kent

Grandpas Grub

RVH - Just got off the phone with Amber and I have some information for you.

email me with your phone number or email address and I will contact you directly.

Kent

Unknown

Stike, it takes longer when I check the temperature of anything besides ice water. Cold water locks in to the final temp very quickly, but everything else (which has all been cooked food) is a described above....

Unknown

Hi, Kent. I will email you.

Unknown

Kent, it turns out the email address I have for you is wrong/no longer valid. I can't view a current one, as I have been unable to complete the registration process.... still just a visitor, but I hope to be green someday when I grow up.

BENTE

i sent you a email but not sure if it is the right one since RVH has the wrong one i just used the one through the forum

Grandpas Grub

Shoot.....

didn't think about you not being green.

kentja at comcast dot net

Kent