Instant read thermometers..

NoVA Bill

I've been reading posts for the last hour on the Thermapen/Therma Pus. I also went to the Naked Whiz for comments.

It's plain to see that most everyone luvs their Thermapen/Therma Plus, would be the last thing they'd give up. I'm trying to find out what the top 2 or 3 reasons for spending $74 to $96 for a Thermapen/Therma Plus are - especially since I've recently joined the ranks of the unemployed and my purchases are being audited by my real boss, i.e., wife :(

Here's what I've found and I'd appreciate your comments wrt me being on track or not:

Reasons for Thermapen/Therma Plus vs a std stick thermometer

1) It's the gold standard for calibration of any additonal thermometers one might have
2) Reduces time the dome is open helping to keep dome/grid temp stabilized with an acurate meat temp reading
3) Minimizes intrusion into the meat being cooked

Thanks in advance!

gdenby

You won't just use the Thermapen for Egg cooking. For instance, I'm learning to make sourdough. The yeast cannot be exposed to water above 110. When I'm adding warm water to the starter, I whip out the Thermapen, and test the temperature of the heated distilled water.

I also use it to test the temperature of the loaves so that I can be certain they have reached cooked temperature, rather than rely on how brown they are, or how hollow they sound when tapped.

The probe is delicate enough that on my last batch of rib tips, which were cooking unevenly, I was able to find many places where the probe would not touch bone, and so learn that some pieces were at 200, others 170.

Overall, I can now pay attention to temperature much more easily and accurately.

NoVA Bill

Very interesting wrt your baking comments - Thanks.

And I've been having a heck of a time getting my ribs cooked and it's all operator error - could be a big help.

stike

...you have six steaks cooking. wife wants medium, your mother in law wants well done, the kids want medium well, you want medium rare.

open the lid with a "regular" thermometer which takes five to ten seconds to return the actual temp. starting at the first steak, and moving around, you'll find by the time you make it around you have cooked that the last steak a minute longer, and your hand has been at searing temps for the whole time.

no ones ever asks the guy who bought a mercedes why he bought a mercedes. here's your chance to have a mercedes for only $75-80

Grand Oeuf Vert

Since purchasing a Thermopen, I've had much better cook results. Try justifying the purchase by the amount of money you'll save on not having to discard food that has been over/under cooked. But on the other hand, I hear ya on the Unemployment budgeting. Me too!

NoVA Bill

I resemble the remark "and your hand has been at searing temp for the whole time"

Good points - thanks.

fishlessman

i thought they were pricey too, i now have three of them :laugh: wouldnt want to cook without one. one at home, one at camp, ones in my luggage

Gator Bait

Hey Bill,

This is the Therma Plus,

it is water proof, shock resistant and I can turn the display toward any light source on a dark night. The price will get you fired in a heart beat. I am self employed, that is to say single and can splurge occasionally on my toys. This is taking speed and accuracy to an extreme. I use the smaller meat probe almost exclusively. It is needle sharp and small enough to probe a very thin skirt steak. It gives me a reading as fast as I can get the probe in place. A grill covered in bratwurst is a breeze, readings are spontaneous and the hole left by the probe does not drain all the juices.
Often I will take what I am testing off the grill and place it on a plate that I have right there. This allows me to close the grill in a minimal amount of time and I can test the meat at my leisure. Numerous small items like chicken thighs or brats I will leave on the grill as I can test them individually very quickly.
Since getting it I no longer over cook things, the biggest problem I had adapting to the egg. Once I learn the internal temperature for the level of doneness (is that a word?) that I like I am good to go. For example steaks get pulled at 122º, pork loin and chops at 138º.

Have a great day,

Gator

Double Bogey

Sorry to hear of your job loss Bill.

Three reasons to "invest" in a Thermapen:
1. accuracy and speed of reading
2. improved cooking results
3. ease of use

NoVA Bill

Gator,

Necessity is the mother of invention :laugh:

Talk about building a Mercedes. Your rig is so cool.

Have a great day also!

Thanks,

NoVA Bill

Thanks for your concern, I'm relieved to be out of that situation - gona take 6 months to figure out what I want to be when I grow up :laugh: (as long as the wife's real estate business keeps increasing that is :woohoo: :laugh: )

It appears the vote is unanimous and convencing - the Thermapen is value added to cooking not only on the Egg for a mulitude of reasons as presented by the posters today but also in the kitchen.

And there are space age versons avialble if you can get the kitchen pass to buy one :laugh:

Gator Bait

Bill,

Another thing I use it for and probably the most practical is to calibrate all my other thermometers. If this one says my cup of water is 196º instead of 211º I make sure my dome thermometer and my DigiQII and my cheap instant read are all saying the same thing. As long as they all agree with this one I know I am right on the money. I might be slightly obsessive about accuracy. :woohoo:

Gator

wrjohns

The thermapen looks really nice and all, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to justify additional Egg-related items to my wife. I'm currently using a Williams-Sonoma grill probe. This at least gives me an idea of when its done. Just about everytime when I've guestimated when to pull an item out to test its temperature, I'm either way undercooked, or way overcooked.

From reading this thread, I can see there are a lot of things to like about the thermapen...but how do you deal with knowing when to pull the food without constantly reopening the dome to check for doneness?

Camano

The wife uses it for checking the water temp when giving the granddaughter a bath.

Morro Bay Rich

No one has mentioned the ability to take the temp of what you are cooking and not having to have your hand over the glowing coals for 30 sec while the darn thermometer gets its reading. :ermm:

Unknown

Bill,
I've been wanting a thermapen for about a year now. I've finally broken down and bought one about a week ago. It should be here tomarrow! :P Anyways, not sure if you know this they have a new thermapen. It's called the "Splash-proof" thermapen. It, as the title says, is splashproof, and gets to final temp. in 3 secs, 1 second faster than previous model. Also is a tad more accurate. Go on there website to check it out: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/splashproof_thermapen.html

If you do end up getting a thermapen, it might be worth the extra $15 and get the newer model...

highpress

NoVA Bill

Thanks and I am aware. Departing with 100 bucks for the thermometer takes a little time to get used to :laugh:

NoVA Bill

I have the singed arm hairs to attest to my awareness :laugh:

NoVA Bill

Sounds like a question for the Eggsperts to address.

I know with a butt I don't open the dome for at least 5 hours (only because I had one small butt finish in 7 hours) and guess when to check from there based on how close to plateau the butt is. With chicken on a 350 - 375 direct raised grid cook I turn piece parts every twently/thirty minutes so I get a good feeling on temp. Hamburgers I turn every 10 minutes and with steaks choose your method. I do believe the Thermapen will help in keeping dome temp more stable as it's a quicker check produce a more consistant serving temp and help in calibrating other thermometers. So now I just need to let go of some caeeeesh :unsure:

emt_24

I got my Thermapen 2 weeks ago and already my wife was remarked she can tell a difference in my cooking skills. My steaks turn out better mainly because my old thermometer would take forever to read a temp, and when it did I did not trust it. No more with my Thermapen, within 2-3 secs your GTG. My cheap walmart thermometer would read boiling water on the money, but I have found since getting my Thermapen its off by as much as 15 degrees on lower temps. Can you live without one and turn out good food on your BGE.....Yes. After having one though would you want to live without it? NO!

fishlessman

heres a good chart for when you get your thermapen, it tells you ideal times to remove the meat from the grill, you can refine it to your liking as your cooks go on :laugh: i havent found a more accurate chart
http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/doneness_chart.htm

rosros

The thermapen has been time tested by eggers to be accurate. There are other less expensive alternatives out there, but you will be shooting in the dark whether that particular thermometer is any good.

I have a Brookstone instant read analog thermometer that goes from room temp to boiling water in little over 4seconds. This is the pen that food inspectors use and is very accurate. I have had it for years and the price back then was between $30-40.

Some like analog better because it is easier to see where you have been and how far you have to go.

NoVA Bill

Thanks, I've bookmarked the site.