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How do you clean your thermapen between readings?

mlamb01
mlamb01 Posts: 210
in EggHead Forum
Just came up with this idea not too long ago...  Wipe it off with a paper towel, then stick the thermometer tip into one of the daisy wheel hole openings until it reads over 300 for a few seconds.  Heat should kill all the remaining bacteria, right?
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  • WeberWho
    WeberWho Posts: 11,532
    edited March 2015
    Jeans or fingers 90% of the time.  Will clean with some hot water if using with guests.  My wife will usually clean it otherwise  
    "The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan

    Minnesota
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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    Hot soapy water and/or sanitizing wipe. 
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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  • Thumper169
    Thumper169 Posts: 88
    I use sanitizing wipes and rinse it with soapy water and dry. 
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  • THEBuckeye
    THEBuckeye Posts: 4,232
    Quick soap and water wipe
    New Albany, Ohio 

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  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,196
    Sanitizing wipe, and back into the bbq shed to wait for its next use. 
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  • Acn
    Acn Posts: 4,490
    Hot soapy water

    LBGE

    Pikesville, MD

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  • Hi54putty
    Hi54putty Posts: 1,873
    shirt
    XL,L,S 
    Winston-Salem, NC 
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  • PNWFoodie
    PNWFoodie Posts: 1,046
    You're supposed to clean it? :)
    XL, JR, and more accessories than anyone would ever need near Olympia, WA
    Sandy
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    PNWFoodie said:
    You're supposed to clean it? :)
    Not if you're raising boys!

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    Hmm.. I really don't.  I may run it along my apron, but that is about it.  If you probe in at one time and is under done, say for chicken, and it is 140°, and then you probe back later and it is done, shouldn't that internal kill what was there from the 140°?  

    I do clean every once in a while for storage with a Clorox wipe.  
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
    Instagram
    Facebook
    My Photography Site
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  • Walt2015
    Walt2015 Posts: 583
    The dog
    Memphis, TN ----> Chattanooga, TN
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  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,835
    Kind of on topic, how do you clean the probes on your maverick's?  I'll wipe down the thermapen with a soapy cloth, then dry cloth.  However the maverick can get dirt "cooked" on to it.  Do you soak just the probes and wipe clean?  I try to get most of it clean with a wet cloth, but there's some serious gunk on them.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio
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  • mlamb01
    mlamb01 Posts: 210
    @YEMTrey - I use one of those green SOS pads, it will remove all the baked on black stuff and bring back the shine.
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  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,835
    mlamb01 said:
    @YEMTrey - I use one of those green SOS pads, it will remove all the baked on black stuff and bring back the shine.
    Thanks!  I'm so scared of messing up the wire connection to them I haven't tried too much.  I'll definitely give that a whirl.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio
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  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    YEMTrey said:
    Kind of on topic, how do you clean the probes on your maverick's?  I'll wipe down the thermapen with a soapy cloth, then dry cloth.  However the maverick can get dirt "cooked" on to it.  Do you soak just the probes and wipe clean?  I try to get most of it clean with a wet cloth, but there's some serious gunk on them.
    After every probe?  If you're cooking chicken, I probe a lot to ensure temp is good.  For storage, I agree, but in between readings.  
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
    Instagram
    Facebook
    My Photography Site
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  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,835
    tarheelmatt said:
    YEMTrey said:
    Kind of on topic, how do you clean the probes on your maverick's?  I'll wipe down the thermapen with a soapy cloth, then dry cloth.  However the maverick can get dirt "cooked" on to it.  Do you soak just the probes and wipe clean?  I try to get most of it clean with a wet cloth, but there's some serious gunk on them.
    After every probe?  If you're cooking chicken, I probe a lot to ensure temp is good.  For storage, I agree, but in between readings.  
    No, after use before I put it away.  The thermapen will stay on my table or in my pocket during cooks.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    I have a instahot tap in my kitchen.  I use that and an SOS pad to clean my probes being very careful not to get the wires wet or the electronics section of the instaread thermometer.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,597
    only place i see an issue is with ground product where the bad stuff could be hiding in the middle, so i dont use the thermapen on ground stuff =) honestly, whats going to kill you while checking mostly cooked chicken parts etc
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Grillmagic
    Grillmagic Posts: 1,600
    Soapy water every time.
    Charlotte, Michigan XL BGE
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  • Tackman
    Tackman Posts: 230
    I put it in the dishwasher. I keep getting faulty ones, because right after that cleaning, they always stop working. 
    Cleveland, Ohio
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,457
    YEMTrey said:
    Kind of on topic, how do you clean the probes on your maverick's?  I'll wipe down the thermapen with a soapy cloth, then dry cloth.  However the maverick can get dirt "cooked" on to it.  Do you soak just the probes and wipe clean?  I try to get most of it clean with a wet cloth, but there's some serious gunk on them.
    The way I clean all of my probes that are used for monitoring meat temperatures thus getting crud on the part outside is to use the back side of a common dinner knife and scrape them clean.  Then I finish wiping off with a soapy hot water dish cloth, but I never submerge any problems in water. As for cleaning the cable I always keep my cables wrapped in foil so no cleaning issues.

    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167
    Tongue.
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
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  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    edited March 2015
    mlamb01 said:
    Just came up with this idea not too long ago...  Wipe it off with a paper towel, then stick the thermometer tip into one of the daisy wheel hole openings until it reads over 300 for a few seconds.  Heat should kill all the remaining bacteria, right?
    I have been using this technique while cooking.  Stands to reason IMO.  I think any bacteria is killed at 160 pretty much instantly, so if you let it get past 200 for a few seconds you are good to go.  I use the same technique with tongs after I flip meat (open daisy up and stick them in the top for a while). 

    It's probably not that necessary- but if I probe chicken and it is only ready 120-130 it makes me feel a little better to sterilize it.  

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
    What, and ruin the probe's seasoning?

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,528
    During a cook, I wipe with a paper towel. After the cook, alcohol swab - cleans the crud and bad guys all in one wipe and it dries on its own. ($2 for a 100 and it keeps the ones in the first aid kit fresh)
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
    Thermapen makes a small sanitizing swab which comes in a small dispenser similar to the Clorox wipes, only much smaller. 
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  • mitch2264
    mitch2264 Posts: 73
    I keep a tub of sanitizing wipes out at the grill area.  Typically I wipe the probe, then a swipe across whatever I am wearing to get residual cleaner off.
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    Wipe it in the pit of my shirt...
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  • probe1957
    probe1957 Posts: 222
    I usually just take my temperature rectally. Thermapen comes out clean as a whistle and ready for the next use.
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  • PNWFoodie
    PNWFoodie Posts: 1,046
    Jeepster47 said:
    PNWFoodie said:
    You're supposed to clean it? :)
    Not if you're raising boys!
    Two boys indeed!
    XL, JR, and more accessories than anyone would ever need near Olympia, WA
    Sandy
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