Thermometer recommendations

If it displays numbers (and not just "well done", etc) I'd imagine it should work fine. It's the same style probe that the Taylors use, and if any moisture gets into the probe it will likely start throwing errors (mine did). Just make sure you calibrate it before brewing with it.

 

To me it is. I can take 4 or 5 or 6 mash tun readings in various areas of the tun in very short order, minimizing heat loss.

Anyone can test and calibrate a thermometer. It's nice to have one that doesn't need to be calibrated often, or in the case of my thermapen, ever (so far). I have a drawer full of cheap thermometers that had to be calibrated just about every time before they were used.

 

I use this as well in conjunction with a point and shoot style ir for checking ambient air temps and surface temps during fermentation.

 

I had an older version of this for 4-5 years. It finally broke (actually I think a battery leaked its guts out inside it). I puchased this one and love it as much as the old one. Timer for various things and an alarm for various purposes.

http://s1275.photobucket.com/albums...F966E082_zpsaf488807.jpg&evt=user_media_share

 

i think we had this showdown a week ago?

yeah, if its digital and it doesn't say thermoworks forget it.
if its analog and its not a taylor, go home.

really, any thermoworks digital probe is by far the best choice. the things are serious instruments and you can get one for maybe $5 more than some piece of shit sold at Bed Bath and Beyond. thats been my experience. and i work in a lab, so you know its true

just get a thermoworks, any one, and know you wont need anything else for homebrewing. probably forever.

 

Perhaps I should have said that homebrewing, as many (most?) of us practice it, is a bit of overkill.

 

put me down in the loves-his-Thermapen column.

let's just say that the total of the cost of all the thermometers I've bought over the years and subsequently thrown away or are gathering dust is a hell of a lot more than $89.

cheers--
--Michael

 

I use my Thermapen to calibrate my long probe analog thermometer for mash temp. That way, I can accurately check the temperature deep inside the grain bed. When it's calibrated at 150, it reads about 4 degrees high at freezing and 6 degrees low at boiling, while the Thermapen reads exactly 32.0 at freezing and 212.0 at boiling (notwithstanding the .1 degree resolution). Maybe I'm a nut, but I think that's kind of cool, and I personally feel that it was $90 well spent. Those who feel that a few degrees one way or the other is not worth the extra money shouldn't (and probably won't) buy one. Everybody's needs and budget are different. This is my recommendation and these are my reasons. Take it for what it's worth. You're not going to hurt my feelings one way or the other.

 

ya think!

 

calibration, thats why I like this one, comes certified, and is a great thermometer
http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Cole_Parmer_Workhorse_Thermocouple_Thermometer_Type_K/EW-91210-45

 

While yes, the mash can have varying temps throughout the tun, you should be stirring the shit out of it anyway until you are comfortable you are at your target mash temp anyway. So it all gets mixed around.

 

There was a time when i used those exclusively. I easily spent over $90 over the years. It got to the point that I kept a pair on hand so I wouldn't be without when it inevitably broke. I'd guess that a thermometer would last me, maybe, four batches before it would break.

 

My Thermapen was a Christmas present, and has proven invaluable in the kitchen, the brewhouse, and the smoker. Considering its speed, accuracy, and usable temperature range, it is a good all-around tool to have.

 

Good question! I look forward to seeing what others say too. Once I hit my target temp, and I have stirred and checked a couple different spots for consistency, The lid goes on and I do something else (cleaning, prepping) until it's time to either step it up or mash out.

 

I use the Igloo style mash tun, and have verified from experience that it only loses a couple of degrees in an hour or hour and a half. I dough in, give everything a good stir, and leave covered tightly for 1/2 hour. Another quicker stir, and back on with the lid. I have achieved good extraction, and very fermentable wort (when that has been my goal).

At first, I checked temperature every time I opened the cooler, but after developing some confidence in how my equipment works, I usually just dial in the temperature I want at dough-in, and see how much it dropped right before sparging.

 

As an ancillary discussion topic, how accurate do you feel your mash temp needs to be? Suppose you wanted a thin mash and you were going for 148 F. How many degrees deviation from your target will really make a difference in your beer?

And since it sounds like you are measuring in more than one spot in your mash, how do you incorporate the variability you see into your understanding of the process. Do you evaluate whether to adjust heat based on an average?

 

Sort of. I don't adjust the mash temp on the fly. But I use the information to tweak my strike water temp and mash-out water temp formulae.

 

It seems to me that that there's a lot of myth and mystery concerning mash temps. I see, time after time, recommendations of changing a mash temp by 1 to 2 degrees to achieve a drier or sweeter mash. I just don't think this is possible for most setups. When I measure temps in several places in the mash the temps vary by 3, 4, or 5 degrees in most cases, even after extensive stirring and prayer. If I was to mix and adjust to an exact temp throughout the mash, the mash time would expire before that could be achieved. I usually settle on finding an average temp based on 3 or 4 readings that falls somewhere within a couple of degrees of my target and let nature and physics take their course.

I do prefer the probe/dial thermometer that SFACRKnight recommended. It's accurate and easy to read. Pretty quick, too.