Kitchen friends, don’t assume that since these have the same basic look as a Thermapen, it’ll come up to temperature in ~1 second. These probably take 5-10 seconds to give you an accurate (if that) reading.
@UncleVinny To be fair, Thermopens are $90.
Holding one of these in a hot oven or under a broiler for 5-10 seconds might be a little uncomfortable. Quality and performance ain’t free.
@mike808 yeah, but these will maybe maaaaaybe last for a year. Better to save up a bit and get a decent counter-top thermometer that has an oven probe.
The Thermapen is definitely overkill; I waited till there was a good sale before getting mine, but rarely have a need for such an instant read. (I’m just cynical about all the copycat form-factor thermometers that are trying to hang on Thermapen’s coattails.)
@Superllama7@UncleVinny I have one of those too (the pocket thermopen). I’ve heard good things about the thermopop (looks like a lollipop) model as well.
If you have a thermopen, it’s definitely worth it to get the silicone sleeve for protection and grip.
@mike808@Superllama7@UncleVinny I’m super pleased with my thermopop. Doesn’t fold up like the pen, but it reads fast and accurate (I suppose). I got a counter Thermoworks for deep frying and oven work. It did cost a little more, but they are well made and have served me well.
@mike808@Superllama7@UncleVinny my silicone sleeve has magnets, so my Thermapen stays on the side of my refrigerator, where it’s easy to find.
It also glows in the dark, but I usually have the lights on when I’m in the kitchen. But I guess if the power was out I could still cook on my gas range and find my thermometer. Not that I would.
Lots of the other thermapen owners have already chimed in above. The thermapen is great but expensive. Any instant/quick reading probe thermometer is an indispensable tool if you cook at all. The fact that this one takes an AAA battery instead of a cr2032 or a stack of hearing aid batteries means you will have a battery when you need it, rather than putting the thermometer in the drawer and forgetting to get a new battery repeatedly.
Assuming it provides reasonably accurate readings* in less than 10 seconds, this is worth the price of admission and can change your cooking game.
* - check the readings in an ice/water slurry and a pot of boiling water to see how accurate the readings are.
@daveinwarsh@mike808 sous vide is great and all (and I’ve been doing it years before it was a fad) but it’s not the answer to everything. Filet, ferinstance, gains nothing (outside of convenience) with sous vide - I’ll take a correctly grilled fillet over one from the bath any day of the week.
@mike808 ehhh… No thanks.
I smoke the chilled steak over a smoke tube for about 30 min, then slap the steak on a 600+ degree grill for approx 4 & 3 minutes. Perfection.
@mediocrebot@Pamtha Now that is one of the more surreal images that have come up. What exactly are we seeing there? Is the bunny good or evil? Is it commanding the troops or about to eat them? Why is it so big? Who’s hands are those? Now I must know the origin of this artwork!
What are the temperature limits? Can I stick the probe into a cloud chamber cooled with dry ice and get a reasonable reading? What is the upper limit for reasonable readings? What temperature will destroy the probe?
@peabs007 I lack the editing skills to make a video with good pacing and narrative. I am willing to create a couple hours of raw video, if I can find someone willing to edit it into a coherent 10 minute video.
@craigthom I am optimistically assuming that this imitation product used the same basic concept as what it is copying. Which is to say a thermocouple in the tip. Naturally, it will have a much higher thermal mass, so it won’t read nearly as fast.
For many things, I prefer measurement tools with the display near the probe. It makes it easier to document things with the camera. A single picture shows the probe position and the reading, and the camera logs when and where the picture was taken in the metadata of the picture.
As the myth busters used to say (approximately), it isn’t science if you don’t record the results.
UGGGHHHH FINALLY something worth buying, that i want and i got here to late! Shit!! Its YOUR fault MEH!! Selling the same crap for months so i stop checking early morning! Damn
Aha, I win! I hope the batteries work. I just bought one from Amazon, and it goes back now. Dead battery, more expensive. Take it to Kohls, and get a coupon. Yay Meh.
@daveinwarsh Did you press the lock button in before you closed it? There is a cryptic illustration in the corner of the instructions which sort of mentions it,
@daveinwarsh I opened one today and like it. I didn’t know what to expect for the price and the comments. Seems pretty accurate and opens and closes easily. Will save the other as a backup.
@readnj Yeah. They seem accurate but just be careful with them, they seem a tinch flimsy.
I’ll go ahead & test the other one tomorrow. A good test is with a known accurate thermometer at about a temperature you expect to be using. I compared to my Fluke meter @120F, 150F & 180F in water.
Hoping the other one is as accurate…
The little black button that makes it flip open got out of position on one of mine. After I took it part way apart, I saw that the button had turned, and the alignment tab was out of the notch. It was easy to repair.
So I didn’t accidentally grow up in one of those “houses with regular cooking” and despite being a learned man some things stump me. For instance:
Do you leave this thing stuck into the food while it’s in the oven? Would that make it explode? When I make a roast, I take the analog thermometer out of the oven every time. Does that make me dumb?
@brandon There are some that you leave in the meat while it’s cooking. These particular ones you wouldn’t. You just stick them in occasionally to test it.
@brandon The ones you can leave in the oven have the probe at the end of a cable so the electronics stay out of it. They are very handy for roasts and turkeys and such.
Instant read thermometers like this one are for spot checks, not constant monitoring.
So I own several instant read thermometers. At least one came from meh. Mixed results with all of them. Reading the postings here convinced me to get a Thermopen. Ordered one today!
Next week meh with have Thermopens for a discount, you wait & see.
@wesson311 What was your reference? Are they 5 degrees off from each other, or from some other thermometer?
Are they consistently off by the same amount? (For the price, I’d be willing to add 5 to every reading.) What temperatures did you test? (I don’t care if the cold end is off, I just want to measure meat cooking temps.)
@rpstrong They are consistently off at all points by varying degrees of up to 5. Checked against ice water and several other thermometers. Save your money.
@rpstrong What are you trying to say @wesson311? Did you follow standard testing procedures? Have you published your notes or your testing methods anywhere?
These things are awful, all the plastic pieces got dislodged (as the guy above showed) within about 2 uses. The first one was so bad I threw it out, I taped the door onto the second one, which helped, but I will eventually replace it and toss that one as well.
I like that this one is powered by a single AAA battery, rather than the usual triplet of hard to quickly find LR44 or similar button cells.
Kitchen friends, don’t assume that since these have the same basic look as a Thermapen, it’ll come up to temperature in ~1 second. These probably take 5-10 seconds to give you an accurate (if that) reading.
KuoH
@UncleVinny To be fair, Thermopens are $90.
Holding one of these in a hot oven or under a broiler for 5-10 seconds might be a little uncomfortable. Quality and performance ain’t free.
KuoH
@mike808 yeah, but these will maybe maaaaaybe last for a year. Better to save up a bit and get a decent counter-top thermometer that has an oven probe.
The Thermapen is definitely overkill; I waited till there was a good sale before getting mine, but rarely have a need for such an instant read. (I’m just cynical about all the copycat form-factor thermometers that are trying to hang on Thermapen’s coattails.)
KuoH
@mike808 @UncleVinny I strongly recommend this thermometer, also from Thermoworks, for only $33 (shipping is probably extra)
@mike808 @UncleVinny The original Thermapen that everyone raved about is now $79, and they often run sales (usually for a specific color) for a few bucks off.
It’s not just the speed but the accuracy that counts.
(I believe Thermoworks is the US licensee of the English Thermapen. I don’t think their other products are necessarily from the same source.)
@mike808 @UncleVinny
Good, Fast, Cheap.
You can only get two out of three, never all three at once.
@Superllama7 @UncleVinny I have one of those too (the pocket thermopen). I’ve heard good things about the thermopop (looks like a lollipop) model as well.
If you have a thermopen, it’s definitely worth it to get the silicone sleeve for protection and grip.
@mike808 @Superllama7 @UncleVinny I’m super pleased with my thermopop. Doesn’t fold up like the pen, but it reads fast and accurate (I suppose). I got a counter Thermoworks for deep frying and oven work. It did cost a little more, but they are well made and have served me well.
@mike808 @Superllama7 @UncleVinny my silicone sleeve has magnets, so my Thermapen stays on the side of my refrigerator, where it’s easy to find.
It also glows in the dark, but I usually have the lights on when I’m in the kitchen. But I guess if the power was out I could still cook on my gas range and find my thermometer. Not that I would.
@mike808 @UncleVinny Not a knock against these, but I have the strangest feeling that something’s wrong on the internets.
HouK
I wanted to skip Monday anyway.
Small, and I can give one as a gift. Okay, good, this’ll work.
/image flying-expensive-hawk
@Dizavid That’s probably the most accurate /image query I’ve seen.
@Dizavid @PooltoyWolf @Woody1 The “Monkey Flipping Bird” (just above) wasn’t accurate because it’s not actually a monkey just a random primate?
@Dizavid @ergomeh @Woody1 I think calling the RQ-4 a ‘flying expensive hawk’ pretty much hits the nail on the head. LOL
Any reviews about this particular brand/model? Not “similar” units…
Lots of the other thermapen owners have already chimed in above. The thermapen is great but expensive. Any instant/quick reading probe thermometer is an indispensable tool if you cook at all. The fact that this one takes an AAA battery instead of a cr2032 or a stack of hearing aid batteries means you will have a battery when you need it, rather than putting the thermometer in the drawer and forgetting to get a new battery repeatedly.
Assuming it provides reasonably accurate readings* in less than 10 seconds, this is worth the price of admission and can change your cooking game.
* - check the readings in an ice/water slurry and a pot of boiling water to see how accurate the readings are.
@djslack Exactly what I was going to say! AAA Batteries vs coin cell, yea!
KENMORE…the quality goes out before the name goes on…
@fastharrydotcom KENMORE this name available for licensing!
Cheap!
No restrictions!
No questions asked!
@fastharrydotcom @hamjudo Ken More Things Break (2 days after the warranty expires)?
If you’re temp checking your lengua, does it make these oral thermometers?
How bout when you’re cooking butt roast?
@msayler Only if you stab the probe into “your” tongue.
/image monkey flipping bird
These things are nice when grilling thick steaks to keep them med/rare.
/image overwrought-eerie-fuel
@daveinwarsh Not as nice as an immersion cooker to sous vide them to perfect edge-to-edge temp.
@daveinwarsh @mike808 sous vide is great and all (and I’ve been doing it years before it was a fad) but it’s not the answer to everything. Filet, ferinstance, gains nothing (outside of convenience) with sous vide - I’ll take a correctly grilled fillet over one from the bath any day of the week.
@mike808 ehhh… No thanks.
I smoke the chilled steak over a smoke tube for about 30 min, then slap the steak on a 600+ degree grill for approx 4 & 3 minutes. Perfection.
Pass. Have a Thermopen. Best kitchen tool ever, after an Anova immersion cooker for sous vide.
@mike808 what, no #humblebrag ?
/giphy nuisance-tireless-sausage
Remember that day they sold out of TrackRs?
Yeah, me neither.
I’m going to flip off this deal…
It’s gettin’ hot in herr…
@mike808
/youtube herr chicken
/image mythical-industrious-zipper
@ecanada, hardcore gangsta!
I can’t find these on the Sears or Kenmore websites.
https://www.shopyourway.com/kenmore-flip-action-instant-read-food-thermometer/620595310
Nothing
I’d like to finish buying.
@Ginny5011 go back to meh.com and click the buy button.
/buy
@Pamtha It worked! Your order number is: misted-willful-hare
/image misted willful hare
@mediocrebot @Pamtha Now that is one of the more surreal images that have come up. What exactly are we seeing there? Is the bunny good or evil? Is it commanding the troops or about to eat them? Why is it so big? Who’s hands are those? Now I must know the origin of this artwork!
@mediocrebot @Pamtha @pmarin https://longreads.com/2018/12/05/the-ugly-history-of-beautiful-things-angora/
@mediocrebot @pmarin And is that
… blood? It is horrifying nightmare fuel indeed
@mediocrebot @Pamtha @pmarin @Pufferfishy Sobering article.
And I thought it was just a killer rabbit.
I don’t always use products as intended.
What are the temperature limits? Can I stick the probe into a cloud chamber cooled with dry ice and get a reasonable reading? What is the upper limit for reasonable readings? What temperature will destroy the probe?
@hamjudo for $5each, I’d say you make video and show us your finding.
@peabs007 I lack the editing skills to make a video with good pacing and narrative. I am willing to create a couple hours of raw video, if I can find someone willing to edit it into a coherent 10 minute video.
@hamjudo I can’t find the specs for this, but I can’t imagine they are better than a Thermapen, which has a measurement range of -49.9 to 299.9°C.
So probably not. The Thermapen will operate down to -20C, which is pretty cool.
@craigthom Thanks. That’s just short of soldering temperatures.
It should work well through the whole range for working with plastics.
@hamjudo Those numbers are for that Thermapen, not this.
A cheaper option would be the Dot, which is on sale now and has its probe on a cable.
https://www.thermoworks.com/DOT
@craigthom I am optimistically assuming that this imitation product used the same basic concept as what it is copying. Which is to say a thermocouple in the tip. Naturally, it will have a much higher thermal mass, so it won’t read nearly as fast.
For many things, I prefer measurement tools with the display near the probe. It makes it easier to document things with the camera. A single picture shows the probe position and the reading, and the camera logs when and where the picture was taken in the metadata of the picture.
As the myth busters used to say (approximately), it isn’t science if you don’t record the results.
@craigthom @hamjudo Thermapen uses a thermocouple; others may use a thermister. The thermocouple tends to be faster, the thermister more accurate.
For food use, the accuracy difference in the Thermapen is trivial when compared with the speed advantage.
/buy tepid-raunchy-calculator
Hey, I’m sorry but they gave me the word raunchy.
@IAMIS Sorry, the
/buycommand is only available to members. Learn more.UGGGHHHH FINALLY something worth buying, that i want and i got here to late! Shit!! Its YOUR fault MEH!! Selling the same crap for months so i stop checking early morning! Damn
@cristysue #metoo
@cristysue Same here, exactly!! Sold out so fast!
(I checked at about 10 a.m. but only just came back to comment.)
Aha, I win! I hope the batteries work. I just bought one from Amazon, and it goes back now. Dead battery, more expensive. Take it to Kohls, and get a coupon.
Yay Meh.
Got my folding thermometers today.
Took one out, tested it against my Fluke 170 thermocouple.
The Good News: It’s only running .1 degree off, and it registers within 2 seconds of my Fluke meter.
The Bad News: It folded out. It won’t fold back in. Shit. Guess I can hold it in with a rubber band.
I wonder how the second one will work??
@daveinwarsh shit.
@daveinwarsh Did you press the lock button in before you closed it? There is a cryptic illustration in the corner of the instructions which sort of mentions it,
@rpstrong I got it to close finally. If I press the button just enough to open/close it, it works OK.
@daveinwarsh same challenge here. Ugh
@daveinwarsh I opened one today and like it. I didn’t know what to expect for the price and the comments. Seems pretty accurate and opens and closes easily. Will save the other as a backup.
@readnj Yeah. They seem accurate but just be careful with them, they seem a tinch flimsy.
I’ll go ahead & test the other one tomorrow. A good test is with a known accurate thermometer at about a temperature you expect to be using. I compared to my Fluke meter @120F, 150F & 180F in water.
Hoping the other one is as accurate…
The little black button that makes it flip open got out of position on one of mine. After I took it part way apart, I saw that the button had turned, and the alignment tab was out of the notch. It was easy to repair.
Specs
What’s in the Box?
Price Comparison
$25.98 (for similar) at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
If carefully used you can check your own internal temp. (Use lube) FYI
@bugger That’s only assuming that you aren’t an oven.
@gertiestn true. Make sure your oven door is close for safety
/buy
@rand3y The card was declined.
@mediocrebot tsk, gossip!
@mediocrebot @rand3y lol brutal
@UncleVinny automated humiliation!
@rand3y That’s what happens when you forget to update your card information.
/buy
@rand3y It worked! Your order number is: stinky-toothy-mink
/image stinky toothy mink
/buy
@Some_meh It worked! Your order number is: best-squalid-doll
/image best squalid doll
My current portable thermometer is missing a leg on one of the digits because I got it wet. Saw this and said “well I probably should”
/image nauseating-vivacious-sulfur
/image dreamy-laughing-porcupine
Your order number is disturbed-perfumed-hydrogen
/buy
@rprussell It worked! Your order number is: practical-precipitous-icicle
/image practical precipitous icicle
Will it take my temp if I stick the probe part into my ear?
/buy
@Pufferfishy It worked! Your order number is: gusty-thorough-stone
/image gusty thorough stone
/buy
@canneddirt weird - no response??
@canneddirt Huh, it worked!
spotless-acrid-snow
/giphy jumbo-traditional-bromine
gotta hurt if inserted…you know where. (why would MEH want to do that to us)
/giphy grilled-doubtful-substance
/image marginal-ethereal-python
This looks like what grows inside you if you eat raw meat!
/buy
@sandbarhappy It worked! Your order number is: periodic-ungrateful-onion
/image periodic ungrateful onion
/buy
@spl152db It worked! Your order number is: fresh-grateful-lark
/image fresh grateful lark
Triple A battery for the win.
/buy
@wronkerville It worked! Your order number is: opportune-pendulous-spoon
/image opportune pendulous spoon
Hot N’ Ready. #ded
/giphy violet-drifting-volcano
Damn - sold out (well, paused) while I was reading the comments.
But I’ll be back at 4:00.
/buy
@lichen We’re sold out except for a small amount we set aside for existing VMP members to be released at 4pm ET.
/buy
@brandon We’re sold out except for a small amount we set aside for existing VMP members to be released at 4pm ET.
So I didn’t accidentally grow up in one of those “houses with regular cooking” and despite being a learned man some things stump me. For instance:
Do you leave this thing stuck into the food while it’s in the oven? Would that make it explode? When I make a roast, I take the analog thermometer out of the oven every time. Does that make me dumb?
@brandon There are some that you leave in the meat while it’s cooking. These particular ones you wouldn’t. You just stick them in occasionally to test it.
@brandon The ones you can leave in the oven have the probe at the end of a cable so the electronics stay out of it. They are very handy for roasts and turkeys and such.
Instant read thermometers like this one are for spot checks, not constant monitoring.
/giphy personable-bony-hair
Hoo-hah! VMP stashes rule.
/giphy granular-vile-gazelle
Always nice to have a couple on hand.
Edit: Niiiiiiice
/giphy exceptional-rational-bed
/buy
@brandon Oops, sorry. We’re sold out.
@mediocrebot Of course
So I own several instant read thermometers. At least one came from meh. Mixed results with all of them. Reading the postings here convinced me to get a Thermopen. Ordered one today!
Next week meh with have Thermopens for a discount, you wait & see.
@Joedetroit Thermworks regularly has ThermApen sales, but it’s only like $15 off for specific, probably discontinued colors.
I think that are the only legit place to buy them in the US.
Wow! A not so common as it used to be, sellout! Nicely done.
Stop sending emails about this order please mark it canceled
@Ginny5011 If you need to contact support, you need to use the link to write in.
https://meh.com/support
They are not accurate, about 5 degrees off.
@wesson311 Details?
@rpstrong What amount of detail do you need beyond not accurate, 5 degrees off? That’s the story.
@wesson311 What was your reference? Are they 5 degrees off from each other, or from some other thermometer?
Are they consistently off by the same amount? (For the price, I’d be willing to add 5 to every reading.) What temperatures did you test? (I don’t care if the cold end is off, I just want to measure meat cooking temps.)
@rpstrong They are consistently off at all points by varying degrees of up to 5. Checked against ice water and several other thermometers. Save your money.
@rpstrong What are you trying to say @wesson311? Did you follow standard testing procedures? Have you published your notes or your testing methods anywhere?
first one died after 1 month of use, on to the second one.
These things are awful, all the plastic pieces got dislodged (as the guy above showed) within about 2 uses. The first one was so bad I threw it out, I taped the door onto the second one, which helped, but I will eventually replace it and toss that one as well.