Kitchen & Housewares : The Original Super-Fast Thermapen Instant Read Thermometer (Red) by Thermoworks

Rating: - A joy to use
Cooking thermometers have come a long way in the 15 years.

I remember the old mechanical spiral-dial thermometer that my parents used - it was terrible. It's temperature response time was measured in minutes, and if it got you within +/- 20F of your target temperature, you were lucky. Candy thermometers offere a slight improvement in speed and accuracy, but were calibrated too high a range to be useful for grilling and baking.

Then the first of the digital thermometers came out for home cooks. As a budding humebrewer and someone who loved to cook, I immediately bought the best ones I could fine. Unfortunately, although faster and more accurate, they were still a bit slow ... taking up to 30 sec to stabilize. They also tended to be moisture sensitive, needed periodic re-calibration to retain accuracy, had to be turned on and off manually, and frequently needed new batteries. However, they were still a giant step forward.

About 5 years ago (guess?), I saw the first Thermapen in a Baker's catalog, which ballyhooed it's speed, accuracy, and convenience. I promptly bought one and tried it. I was delightfully surprised to encounter a product that actually did everything as well as it claimed.

LIKES:

* SPEED & ACCURACY: Courtesy of the probe's tapered tip, and modern thermocouple, the thermapen can get an accurate reading within 1F in roughly 3-4 seconds ... and the tip is tapered enough so that it only makes a small hole, without overly damaging that you're measuring. That makes all sorts of things possible - you can accurately check individual chops, burgers, sausages and fish for proper doneness while grilling, and you can check oven roasts and baked bread for doneness in a blink without losing all the heat in your oven (although if you're serious about baking, you should be using a wireless instant read instead). The unit also seems to retain excellent accuracy, and doesnt need regular re-calibration.

* ERGONOMIC: I like how the probe is protected by having it fold and clip into the side of the unit, so it can fit securely into your pocket ... no protective tube to lose, or awkward clamshell case. It's fairly rugged, and doesnt mind being bumped around in the ol kitchen tools drawer. The unit also turns itself off after a few minutes, to protect the battery (12v type 23A ... it looks like a half-length AAA).

MINOR NITS:

* F/C: There's no switch to change between farenheit and celsius ... you have to buy one set to one scale or the other. It can't do both. There's also no calibration adjustment ... although I dont really miss it, because this unit seems to stay accurate, despite years of use.

* BETTER SWIVEL NEEDED: I really like the folding probe, but because it only folds along 1 plane, it can sometimes cause awkward hand and viewing angles. It would have been better if the swivel were redesigned to allow full XYZ (3D) rotation, instead of only XY (2D).

* PRICEY: At $85-90 USD, it's priced rather steep. However, I've gotten years of very satisfied use out of mine, the battery is changeable, and it's been worth the price. Still, I'd like to see the price come down.

* SIZE: Although fairly compact and fits neatly into a pocket, there's still plenty of room for further size reduction.

Highly recommended ... if your budget permits.

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Rating: - A little pricey for what you get
I like the thermometer. It is everything it was advertised to be. But two things. One it is a bit bigger than I thought it would be. And two I bought another, some what simmilar, thermometer and it does evrything this one does and was 1/3 the cost.

Here is the other thermometer that I have;

1 of: Taylor Professional Waterproof Digital Thermometer
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC

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Rating: - Well worth it
Hard to add anything to the other reviews. Fast, convenient, accurate and easy to clean. Expensive but worth it!

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Rating: - Worth every penny: a fast thermometer you can TRUST
When you buy this, you are paying for two things: Speed and Trustworthiness.

I've spent nearly as much as I did on my thermapen on other thermometers priced between $5 and $50. None of them have read as fast or as reliably as the thermapen.

If you have a cheap thermometer that isn't NSF certified, you will find yourself often second-guessing it. "Hmm... that reading seems a bit off... I'll probably keep this in a little longer" - but with the Thermapen you can trust it every time.

For a serious griller, I strongly suggest the Thermapen - which is pretty much the gold standard for grilling thermometers. It takes a reading in less than 3 seconds - and has a needle-thin probe... It's fast enough for me to use it to take thin cuts of pork tenderloin off one at a time and verifying that they are all cooked properly (invariably, there will be one or two cuts that take twice as long to get to the proper temperature than the other ones... With a slow probe, you can't afford to check each one because they will all burn - so what if you are just spot checking one of them and you happen to get the slow one? the rest all burn? or if you get one that cooks really fast... the rest are undercooked?)

When you are serving large quantities of chicken - knowing for certain that EVERY piece of meat has been checked and is properly cooked gives a lot more piece of mind than spot checking one and HOPING the rest of them are ok.

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Rating: - Exceeds Expectations
We grill almost every weekend in the Summer and in the past have served a lot of "grilled food gone bad," that is over and under done burgers, steaks, and pork before we were convinced to get a thermometer. We eventually learned that knowing internal temperature is imperative to quality grilling and getting that information as quickly as possible when the grill lid is off is essential.

We purchased the Thermapen after having owned several less expensive digital "instant read" thermometers. We needed a thermometer that delivered fast, accurate, and consistent readings for our grilled food.

The problem the Termapen resolves is that thermometers like this one form TaylorTaylor #806 Weekend Warrior Digital Instant Read Thermometer, really don't deliver the speed, accuracy, and reliability we need while grilling (or cooking in general for that matter). Plus they leave a much bigger hole in the meat. They take up to 15 seconds to get a reading, don't deliver the same reading twice (unless by accident), and generally confound and confuse instead of clarifying what is really going on inside our meat. This can lead to frustration and a loss of desire to grill.

Speed of reading, degree of doneness, and consistency become important as grilling sessions and the diversity of foods grilled simultaneously multiply. Dad wants a pork chop, our neighbor wants a turkey burger, and we want chicken--for the second time this weekend. We couldn't manage it, and wouldn't want the frustrations of trying to, with a lesser thermometer.

Before we purchased the Thermapen, we wondered if the premium price would be worthwhile. The answer is a resounding YES! The Thermapen allows us a degree of precision not attainable with other thermometers. The Thermapen has enabled us to divided the spectrum of doneness between "Rare" and "Medium" into 2 additional gradations on opposite sides of the traditional "Medium Rare." We call these "Cool Medium Rare" and "Hot Medium Rare." Guests are amused we can offer this degree of precision. We appreciate the level of confidence we have in serving perfectly done food. This is impossible with the Taylor.