Meat Thermometers


 
Bob Bailey

Bob Bailey

TVWBB All-Star
With the high cost of necessities like food and fuel, which don't look like they'll change any time soon, I expect we'll see lots of sales on many things that are wants rather than needs. In times like these, many companies are looking more at cash flow than profit margins.
 
Jon Tofte

Jon Tofte

TVWBB Olympian
I agree that these companies are having to scramble as their products are not really "can't do without" items. Those are some great prices that @Bruce posted above, especially the TP620 for $34.99 (best price I have seen since this came out as their flagship model) and only $13.29 for a TP19H which is almost as good - and an awesome deal at that price.
 
A

A Lee

TVWBB Super Fan
Jon Tofte said:
I agree that these companies are having to scramble as their products are not really "can't do without" items. Those are some great prices that @Bruce posted above, especially the TP620 for $34.99 (best price I have seen si⁵nce this came out as their flagship model) and only $13.29 for a TP19H which is almost as good - and an awesome deal at that price.
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Lowest price I've seen is $30cad (around $23usd) for the TP620 during Canadian Amazon Prime Day. I picked one up as a spare instant read thermometer, and was really looking forward to finding a good alternative to my Javelin Pro Duo, but the TP620 ended up being a dud. The readings were very sporadic. I had no confidence in the readings at all. The thermometer would also show an intermittent error when the probe was fully opened. I think i received a defective one.

I would have asked customer service to exchange it, but ended up just returning the TP620 because the fit and finish didn't feel that great either. IMO, it felt like a slightly better cheapie $30 thermometer.
 
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Jon Tofte

Jon Tofte

TVWBB Olympian
A Lee said:
Lowest price I've seen is $30cad (around $23usd) for the TP620 during Canadian Amazon Prime Day. I picked one up as a spare instant read thermometer, and was really looking forward to finding a good alternative to my Javelin Pro Duo, but the TP620 ended up being a dud. The readings were very sporadic. I had no confidence in the readings at all. The thermometer would also show an intermittent error when the probe was fully opened. I think i received a defective one.

I would have asked customer service to exchange it, but ended up just returning the TP620 because the fit and finish didn't feel that great either. IMO, it felt like a slightly better cheapie $30 thermometer.
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That’s too bad yours was a lemon. I am sure ThermoPro would have made that right for you, but if you didn’t like it anyway, sending it back was the way to go. The one I have does fine, but honestly I think the TP19H is just about as good and maybe even has a better fit and finish that you refer to.

A while back I finally went for one of Thermowork’s site-wide sales and got the Operation Barbecue Relief version of the Thermapen One. While the readout isn’t as bright as my ThermoPro units, I will have to admit that it has a more solid, quality “feel” when you hold it - hard to exactly define. Is that worth all the extra money? Each person will have to decide. For someone not yet using an instant read - and put off by the high price of a Thermapen - I would say that 15 bucks - maybe even less - for a ThermoPro TP19H is a really cheap way to substantially improve your grilling with a very nice unit that will do all you need.
 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I never used to use a thermometer. I worked in a restaurant in my younger days and cooked a lot of steaks in a broiler. The guy I worked for was a long time chef and could cook a NY Strip medium rare every time without any kind of thermometer. So, when filling in for him, that is what I did. Though not as well. Anyway, that is how I learned to do it, by "guessing". Since I picked up a quick read thermometer and started using it (40 years later), it has made my life a lot easier and made my steaks and other foods done to a much more accurate doneness. If you grill and don't use a meat thermometer, I highly suggest that you invest in one. For less than $20 you can get a very good one. They are worth it.
 
John_NJ

John_NJ

TVWBB Pro
Bruce said:
I never used to use a thermometer. I worked in a restaurant in my younger days and cooked a lot of steaks in a broiler. The guy I worked for was a long time chef and could cook a NY Strip medium rare every time without any kind of thermometer. So, when filling in for him, that is what I did. Though not as well. Anyway, that is how I learned to do it, by "guessing". Since I picked up a quick read thermometer and started using it (40 years later), it has made my life a lot easier and made my steaks and other foods done to a much more accurate doneness. If you grill and don't use a meat thermometer, I highly suggest that you invest in one. For less than $20 you can get a very good one. They are worth it.
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On that note, I have never used a meat thermometer for grilling and my cooks were not that consistent.

I did pick up the TP-20 on the sale you started this thread about- thanks- and have yet to use it.

I do the indoor cooking of roasts and fowl so this will come in handy with that also.

E408F57A-1161-4EDB-82F7-5683E2FFB900.jpeg

Theme to start upping my grill game.
 
Rick P

Rick P

TVWBB Pro
I consider accurate thermometers as a necessity, right up there with sharp knives.

I'm probably the cheapest SOB on the board, but I didn't hesitate to spend the $$ on high quality thermometers.

They pay for themselves when you don't ruin expensive cuts of meat because it was overcooked, or prevent a trip to the emergency room because of food poisoning because food wasn't cooked or stored at safe temperatures.
 
John_NJ

John_NJ

TVWBB Pro
I like steak rare, my wife like well done.

No food poisoning yet from cooking meat though, lol.

So I decided to test out the thermometer:
676C45F1-63B2-4F81-8C75-C268D4B985AB.jpeg
Low-Low-Low and the temperature went off the chart in short order - over around 570 degrees and the thermometer reads HHH - too hot
252E7814-E692-41FD-9C93-A5D07FB526CB.jpeg Low-Off-Off, ten minutes on the timer, low 80’s outside and not in direct sunlight. Stabilize aroun 255 degrees
D4396A9C-F829-4B83-9266-1E519D6F5935.jpeg

Off-Low-Off - stabilize around 322 degrees
69496CA8-3820-446C-A853-20356A0F3DBE.jpeg

Off-Off-Low -stabilize around 248 degrees
FFF022E2-5EE4-47B2-A915-E8A052836CC5.jpeg
Fwiw
 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Those reading sound very reasonable and about what I would expect my grill to do.
 
John_NJ

John_NJ

TVWBB Pro
I just wanted to see what the lowest temperature I could get- higher temps are easier to fiddle with, but lowest is lowest at least keeping the lid closed.

The lowest cooking temp is with the back burner low and the front two off.

And just testing out my new toy, lol

Cheers
 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
LeeHarvey said:
So if I’m seeing numbers pretty close to those, I should stop fiddling with my dampers and get to cooking?
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Yah, i know when I have my front burner on low and everything else off, I get temps in the 225 to 240 range at grate level. That is the one I typically use for low and indirect grilling so I know that one. The others I do not know so well, but I would guess similar to what Jon got. And yes, if I put all three on high, it will max out pretty quick like his did. So there is nothing about John's readings that I wouldn't expect from my grill.
 
LeeHarvey

LeeHarvey

TVWBB Pro
Thanks. I’m up around 275 on just the front, so I’ve still got some tweaking to do. I know that having food on will depress the temperature some, so I didn’t think I needed to get the lowest temperature down to the 200-225 range, but 275 seemed a little high.
 
John_NJ

John_NJ

TVWBB Pro
LeeHarvey said:
Thanks. I’m up around 275 on just the front, so I’ve still got some tweaking to do. I know that having food on will depress the temperature some, so I didn’t think I needed to get the lowest temperature down to the 200-225 range, but 275 seemed a little high.
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I think the back burner might run a little cooler.
 
LeeHarvey

LeeHarvey

TVWBB Pro
Yeah, it would stand to reason that the back would be cooler, since the convection would carry a lot of heat straight out the back vent.
 
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