Thermopop vs El cheapo Amazon junk


 
J

Jay D in Jersey

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Learned a decent lesson today...finally. Was cooking split chicken breasts on the Broilmaster P3 on the deck at the beach house this evening. I first went out to check internal temperature with this El cheapo AlphaGrills thermometer I bought on Amazon 3 years ago. Initial reading was about 58-68 degrees and I'm thinking...that just can't be right, I know I have another thermometer in the kitchen. So I went in and looked and sure as heck...a purple Thermopop that I bought last year for $18 or so delivered last year. What a great little thermometer!
It instantly read internal temperature at 168-174 on the 4 breasts...as fast or faster than my original Thermopen at the other house.
The AlphaGrills is in the trash at the curb for trash day in the AM.
 
I had several cheap $9 trash Walmart thermometers before I got tired of them breaking..... And spent the money for a Thermapen. Screw all the cheap Chinese crap.... It just cost you more in the long run
 
Thermopop is a great value! We were at the cottage last week and there wasn’t an instant read up there so, pulled mine out of my kitchen tool kit and was very happy to have brought it!
 
So not to start a peeing match, but I've been superbly happy with my ThermoPro instant read devices. Far happier than I am with my ThermoWorks Smoke. I bought my T/Pro(s) off of Amazon and I'd HARDLY call them junk. Regardless of where they're made. And T/Works is not immune to Made in China (which is where my Smoke came from).
 
LMichaels said:
So not to start a peeing match...
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No peeing allowed on this forum!

Unfortunately, we don't have objective data on thermometer brand/model reliability...I certainly don't trust the Amazon ratings. But I think it's fair to say that ANY thermometer can be "junk" if it fails you when you need it most!
 
I've never used a thermometer for grilling except for the lid thermometer in my Genesis 1000. Am I missing something? My food always turns out great if I pay attention to what I'm doing. When I don't, I have had some problems. I cook a wide variety of things on my grill and I guess I'm just going on experience at this point.
 
Chris Allingham said:
No peeing allowed on this forum!

Unfortunately, we don't have objective data on thermometer brand/model reliability...I certainly don't trust the Amazon ratings. But I think it's fair to say that ANY thermometer can be "junk" if it fails you when you need it most!
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Of course. And to be fair my original ThermoPro DID in fact fail due to a faulty hinge. BUT< I measure a company's quality on 2 fronts. First, of course the performance of their product. And IIRC you even did a video comparing the 2 flagship models. (Lightning and TW One IIRC).
But even MORE importantly how well is the product "backed" after the sale. Say 2 years down the road if or when it should fail.
Here, ThermoPro IMO was exemplary. I called their support line, got a US based English speaking rep without playing telephone janga. And better yet within 2 days had a brand new one on my door step. I do not call that Amazon "junk". I call it top notch. And that replacement years later is still functioning perfectly and since I bought the Lightning it now lives out on my Member's Mark nicely and magnetically attached to the pellet hopper always at the ready. And winter/summer it never fails to work flawlessly.
So by this yardstick I have to call it and the product line (along with the company) top notch.
Again not trying to kick the shovel out of the hands of ThermoWorks just simply pointing out that just because you got something on Amazon doesn't make it trash
 
I believe I've now owned about 10 of these various BBQ thermometers over the years. With the exception of my original Thermopen and my newer Thermopop, none have satisfactorily done what their respective marketing narratives claim..."instantly", or at least very quickly measured the temperature of meats or fish on any grill with acceptable accuracy. I was quite surprised by how fast the Thermopop was...and for $18? A no brainer.
Also, about two years ago, my then 8 year old original Thermopen started to fail. Two emails to Thermopen and it was repaired and reconditioned...no charge except for my cost to ship it to them. They were the only game in town years back, and they're definitely more expensive than most offerings on Amazon and there very well may be others that have caught up. But I'm sold on their accuracy, speed and quality as well as their support of their products.
 
I have had two Thermapens stop working on me over the last 4 years. I'm done with them, I just bought a knockoff. I am sure it will break too but I can buy 5 for the price of another Thermapen. But after reading this maybe Thermapop would be the ticket.
 
Ross W said:
I have had two Thermapens stop working on me over the last 4 years.
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There are definitely examples of this from owners. Then you've got a guy like me who has never had a Thermapen go bad, I get the new latest greatest one and gift my old ones to family members and they keep going strong. Too bad we don't have thermometer reliability ratings like we have for automobiles!
 
Chris Allingham said:
There are definitely examples of this from owners. Then you've got a guy like me who has never had a Thermapen go bad, I get the new latest greatest one and gift my old ones to family members and they keep going strong. Too bad we don't have thermometer reliability ratings like we have for automobiles!
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Well here ya go. A new thread heading for the forums. You can be your own "Consumer Reports". We can call it "Thermometer Chronicles" :D
 
To add to the Chronicles: I had one of the probes on my TP Twin TempSpike quit working, and contacted TP. I thought they would send me a new probe. I just received a whole new Twin TempSpike!
 
Chris Allingham said:
There are definitely examples of this from owners. Then you've got a guy like me who has never had a Thermapen go bad, I get the new latest greatest one and gift my old ones to family members and they keep going strong. Too bad we don't have thermometer reliability ratings like we have for automobiles!
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I think the Thermopop sells for $36 but is often on sale for $25 and sometimes $18 like I paid.

I've had 1-2 of the orange Thermopros...they're simply not on the same level as the Thermopop or the original Thermopen. A few more options perhaps...magnet, LED backlit...but they fail to perform as quickly or accurately as the Thermopen products.
 
Jay D in Jersey said:
I think the Thermopop sells for $36 but is often on sale for $25 and sometimes $18 like I paid.

I've had 1-2 of the orange Thermopros...they're simply not on the same level as the Thermopop or the original Thermopen. A few more options perhaps...magnet, LED backlit...but they fail to perform as quickly or accurately as the Thermopen products.
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Completely opposite performance finding on them here. I bought 2 or 3 of the cheaper ones and found they perform flawlessly except for the one I gave my daughter. She's a calamity Jane and managed to break it. So I gave her the one I'd bought to leave at dad's house. Had it a VERY long time and it's always worked perfectly (at least until she breaks it). At least if she manages to do so I don't feel badly about a $15 item
 
I've had an inexpensive ThermAPro from Amazon that seems like it works fine but I fell for the hype (and sales price) of the Thermapen ONE over Father's Day. It came with a very nice silicon mixing spatula. Seems to work fine but I'm not sure how much faster or accurate it really is.
 
Followup to my post right above. I called Thermoworks asking about the one second read on the Thermapen One I bought this past June and they said, let us send you another that we will test here (American Fork, UT) for accuracy and speed. I got it a couple days later and a paid for return mailing label. I guess there can be a little sample variation as the replacement is spot on. Worth almost a C note? Ehhhh, perhaps. Still, it's an awesome thermometer to temp meat/chicken/fish on the grill as well as indoors in a skillet or oven.
 
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