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Thermapen

post #1 of 10
3/25/12 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 

I am thinking of buying a thermapen, since I have heard so many great things about its accuracy.  The last few years I have been through a couple of different digital thermometers and use them every day at work.  Here is my question for those that have used one - Does it have a clip?  I don't mean to attach to a pan, but to carry it around?  I am used to carrying my current digital thermometer with my pens in the sleeve of my chef's coat.

The image on Amazon makes it look a little too big for this, but there is no back view.  

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post #2 of 10
3/25/12 at 8:50pm

Thermoworks has a wide variety of products: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/ The Thermapen I have does NOT have a clip and it is too large for my shoulder pocket, so I carry a digital there instead.

Chef,
Specialties: MasterCook/RecipeFox; Culinary logistics; Personal Chef; Small restaurant owner; Caterer
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post #3 of 10
3/25/12 at 8:56pm

ILOVE MY THERMAPEN!!!

I always wanted one, then they came out with the waterproof one

No, you can’t attach it to anything, 

it’s not so big,

(6” l x 1 ½” w x ½” d)

it could fit it into the pocket of your chef coat. 

BUy IT!!!

It is SO amazing, that it takes the temp of the ambient air!!

ALOHA

Translation:  alo, sharing or in the present
                   oha, joyous affection or joy
                   ha, life energy, life or breath

The joyful sharing of life energy in the present

 

 

http://mykitcheninthemiddleofthedesert.wordpress.com/

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post #4 of 10
3/25/12 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 

That helps, thank you.

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post #5 of 10
4/6/12 at 2:38am

No, no clip but I love mine!  I actually have two- one original and one of the newer spashproof one.  The latter actually sits by the computer right now as I'm so attached to original that I can't bring myself to swap them out.  My first one actually ran for around five or six years on the original battery without needing to be calibrated!  Eventually when I swapped batteries it was off a bit but calibration is pretty easy and straight forward.  Perhaps it will run another five years!

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle
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post #6 of 10
4/6/12 at 6:21pm

I use a belt clip that I got from an old flashlight, but more often than not I use my qpron pocket.

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post #7 of 10
4/15/12 at 12:36am

Hi Guys,

 

my main interest is what these things are used for?

 

just to be devils' advocate.

 

Does one test boiling liquid, thin beef burgers, the center of a medium rare steak?  I know of a roadside self service (in the UK) where the staff regularly check the temperature of the crushed ice for the cold display and enter the reading in a log book.  That does actually happen.

 

Many things can be tested by colour change to indicate safe cooking.

 

The other main point i think is the speed of the reading.

 

 

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post #8 of 10
4/15/12 at 12:17pm
Thread Starter 

I always keep a digital thermometer in my sleeve pocket at work and use it many times every single day.  I believe because I do pastry, I use it far more than my savory counterparts.  I always check the temperature of my ice cream bases, loaves of bread, chocolate while tempering and many other things.  I have been cooking long enough to be able to judge when an anglaise reaches nappe, but have some recipes with other components that cause them to thicken early, yet are best when cooked to the full 180 degrees.

 

Added to that, we have a very strict health code here in Vegas, with the casinos all employing their own "health inspector" that monitors all of the food outlets to prevent problems before the "real" county health inspector comes.  We use a blast chiller and need to log the temperature of every item inside, every hour and show that log to any inspector to prove we follow proper cooling techniques.  It it quite the pain when the timer goes off during busy service-ugh!  But we are all required to carry thermometers on us and show they are properly calibrated if asked.

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post #9 of 10
4/15/12 at 11:49pm

Sounds good Jellly

 

the case of sauce anglaise is interesting as a pastry chef wouldn't use a probe since the 'visual cue' of the consistency tells us that it is correct.

 

What can happen however, is that when the consistency is as expected, this can be 'validated' with a probe to check the test. Ensure that the temperature reached would kill pathogens.

 

Much use of a temp probe and measures of weight and volume are of course used in pastry more than savoury, but the savoury guys need to validate their checks with a probe periodically.  This is more important than routing temperature recording.

 

Nobody has mentioned sterile wipes? 

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post #10 of 10
4/16/12 at 4:12am

No clip, expensive and large, but I'm unaware of any accuracy problems.  Can be easily tested in freezing water and calibrated, if necessary.  It's among the best culinary purchases I've ever made.

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