[riffwraith]

Hi

I bought a cheap oven therm, like this one:

Amazon.com: Taylor Precision Products Large 2.5 Inch Dial Kitchen Cooking Oven Thermometer: Taylor Oven Thermometer: Home & Kitchen

Online Shopping for Kitchen Utensils & Gadgets from a great selection at everyday low prices. Free 2-day Shipping with Amazon Prime.

www.amazon.com

I have a Kenmore gas oven from 2013. The therm does not read what I set the oven to

240 is 220 on the therm, and 375 is 350

Should I trust the oven, and assume the therm is just to cheap to read accurately? Should I get a better therm?

I am always skeptical of these therms; I have an indoor therm in my fridge. The fridge is 6 mos old, and is set to 43 deg F. The therm reads 47 deg.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[brianshaw]

I trust the thermometer and adjust (calibrate) the oven’s temp dial to agree. For me that’s resulted in the greatest accuracy. Just make sure your oven is heated AND STABILE. The temp fluctuations will give misinformation unless the oven temp has stabilized.

 

[riffwraith]

Thx.

Just did some research and found how to calibrate.

The temp is stabile, but is it really ok to trust the therm at that price point?

 

[brianshaw]

I’ve found them trustworthy. Taylor oven thermometer is an industry standard, and a lot of value for the small price.

 

[cheflayne]

Do you have an accurate meat thermo? If so put a pan of water in the oven. Set the oven to 200, After about 15 minutes, if water is simmering away pretty good, Taylor will be be reading around 180 from what you have said. Insert meat thermo into simmering water in the oven and see what temp it reads. My guess is it will be close to what the Taylor reads.

 

[retiredbaker]

Thx.

Just did some research and found how to calibrate.

The temp is stabile, but is it really ok to trust the therm at that price point?

sometimes yes, often no.
I use an infra red gun, I also have a $25 remote digital oven thermometer.

Amazon.com: Lavatools OVT02 Element Digital Oven Thermometer for Oven, Grill, and Smoker Includes Dual-Sensor Stainless Temperature Probe: Home & Kitchen

Online Shopping for Kitchen Utensils & Gadgets from a great selection at everyday low prices. Free 2-day Shipping with Amazon Prime.

www.amazon.com

 

[mannlicher]

if the temperature of the oven is critical for a particular job, then I use an Atkins digital thermometer with a long heat proof lead that goes into the oven. Other wise, I just don't worry about the exact temp.

 

[surfcast]

Thermapen® ONE

Specializing in cool, unique and professional temperature tools. Super-Fast thermocouples, thermistors, infrared thermometers, data logging and more.

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ChefAlarm® Cooking Alarm Thermometer and Timer

Specializing in cool, unique and professional temperature tools. Super-Fast thermocouples, thermistors, infrared thermometers, data logging and more.

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Buy once cry once! You need nothing else for the rest of your life! Nothing you can't do!

 

[ernestinef1]

Just did some research and found how to calibrate.

 

[cheflayne]

Just did some research and found how to calibrate.

Before doing any calibrating, I always make sure that I have at least two thermometers that agree.

 

[riffwraith]

Do you have an accurate meat thermo? If so put a pan of water in the oven. Set the oven to 200, After about 15 minutes, if water is simmering away pretty good, Taylor will be be reading around 180 from what you have said. Insert meat thermo into simmering water in the oven and see what temp it reads. My guess is it will be close to what the Taylor reads.

So, I have one of these:

Amazon.com: Alpha Grillers Instant Read Meat Thermometer for Grill and Cooking. Best Waterproof Ultra Fast Thermometer with Backlight & Calibration. Digital Food Probe for Kitchen, Outdoor Grilling and BBQ!: Home & Kitchen

Online Shopping for Kitchen Utensils & Gadgets from a great selection at everyday low prices. Free 2-day Shipping with Amazon Prime.

www.amazon.com

Set the oven to 200, the therm read 185, and the water did not start to simmer after 1/2 an hour. The therm told me the water temp was 145

 

[cheflayne]

Let me reword my method a bit. Turn oven to 200. When oven indicates it is at 200, put a pot of water on stove-top and bring up to 200 degrees according to meat thermometer. Put pan of water in oven. After 30 minutes check temp of water with meat thermometer, should be close to 200. Check Taylor thermometer in oven, should be close to 200. Are the two thermometers close in indicated temp?