jmcquown wrote:
> stark wrote:
>> wrote:
>>> Anybody have a clue why these probes give out? I've been through 2,
>>> the last one gave me about a year of dedicated service, so I'm not
>>> too upset, I just wonder if anything can be done to extend its life.
>>> The cost of replacing the probe approaches what purchasing an entire
>>> new unit costs, which is irksome.
>>
>> Mine too. Different brands. But what's even scarier is that none of
>> my three or four different types of thermometer will give the same
>> reading. Can't
>> remember my last test but I think I had the same water boiling at
>> 200F and 220F. The others were somewhere in the middle. I use an
>> abbreviated
>> karate jab on roasts and the forefinger poke on steaks. Chickens? I
>> felta thigh.
>
> I just use my old-style trusty dial meat thermometer. I've heard
> very mixed reviews about these probe type thermometers. I figure if
> a plain old jab it in the meat and read the dial kind has worked for
> years, why bother with a gadget that requires wires?
>
> Jill
I bought a digital probe-type Polder thermometer for candymaking, and the
probe NEVER worked. I had lost the receipt, so I never bothered to return
it, alas. I have a Polder "instant" digital thermometer designed for meat
that I use instead, which has proved reliable. I'd been through about 5 or 6
others of the type, mostly made by Taylor, all of which gave up the ghost
very quickly. I bought a not-cheap Taylor candy/jam/jelly column-type
thermometer where the numbers came off after being immersed in the jam!
Unfortunately, the old-fashioned Taylor dial-type candy thermometer, which
does last forever, is not sensitive enough to use for chocolate. Nor is it
very accurate, but you can adjust for that by testing it periodically.
I have a veritable thermometer graveyard.