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I received an email from Anova yesterday offering $50 off. No promocode - it's a click-thru email deal. If anybody is interested, we can make arrangements for me to order for you or I can try to forward you the email w link to see if that works. Price is $129.00 + tax.

I've had several good meals at The Barrymore in the past, although it's been a little over a year since I last dined there. They are tucked away behind the Wynn/Encore complex on Convention Center Drive in the Royal Resort. Very approachable menu, perfectly executed, and easily within your price range. I will be in Las Vegas again this weekend and will try and make it over there. Nothing real groundbreaking or adventurous, but all of my meals have been solid from a food as well as beverage and service standpoint.

I used to use a Rapi-Kool when I worked at the restaurant. At home, I just use a few 1-Liter bottles that are filled with water and kept in the garage freezer. When I'm done, I give them a quick wash and store them back in the freezer.

@rotuts Thank you for the reminder about steam and the cabinets. When I initially signed up to be a backer, I told myself that I'd need to investigate how the unit deals with the exhausted steam, but it slipped my mind. The unit that was being demo'd wasn't spewing a whole lot of moisture so it didn't occur to me at that time either. When I was testing out the Cuisinart version a couple years ago, I was living in a different house and the unit sat on a counter without much above it. I did notice that the Cuisnart did seem to create a lot more steam exhaust (although that's just an anecdotal observation). The Cuisinart seemed to let out a lot of steam from all over, whereas the Tovala vents it only out the black exhaust flue on the back and the oven door is very well sealed. I am now debating what to do about the steam venting. Behind that cubby is my garage. Cutting a hole through that wall (or through the wall in the cabinet above the cubby), attaching a duct to the black rectangle that exhausts the steam, and running it into the garage is probably my best (and really only) option. I just need to make sure that water doesn't condense and collect in that duct at a bend which would lead to mildew growth or potential odors. I'll mull over that for a day. Cancelling my pledge is still an option at this point, too. From a technology standpoint, cooking with the unit is just like any other steam oven and there is no profound change in process or method once you take the pre-packaged meal offerings out of the equation. I suspect that it will perform equally well to the Cuisinart. The only real difference is the manual controls and iphone interface needed to program routines - which my girlfriend has informed me that she is not enthusiastic about. Truth be told, neither am I but it's not a deal breaker yet.

So I ended up attending the launch event in SF on Wednesday, but have been swamped with work - hence the delay in my report back. I spent about 2 hours speaking with the Tovala crew (as well as some of the other attendees) and they responded very positively to my onslaught of questions. They were extremely friendly, forthcoming and transparent with information, and I came away with the feeling that they were a good group of people with a solid product. It was a pretty laid-back event with no official speech, structured itinerary, or needless self-promotion. It was held in a co-working space where they had several ovens set up (more on that later), were serving cooking and serving food, and had a table of beer and wine that you could help yourself to (which I gladly did - thanks Tovala crew!). I actually forgot my 1/4 sheet pan in my rush to leave the house, but was able to pick one up at the restaurant supply store on the way. The bad news is that a 1/4 sheet pan is just about 1/8" too wide to fit in the oven. I spoke with them about this and explained that the 1/4 sheet is a standardized size, nearly indestructible, versatile, and can be had for about $3 each which is why I have a dozen of them around. In order to accommodate one, I think the oven chamber would probably have to be widened about 1/2" to prevent the pan from touching the edges and having the steam condensate run down the sides and into the pan. There was plenty of room in front of and behind the pan for heat/steam to circulate. I'm told that the reason the interior cooking area is the size that it is was due to other readily available components. The only item that I could thing of which would dictate that would be the chrome rack (which I'm sure that they could re-spec very easily at minimal cost). The good news (potentially) is that I was told that the final design wasn't set in stone and that enlarging the cooking chamber was certainly a possibility if the re-tooling costs weren't prohibitive. As a former machinist/fabricator, I know that it can be done quite easily, but I'm not very familiar with Chinese production dynamics so fingers crossed on this one. I did leave the 1/4 sheet pan with them in hopes that they would bring it over to their development lab to try and get it accommodated. As far as a tray goes though, I reminded them of how once a toaster oven's tray warps, stains, or gets lost, that's the end of the tray which is not easily replaceable and why 1/4 sheet pans are so handy. They did say that a tray would probably be available separately, so there's that in the event that the interior dimensions do stay the same. The barcode probably won't be "hackable" as it pertains to a specific menu item (unless you create food that takes advantage of the same cook routines as one of their prepackaged offerings). The interesting part of repurposing a barcode to cook your own foods is that you'll be skewing their data since the oven sends back data to them information on what is being cooked, when, how often, etc. Once the barcode/item number is scanned, the oven goes out and fetches the instruction set from the internet via wifi. In the event of an internet outage, the oven routine can be programmed directly from a smartphone and beamed over via Bluetooth. So yes, Bluetooth was mentioned as a connectivity method. Additionally, If you have a number of things that you cook on a regular basis, you will be able to program the routines into the app and then just hit a saved cook routine and the procedure will be beamed over to the oven. You can save these routines in a private repository or publish them for others to use. If you develop a very popular recipe that gets published and Tovala produces it as a pre-packaged offering, you will receive royalties from that recipe. They served two items at the event - mac and cheese and chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms, cheese (asiago, I think??), and spinach. The mac and cheese was excellent. Adequate portion size, good taste and texture, and well prepared. It did have a crumb topping on it, which highlighted the browning abilities of the oven. The cook times were spot on. The chicken tasted great. The chicken was seared before packaging so that it would have some color beforehand, but was raw otherwise. I was told that some prep (such as pre-searing) would take place with the packaged meal offerings. I'm guessing that the mushrooms that were part of the filling were also cooked down before assembly and packaging, but I didn't ask. The chicken was very tasty. Significantly better than something you'd get from a fast casual restaurant. I felt that the portion was a little small, but will admit that I'm a big eater. Not sure if the portion size is dictated by food cost, tray size, nutrition concerns, or something else. Combining the smallish (in my opinion) chicken entree with a full portion side of the mac and cheese and a veggie, it ends up being a sensible meal. As far as the oven construction goes, fit and finish are very good. The build quality appears to be top notch. There is only one complete working oven at this time, with approx. 20-30 more on the way for testing very soon. The unit looks sleek and the controls are pretty well thought out. The controls are all along the top of the door together with a display. Currently, it's a blue LCD display that only shows the temperature - but they did mention that they might try to incorporate an OLED unit that displays more information by the time they go into production. Along with that display, there's an LED indicating wifi connectivity. The buttons on the left with one and two dots are programmable by the user, so if there is something you make on a regular basis you can program that and just hit one of the buttons instead of having to pulling out the smartphone. I should add that the printed buttons for the production model should be fine. The pictured example of the control panel is a prototype that has had plenty of abuse and (presumably) will use a more durable ink. Behind the right side of the door is where the laser barcode scanner is situated as well as the water reservoir. You open the door by pulling the handle and the water reservoir slides out and the slot for the barcode scanner is visible to the right. The door has a latch that clicks when you open and close it, but it doesn't lock. There was a mention of a locking latch possible in later versions, although I don't see the need for it. Along the top of the oven door on the front is a row of blue LEDs which light up left to right as the cooking routine is executed (a progress bar). The drip tray is located along the front underneath the door and spans the width of the oven. It goes back about 4 inches or so and is about 1 inch deep - I don't foresee any capacity concerns there. The steam vent is on the back left corner and up a little bit higher than the oven itself. Not sure if the height of the steam vent is taken into account for the exterior dimensions (although common sense says that it should be). Also present at the event were 3 Cuisinart steam ovens that they hacked (since they only had one completed Tovala to prepare food in). I'm guessing much of the recipe research as well as controller and programming development is taking place on those re-wired machines solely as a steam oven platform. Regarding the longevity of the company in regards to income and profitability, I was told that they make enough money off the margin of the oven itself that they are not dependent on the meal program to make a profit. The meal offering will be a separate income stream that has margins in line with Blue Apron, etc. I'm still a backer, but my only reservation at this time is where I plan to locate it. I have a cubby in my kitchen intended for a microwave (which I don't own) where I was planning on putting it. It will fit perfectly in that area and would look great. The problem is not with the oven so much as it is with the cubby itself. The shelf of the cubby is 55 inches high and I wouldn't be able to see the display panel on the top of the door. I could still use the controls when the door is open, but they would become inaccessible once the oven door was closed (unless I used a step ladder). Not a deal breaker for me, but not ideal either. I've used the Cuisinart seam oven extensively (I had use of one for several months before giving it back to the rightful owner) and like the abilities of steam ovens quite a bit. If I already owned another brand combi oven and was happy with it, I wouldn't feel the need to replace it with a Tovala (since I don't plan on utilizing the meal program). Since I don't currently own a steam oven, have a spot in my kitchen for it, and the $230 price can't be beat, I'm sticking with it. Target demographic on this one is tough to nail since I only met a handful of backers at the event and I don't know the background of the other backers throughout the country. From what I could tell, it seems to be techies who like food, but are not cooks - nor they have the desire to understand their ingredients and make things from scratch. A couple attendees I spoke with were all about just buying the next toy. They told me that they backed a bunch of other food/technology devices and this was just the next thing to them - whether they understand it or not (I spoke with a couple of people who did not know what a steam oven was, what it could do, how it differed from a standard oven, or the advantages of one). I hope that this post was insightful. I'm sure there is more that I'm sure I'm forgetting, but I think this post is long enough as is!

As an early backer, I received an email invitation to an SF Launch Party for the Tovala that takes place tomorrow (3/30/2016). I RSVP'd and will try and make it up there (as long as I don't get caught up at work). The invitation mentioned made from scratch foods that will be prepared in the Tovala oven so we can watch it in action accompanied by frosty beverages. It doesn't mention any actual hands-on time though. I hope to get a good close look at it then, be able to see what sort of features can be manually controlled (and how intuitive they are), and speak with the people bringing it to market. I'll try and take plenty of pictures of the device and get them uploaded here. Also, if anybody has questions that you'd like me to pose to staff there, please let me know. I'll try to remember to check this thread again before heading up there tomorrow afternoon. They also mentioned that they plan on having launch parties in other cities as well.

Regarding the warranty, I specifically recalled reading about a 1 year warranty. I checked the FAQ's and the 30 day period is a "return it if you don't like it" period. Seeing the Tovala's response to rotus, I had to search again and found the mention in the comments section.

I signed up for one on Tuesday afternoon at the 199 (230 after shipping) price. I've been following the Cuisinart Steam oven thread(s) for a while now and have been sooo close to picking one of those up several times now. Came across an article about the Tovala in my google news feed on Monday and did a little reading. After verifying the interior and exterior measurements, confirming that I could prepare my own food in it, seeing the one year warranty, and admiring the design aesthetic, I pulled the trigger. 1/3 lower cost than the Cuisinart Steam Oven and seems like it should do everything I would need it to. I paused the kickstarter video and tried to figure out exactly what controls are on the top panel along the front since I'd be manually inputting settings but I couldn't make them out. Not a real big fan of having to use an idevice in order to tell it to turn on. I have absolutely no interest in ordering their prepared meals, although I might get a few for research purposes. Reason being, I suspect that the bar codes on the meal packages that the Tovala scans might only carry time and temp info (as opposed to actual food contents, etc). Might be worth it to crack that code and maybe create a card of commonly used settings (in barcode form) and tape it to the side of the machine.

First time hearing about it so I have no experience with it. I just took a look at the dimensions and they are only 12'x12"x15. If you had a whole rib roast or shell roast (which is how I buy), you'd only be able to fit 1/2 or 1/3 of it in there. What to do with the rest of it? I just age the whole thing in my fridge and have had good results without any special gadgets.

For dim sum in that area, Mekong Palace is probably your best bet. It's located within the Mekong Plaza on the SWC of Dobson and Main. The setting is a little strange, as it feels like the restaurant is in the thoroughfare. A friend of mine brought me to an excellent northern Chinese restaurant last week called Chou's Kitchen. Very good xlb, stir fried intestines with chili oil, cumin lamb, and other items. It's the best example of northern Chinese food that I've had in AZ to date. Several of the other tables were eating what appeared to be lamb or pork neck bones. They looked like they were braised in soy or black vinegar. We didn't order them, but they were popular with the other tables. Only downfall is that the place is a 30 minute drive from where I live.

I purchased two of the packages you are referring to back in Nov for a total of a dozen legs and a dozen breasts and I couldn't have been more pleased with my purchase. I was a little apprehensive as well due to the initial cost, but shipping was included (unlike many other mail order sites) and I've always been pleased with Costco's excellent customer service/return policy. Also, when comparing the cost to other suppliers, Costco was easily the cheapest by quite a bit (and that's not even accounting for the free shipping). Packaged arrived in two relatively large boxes with 6 breasts and 6 legs in each. Within each box, there was another Styrofoam box which was several inches thick and a couple ice packs. I kept the packaging and use them as (somewhat) disposable coolers. The product itself is excellent - both the breasts and the legs. I have cooked a some of the breasts, but have turned a majority of them into duck prosciutto. Keep I mind that the magret breasts are the byproduct of producing foie gras and they are not as tender as the smaller breasts from a normal duck. There is some chew, but they are by no means tough. I purchased mine during a $20 off promotion, so each package was only $120 (I think they do this promotion every year around the holidays). Also, be sure you are home to receive the delivery it and transfer it straight to the freezer when it arrives because the weather is starting to heat up and insulated boxes and ice packs can only last so long (at least here in Arizona).

In the video, they mentioned that the target price was $499 and that there was a generous margin built into that number. There was also a mention of a possible crowd sourcing effort once the unit actually goes into production, so I anticipate seeing some sort of discount for supporters.

Thanks for catching that. I knew something didn't sound quite right!

I came across this article just now on TechCrunch about the Palate smart grill. Here is the product's webpage. I do okay with my current sous vide set up and have a pair of Anovas on their way soon. I can't see paying $500 for this plus going out and spending $300+ on an ipad just to work the thing. $800 to cook some steak and salmon??? From what I saw in the video and on the product's website, it seems like it's geared towards smaller servings of protein. I didn't see any mention of vegetables and I'm not sure how it would handle eggs in the shell. I'd like to see a more comprehensive demo performed by some advanced cooks/chefs instead of a pitch tailored to the tech community. Sure, a device that precision cooks and sears is nice; but like a lot of startup technology companies that I hear about, I feel like its creators are trying to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. Of course, if this machine does much more that I'm not yet aware of and the price comes down significantly (like at least 50-60%), I might learn to like it. Your thoughts?

I've had real wasabi several times, although I never thought to ask what type it was. I didn't take a deliberate sniff of it, but I don't recall the smell being especially fragrant or pungent on the plate. It looks similar to the fake putty-like stuff in color, but the real stuff has a bit more texture - like very well pureed applesauce when it's on the plate but not as wet. It's always been grated for me at the time of service and it is my understanding that the flavor fades extremely quickly once it's grated. I was told that after 10-15 minutes, the taste will be significantly muted from when it's first ground. I feel that the taste is much more floral and has a complex quality to it. For me, the heat comes harder, but dissipates much faster than the fake stuff. Beware that there are some places that serve "real" wasabi which may or may not actually contain real wasabi. On more than one occasion, I have asked my server/sushi chef whether they had real wasabi, been told yes (sometimes for an upcharge), only to be served a green onion based sauce/paste. In those scenarios, I generally receive about a teaspoon of chopped scallion greens in a salty, slimy sauce. It tastes of wasabi (although I can't really see any in it because it's composed of almost all green onions and snot-like sauce) and seems to have some soy sauce, ginger, and other flavoring agents in it (possibly seaweed extract to boost the umami). When I get served this product, it has always tasted pretty much the same and once I even saw the sushi chef squeeze out the sauce from an aseptic mylar-like pouch about the size of a single serving powder-based hot chocolate packet - which leads me to believe that it's a somewhat readily available institutional product for the food service industry.

The reviews are just middle ground and the stone crab season doesn't start until the second week of October. I'm not sure, but if you go before then you might end up with frozen crab. My favorite Thai joint is located on Sunset Avenue almost directly under the US-95 overpass. I have no idea what it's called. I also regularly eat at Market 168 (a pan-Asian supermarket). Their dim sum isn't quite as good as din tai fung. OK, it isn't as good. But it's cheap as chips and solid dumpling fare. I eat at the lunch counter at 168 at least twice a month. That makes it the most-visited restaurant in Las Vegas for me. So if you're looking for the "truly local dining option," that's where I'd go. I believe the Thai place on Sunset that you are referring to is Penn's. It's in a little strip mall just east of the 95. I've eaten there several times and it's outstanding.

As far as online purveyors of truffles, I've ordered them from Mikuni Wild Harvest before. They cost more than getting them from my normal guy, but the product is pretty good and I don't have to jump through too many hoops to get them. I ordered 1 oz of black truffle a couple years ago and it arrived in one piece a bit smaller than a golf ball. The skin was a slightly rough, but not as textured as I've seen on truffles I've received from other sources. Aroma was decent and if my normal source wasn't avaiable, I'd order from them again. I do not have any experience with their white truffles. http://mikuniwildharvest.com/

I'm a fan. It's good stuff. Really good. I like that it is a syrup and the concentration can be adjusted depending on what you're making. I dilute with San Pellegrino. Decent complexity and depth of flavor. To be fair, I was just a Schweppes guy before this and had only tried a few other craft tonics before trying this stuff. It costs about the same (or maybe less than) the Schweppes that I used to buy in little glass bottles. Considerably cheaper than most of the other competing tonics out there, if you can even find them. Also doesn't hurt that the Tuck Shop/Astor House where John works is about a mile from my place in Phoenix and he's a really nice guy. After all this cheerleading, know that it's still just tonic. But it's really good tonic. It probably won't change your life (but I suppose it's possible). Definitely worth it in my book and has a place at my bar. Just checked out his website and I'd suggest splitting an order with somebody else (or just stocking up for yourself) since shipping is consistent up to 4 bottles.

The asian market that I frequent most often is Mekong Market in Mesa. About a 15 minute drive from where you are. The supermarket and plaza that it's located in seems to keep pretty busy and a lot of product gets moved through there. The produce is good, lots of refrigerated stuff (fresh noodles, preserved meats, and the like from Los Angeles) along the back wall and the meat department is clean and seems to do quite a bit of turnover. The fresh seafood selection appears okay, although I will admit that I've only purchased frozen stuff (clam meat, etc) once or twice from the freezer case. They carry fresh head-on, feet-on Vikon chickens for about $7 each and I always pick up a few whenever I'm there. Lee Lee is another good asian market. They have two locations. One in Chandler (East valley) and a second location on the opposite side of the valley in Peoria. I think they're probably the same distance, but I have only been going to the Peoria location since it opened a few years ago. In addition to Chinese products, they have a better selection of foods from other parts of Asia (Southeast and India) compared with Mekong. Fantastic selection of fresh herbs, produce, meat, and pantry items. The Peoria location is a better lit, cleaner, and has a great chinese restaurant just inside the front door. Being that these two markets are aren't really close to central Phoenix (I live about 2 miles from where you'll end up), I do find myself going to what used to be a Ranch 99 Market for misc items. I think they changed the name to Super L a few years ago. I'll really only go there to grab a couple items when I can't justify the drive to one of the previously mentioned markets. The produce selection is adequate, as though isn't nearly as expansive or appear quite as fresh as Mekong or Lee Lee. The only things I really get there are fruits and veggies, dried noodles, bottled sauces, and frozen dumplings. They don't seem to move a lot of the meat and seafood as fast as I'd like so I steer clear of that stuff. I will purchase live lobsters from the tank periodically, though. In addition to these supermarkets, there are several small ethnic markets around town. I can provide more info on them if you'd like.

Cafe O'Lei in Kihei is probably one of my favorite restaurants on the island. Top notch but approachable food for maybe half of what you'd pay at a lot of the Wailea resorts. The staff is great there, too - really friendly and laid back, yet still professional. Kihei Cafe is a good breakfast and lunch type place. Lots of options on the menu and quite popular. Sarento's is more od a pretty view restaurant. Food is okay, but it's the waterfront location that sells the place. My friends like 808 Bistro, but I didn't think it was all that great. Not necessarily bad, but for the price, I'd stick with Cafe O'Lei. If you are going to picnic it or can do takeout, there is a natural foods store called Hawaiian Moons that has a couple steam tables of hot deli foods to go for sale by the pound (I think). I don't recall if they keep it stocked all day or only fill it up around 4pm for take out dinners.

I think that a little bit of diced water chesnuts and just the smallest bit of fresh herb would be an excellent addition to the picked oxtail meat as the dumpling filling. The water chesnuts would be just crispy enough to offer the slightest texture contrast without being too assetive in the crunchiness or taste department. A little bit of herb (parsley or chive as you mention, or maybe even cilantro) just to freshen things up and keep the oxtail and broth from feeling too heavy. The mention of carrot in the previous post sounds excellent as well. A fine dice of blanched turnip or parsnip could also work well there. It would keep the feeling of a rich, slow cooked, cold weather dish as opposed to the water chesnut and herb option which I imagine would brighten it up a bit. I'd steer clear of mushrooms and napa cabbage since they wouldn't offer any discernible textural contrast and might be difficult to differentiate when it's in your mouth. If black truffle appears in any of the other courses, I'd mix the chopped peels into the oxtail filling.

Fish maw by itself has little/no flavor. Like sea cucumber, it is a textural ingredient. Squishy, slimy, and gelatinous are the best words that I can come up with to describe its texture. When simmered in broth with other ingredients, it takes on the flavor of whatever it's cooked with. It's most often prepared in soups where it is cut up into small lima bean-sized pieces.

Crab and fish maw soup is one of my favorites. I use a very neutral white chicken stock. Simmer the fish maw in it, add some shimeji or enoki mushrooms if I have them around, and then add plenty of crab and white pepper into the soup. I use Phillips refrigerated crab meat in the can - I think it's a very good product for this purpose. Once it comes back to a simmer, I drizzle egg white into it to form threads and then thicken with a cornstarch slurry. Sometimes I garnish with cilantro or scallion.

First of all, let me welcome you to Phoenix. Moving here in May just in time for summer! What part of town will you be living in and where are you moving from? I've been traveling extensively for the past few years and only spend about 4-5 months out of the year here now, although I've been in Phoenix in some form or another for the past 12 years. I'm finding most of what I need these days (although my needs have definitely changed since moving here). I don't see you asking about restaurants, so I'll leave those alone for the time being. Devoured, the best culinary festival here just took place last week. Most of the other ones aren't really worth the time, expense, and crowds. Food trucks seem to be all the rage right now. There are (literally) a couple good ones and way too many unremarkable ones. People in Phoenix seem to really like standing around in a parking lot eating mediocre food prepared in the back of an automobile because it's trendy. Apparently, we're only like 5-6 years behind LA and Portland in this respect. Most of my shopping takes place at the ethnic markets. A few asian markets and lots of latin markets here of varying quality. The variety and prices of fruits and veggies at the ethnic joints are vastly superior to the larger grocery chains. I also pick up most of my uncommon cuts of meat/offal, bones, and live seafood (lobsters, crab, etc) from the local asian markets. Oysters and sometimes fish come from the retail counter of the Bluewater Grill restaurant (decent chain with a Phoenix location). Costco every once in a while for a bag of mussels or clams when they have the seafood stand set up over the weekend. Sprouts is a locally based chain that I'll also stop at periodically for produce, bulk grains, etc. AJ's for very specific items. Stanley's and Schreiner's for fresh and smoked meats/sausages. Butchers are a little tricky here. They exist. Kind of. Not useful for hard to find stuff, but they're what we have. Hobe meats is the butcher shop that I'll head to every once in a while. Harder to find cuts of meat require me to buy whole primals from the wholesaler and break them down myself. The craft charcuterie scene is really weak here. No Chris Cosentino or his Boccalone here - thus, I make my own. Eggs and lots of veggies come from my friends' yards. I'm in Las Vegas, LA, as well as the Bay Area pretty often and pick up morels, duck, foie, etc when I'm out there. Bevmo has a competitor here in town - Total Wine. I like TW quite a bit more. Friendlier and more knowledgeable staff than Bevmo. Better selection, too. There are also a handful of wine shops around town worth stopping at. There are a couple restaurant supply shops out here that I hit up - Standard and Big Pan. Neither of them stand out in terms of special equipment, but they get the job done and the two are by far the cheapest. For restaurant supply food, I hit up Restaurant Depot. You'll need a business license to open an account there though. This is just what is coming to mind right now. There's lots more that I can fill you in on later. Hope this helps.

Okay, I understand the premise of equilibrium brining now. Thank you. There are a couple different types of devices that I'm familiar with that can perform the measurements you are looking for. Salinity is measured (in the aquarium world) using specific gravity. SG is a weight measurement - a gallon of salted water will weigh more than a gallon of distilled water. This measurement varies because water expands and contracts with fluxuations in temperature so a gallon is not always a gallon. Parts per thousand (PPT) is a constant, in that 50 grams of salt dissolved in 1000 grams of water (5%) will always have the same ratio of salt and water. There are conversion charts based on water temperature that are available, but we will skip that for the time being. The first device is a refractometer. It is a cylinder about 6-8 inches in length and maybe an inch in diameter. On one end, there is a "slide" or "plate" about 1/2" by 1" that has a hinged cover. You lift the hinged cover, put a few drops of the tank water (or brine in this case) onto the lens, flip the cover back down over the water, hold it up to the light and look through the lens on the opposite end of the cylinder. Within the eyepiece, there is a scale that will indicate the SG/PPT. It works by utilizing a prism inside the device that breaks down the incoming light shining through the water, measuring the amount of refraction. Most models out there now are temperature compensating, so there is no need for any conversion charts. I'm not sure what the functional range of the temperature compensation is, though. The documentation available online doesn't indicate a range either. Presumably, the brine that you will be testing is at about 37 degrees F. Since you're only testing a few drops of water, it should come up to a usable temperature in a matter of seconds. These devices are extremely accurate and do not require any batteries. The downside is that you need to remove a couple drops of the brine every time you want to take a measurement - presumably daily? Also, if the device is dropped onto a hard kitchen floor, it could be the end of the refractometer. The model that I've had for close to 15 years is the Captive Purity available here. At the time, it was the only model available and cost over twice as much. There are several other manufacturers and online stores to get them at for much cheaper these days. The other device that would suit your needs is a salinity meter like this one. I believe that it measures the conductivity of the liquid to get its readings. I've seen these in use on other aquariums, but I do not have one myself. It may be possible to drop the probe into the brine and then run the lead outside the fridge (maybe using a magnet to hold the base to the outside of the fridge). The user's manual states that the temperature compensation range is 32-122 degrees F. The downside of these are that they're not waterproof and require batteries. Also, the electrode that is on the probe could corrode if left in a salt solution for prolonged periods. There are also handheld pen style salinity meters available. Most of them that I found measure total dissolved solids (TDS), so the addition of things other than salt (such as sugar) might throw your measurements off. In fact, I believe that the addition of sugar to a brine would throw off any of the devices that I've mentioned, although we could easily calculate and compensate for that. If you went this route, I'd opt for a waterproof model. All in all, I'd recommend the handheld refractometer for your needs because of its ease of use, precision, and the fact that it doesn't need batteries. Steer clear of any mechanical instruments. I once lined up 4 of the identical model, put the same salt water sample in all four, and received 4 different readings. Sorry for the long winded answer, and I hope that this information helps.