Thermometers for tea brewing - what do you recommend?

[Richard Kilgore]

I have been using a Thermopen for daily tea making, as well as for cooking in general, for several years. It's a great thermometer - fast and accurate - but expensive. Since I bought it, Thermopen has come out with a lower cost alternative, the RT600C Superfast Waterproof Pocket Thermometer by ThermoWorks. It reads the temp within 4 - 6 seconds and is water resistant (which my original Thermopen was not). $25 vs $90 for the current model Thermopen.

I'll report back after it arrives and I have used it for a few days.

But what do you all use for a tea thermometer? Any you particularly like and recommend? Any you find don't work well for you?

[jpr54_]

I use the legacy tea thermometer.

This one I have used very often.

I also use the visual eyeball method of bubbles

[Joe Blowe]

I use the original Thermapen, which I bought for cooking duty years ago, but now use for almost anything else (most recently checked the temp of the air exiting the a/c vents in the car!).

It works great for measuring water temps (I've never accidentally exposed the body to water. Yet.), and works particularly well for the AeroPress. I drink mostly cheaper black tea so mission-critical temps aren't really necessary, but should I buy a high-end green I know I'll be able to "hit it."

If I didn't have a Thermapen, getting the cheaper RT600C seems like a no-brainer...

[Wholemeal Crank]

I've bought several cheap digital thermometers on amazon. I have now three from polder, one of which died a strange loss-of-calibration death that I can't fix by recalibrating (because it reads so far out of the range where the calibration feature works even if I stick it in ice water); one is a 'meat' thermometer that beeps annoyingly because it wants temps to be 170 or 180 or 190 degrees, one of several fixed presets, and I have relegated that to the less-used satellite office; another works fine but has small difficult to use switches instead of buttons.

The best seems to be the last bought, a taylor 'professional' model from amazon. The big problem I have iwth all of these is that they don't balance well in a short teacup or teapot.

But using the pino kettles they have become less of an issue anyway.

[Richard Kilgore]

I have been using my new RT600C Superfast Waterproof Pocket Thermometer for about a week and find it quite sufficient for tea brewing and other tasks.

Pluses: Tolerates operating environments hotter than the Thermopen. Six second response time vs three second for the Thermopen. Lessthan 1/3 the cost of a Thermopen. NSF.

Minuses: Smaller digital display compared to the Thermopen. You have to cant it at an angle to read the display.

I have not had any problem adjusting to using this thermometer. I had to figure in the three second delay on the Thermopen, so switching to a six second delay was easy enough. This one may last longer than my Thermopen did if, as it appears, this one is more resistant to heat and moisture than the old one. After a few years the Thermopen did not like being held in the mouth of my electric kettle; the digital display would show impossibly high temps for boiling water, or just stop working until it dried out. They may have made the new ones more resistant to moisture, however, and I would still prefer the Thermopen overall for a kitchen thermometer...except for the cost.

[CKatCook]

I have been using a cheap instant read that I bought at walmart. I have been wondering this question myself and I am eager to see everyone's responses.

[Chris Birkett]

Like Richard, I use my Thermapen for practically everything, including tea and coffee making. I think everyone should have a good instant read thermometer in the kitchen, and this one is the best. I always hated them until I got the Thermapen. The 3 second reading means I actually use it instead of leaving it in the drawer. For coffee and tea in particular it is nice to have such a highly reactive and well-calibrated thermometer. I especially like the nice big easy-to-read display.

I'm not sure what more you could ask for in a thermometer, unless you want one that can be left in the item to be measured, like an oven thermometer. I'm actually surprised they don't make an adapter to clip it to the side of the pan for candy and sauce making, which would make it even more versatile. As it is, it comes up to temperature so quickly that checking frequently isn't an issue with those things.

[andiesenji]

I have one of the newish high-low Thermoworks thermometers that sounds an alarm when the higher set temp is reached and again when the low set temp is reached.

I use it for making yogurt because the milk has to be heated to a specific temp and then cooled to a precise temp.

It's the 810-960 EcoTemp Alarm Thermometer. Click Here It's $39.00 but I also bought the $9.00 "boot" for it as having it stand is very handy.

I also bought the holder clip to keep it in place.

It would work just as well for tea brewing.

I also recently purchased one of the new RT600C Super-Fast Waterproof Pocket thermometer

which reads accurately at 5-6 seconds.

It's dishwasher safe to 190°F. It's $24.00

[qrn]

I have a "CDN" brand I got from the restaurant supply place. was $23 or so,and a 5 year guarantee,, great unit, (and has an "auto shutoff" feature

Bud