Polder Thermometors

[Stone]

Here are the wonderfully thoughtful and well stated responses I got to my emails telling Polder that their dual-use oven thermometers suck.

My kind, understanding, and constructive email:

Subject:  Your Products Suck.

Text:  I have bought two Polder Dual Sensor Thermometers and

two replacement probes (for $10).  They simply do not

work.  I tried using them last night for barbeque.  I

had one probe poked through a potato and resting grate

level -- not touching metal.  Another stuck into the

pork shoulder.  The first had "oven" and "food"

temperatures of about 325 and 400 -- even though they

should have had the same reading. The second had a

food temperature over 200, even though it was in the

middle of an uncooked piece of meat.

I took them off and put the probes in the fridge, but

the still registered over 100.

I don't know how you get away with selling such bad

products.

The first response:

OUR UNIT YOU CAN'T LEAVE IT IN THE BARBEQUE BECAUSE THE WILL GET BURN

AND

THE UNIT WILL STOP WORKING AND SAY VEY HIGH LEVEL OF READING OR SAY HI

.

When I told them that the bbq never got above 300 degrees, they wrote this lovely ditty:

YES BUT THIS IS TO BE USED IN THE OVEN AND IF YIU ARE GOING TO USE IT

IN THE

BBQ YOU CAN USE IT AS AN INSTANT READING.THIS IS BECAUSE THE BBQ

CONTAINS

FLAMES.AND WILL BURN THE CORD PART OF THE PROBE

According to their website, these probes are good up to 570 degrees.

(Yes, the spelling errors, all-caps, and general level of illiteracy come from Polder.)

Edited June 16, 2003 by Stone (log)

[MatthewB]

LMAO!

(FWIW, my Maverick probes work great.)

[Kim WB]

If it wasn't such a sad commentary on customer service, it would be funny.

[Marlene]

I got the Williams Sonoma remote thermometer last week, and I'm in the process of ordering the Maverick one. I did a roast pork on the weekend, and the thermometer worked beautifully.

[MatthewB]

Apparently, Polder is HQ'd in New York.

[Fat Guy]

Now that's impressive customer service.

YMMV, but I've never had a problem using my Polder in a residential oven.

[MatthewB]

Stone, their website lists an 800 number.

Might you call them & report your findings?

[col klink]

That totally bites Stone, I've used my Polder both in my smoker and my oven without any problems at all.

[Motochef]

Throw out all of the others and spend a little money on a Thermapen thermometer.

Made in England, the unit is one of the best purchases I have made. It comes calibrated, and is accurate to +/- 1 deg F.

Available in the US from The King Arthur Flower Company in vermont. The version from King Arthur measures in F. Other suppliers provide versions that measure in C.

Also, it is instant read. A couple of seconds to get an accurate reading with a pin-point tip.

One great thermometer.

[Stone]

The latest:

Me:

I believe the unit says it is good up to 500 degrees.  The unit was never near the coals or flame.  It simply does not work. 

Them:

WHICH UNIT DO YOU HAVE ?AND EVEN IF IT WAS NOT IN THE FLAMES THE HOT HEAT IT PRODUCES CAUSE THE PROBE TO GET BURN.

Me:

I have the dual probe unit.  How can you possibly say

that an oven thermometer will get burned by high heat?

It's supposed to go into an oven.  Your website says

that the unit is good up to 570 degrees.  570 degrees

means 570 degrees.  Heat is heat, whether or not there

is a flame nearby.  The units I used were never

touched by flame, nor were they ever above 570 degrees

-- or even close to it.

They simply do not work.  And I have wasted over $80

on junk. 

[Schielke]

I am not sure if telling somebody their products suck is going to get you the restitution you desire.

Even if they are idiots.

Ben

[bilrus]

That was my first thought too, Shielke.

[Stone]

I didn't desire restitution. I desired venting.

[theakston]

How about forwarding their superb advice - not to use their product in a barbecue - over to the virtual Weber site. Seeing as bullet users probably account for a good percentage of their sales. And CC the moron who sent you it.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/index.shtml

They already lost one customer. I bought the bullet last weekend and was about to buy a Polder. Not now.

[Stone]

Here is their latest response. I believe I'll let the issue die now:

THE HEAT FROM THE GRILL IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OVEN ,YOU CAN NOT COMPARE

THESE HEAT .THE OVEN IS ELECTRIC AND CONTAIN NO FLAMES AND THE GRILL IS

NOT

IT CONTAIN BOTH .BUT IF YOU WANT TO US IT ON THE GRILL YOU CAN BUT IF

THE

UNIT READES HI OR VERY HIGH LEVEL OF READING .THIS MEANS THAT THE PROBE

GOT

BRUN ,THE OUTSIDE OF THE YOU CAN'T SEE IT BURN, BUT THIS IS INSIDE THE

CORD.AND THIS IS WHY THE UNIT IS NOT READING CORRECTLY .

By the way -- are there any smug scientific bastards left who can explain to me why heat from a flame (12" away and under a water bath) is different from heat from an oven?

[MatthewB]

Stone, isn't it time for a class-action suit?

[Stone]

I just ordered a Maverick et-73 from Gadget Source. $45 including shipping. This better be the last dollar I spend on a thermometer.

[MatthewB]

I just ordered a Maverick et-73 from Gadget Source.  $45 including shipping.  This better be the last dollar I spend on a thermometer.

I didn't know about that particular model.

Please report after use.

[Stone]

It's dual sensor (meat and oven) and wireless.

Here's some discussion from tvwb: http://tvwbb.101inc.com/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb...ic;f=4;t=001998

And here's a tvwb discussion trashing the polder dual use probe: click

(You do have to register.)

Edited June 18, 2003 by Stone (log)

[rxrfrx]

By the way -- are there any smug scientific bastards left who can explain to me why heat from a flame (12" away and under a water bath) is different from heat from an oven?

If you've got a water bath (and the pan holding the water bath) sitting between the flame and the thermometer, there will be no difference.

If there were no objects placed between the flame and the heated object: The difference between a pre-heated oven and a chamber continuously heated by a flame is that the flame gives off a lot more radiant heat than the wall of an oven would. Although the air temperature in both chambers might be the same, an object exposed directly to flame (even from several inches away) will become much hotter. In an oven, once the heating coil (the thing that heats radiantly as well as by convection) has heated the chamber to the desired temperature, the whole thing shuts off and tries to seal in the heat. In a grill, the "heating coil" (open flame) continuously exerts a high heat, and hot air continously escapes, keeping the air temperature in the thing the same as in the oven.

[MatthewB]

Here are the various remote models listed on Maverick's site.

I have the ET-7.

I wonder what the differences are between the ET-7 & 73 that would make the 73 retail for $20 less.

[Marlene]

The Maverick ET-72 looks identical to the William Sonoma remote thermometer. I wonder if Maverick makes it for them?

[Dave the Cook]

The Maverick  ET-72 looks identical to the William Sonoma remote thermometer.  I wonder if Maverick makes it for them?

I'm pretty sure they do. MatthewB was kind enough to find the Maverick instruction manual for me a few weeks ago. They apply perfectly to my W-S.

Edit: it appears to me that the Maverick/W-S and the Polder use the same probe. I wonder who makes them.

Edited June 19, 2003 by Dave the Cook (log)

[MatthewB]

The Maverick  ET-72 looks identical to the William Sonoma remote thermometer.  I wonder if Maverick makes it for them?

Pretty sure that is true.

[russ parsons]

too bad. i've had my polder for more than 10 years and love it. i don't think it's a dual-use, though. just the normal one with the temperature probe. ah, the adventures that baby and i have had in my roasting experiments!