Candy/Confectionery Thermometers

[jrshaul]

I'm supposed to make a large sum of chocolates for a party, but my thermocouple thermometer has started measuring thirty degrees low. I don't have time for anything to arrive in the mail, and I need to temper some chocolate. Can anyone make a suggestion?

[Mjx]

Where are you located (i.e. nearest city or town), and what's your budget?

Given the temperature range involved, a basal thermometer should do the trick, and according to eG member Robert Jueneman, they're reasonably priced and accurate, and they seem to be widely available (e.g Eckerd, Rite Aid, Target).

[Lisa Shock]

Smart & Final has regular old school mercury and newer instant read thermometers near the checkout. They are a fairly large chain, located in most larger cities.

[Edward J]

Go to your drugstore, find a regular thermomter, the kind your Mom used to put under your tongue when you had a fever.

Look, the melting temp and working temp of couverture is almost the same as human body temp (32 C vs 36/37 C). The "fever" thermometer is accuate within 10ths of a degree.

It'll do, it'll do very well, and it's cheap and easily obtainable.

[jrshaul]

I'm in Madison, WI.

That said, I think one of the above options will cover it - you folks are absolutely 100% full of win. Thanks!

[jrshaul]

The standard oral thermometers at Wallgreens dont' go above 102F or below 95F; the ovulation thermometers appear to have an even narrower range. Any suggestions for a specific model?

[Mjx]

Hm. That range seems too high (based on what pastrygirl, who's a pro, said in another topic). If there aren't any decent kitchen supply shops in your area, what about lab supply shops?

[rickster]

_{30 seconds of googling came up with a couple of kitchen supply stores in Madison, including a WIlliams Sonoma. Seems pretty easy to call one of them up.}

Edited November 28, 2012 by rickster (log)

[jrshaul]

I called both of the restaurant supply stores Google returned; Williams Sonoma had a thermocouple thermometer, but for more than I'd just paid for 22 pounds of coverture. Ouch.

It turns out that my $100+ thermometer is working fine - it's the probe that's malfunctioning. In what I feel was a fairly heroic fix, I removed the thermocouple from the original probe and, after hollowing it out with a tiny screwdriver, inserted a replacement thermocouple. It measures beautifully, though the poor thermal conductivity makes it awfully slow.

[Kerry Beal]

I pick up infrared thermometers from Canadian Tire when they go on special - I find they work quite well for tempering. A bunch of folks from the chocolate conference last year took them home.

[jrshaul]

I pick up infrared thermometers from Canadian Tire when they go on special - I find they work quite well for tempering. A bunch of folks from the chocolate conference last year took them home.

Can you link to the specific model? My present IR thermometer is inadequately accurate, and I would be interested in an inexpensive replacement of required precision.

[Kerry Beal]

I pick up infrared thermometers from Canadian Tire when they go on special - I find they work quite well for tempering. A bunch of folks from the chocolate conference last year took them home.

Can you link to the specific model? My present IR thermometer is inadequately accurate, and I would be interested in an inexpensive replacement of required precision.

Here you go. Now ignore the $99 - they are generally on sale. Anything from $39 up.

[Edward J]

Anyone ever experience this problem before?

I've got a nice Matfer confectionary thermometer that isn't accurate anymore because ther is a bubble in the "bulb",and when the temp goes up past 100 C (212F) I get a gap in the thin red line. I've tried putting the thermomter in the freezer overnight, but that doesn't help, and my last option would be to go next door to a cafe with a deep frier and deep try the sucker to it's max , 200 C or +- 385 F.

Any suggestions?

[annabelle]

Replace it. It's lived out its useful life.

[minas6907]

Is this the metal cage type thermometer?

[Kerry Beal]

Can it be shaken down like a medical thermometer?

[Edward J]

Got rid of the bubble, stood it perfectly upright in the freezer for a few hours and it (bubble) was gone. DId some searching on-line and found out it is a fairly common problem,(separation, they call it) several websites advise tapping the bulb, smacking it gently in the palm of your hand, or swinging it abrupty. None of those techniques worked though... I even stood the bulb on the chocolate vibrator for a minute, but that didn't work either. Standing it upright in the freezer worked.

The thermometers from Matfer aren't cheap, and are quite large (aprox 9" tall) and robust, I have the s/s 'cage" that slides over it, so I'm not ready to toss it out just yet. At the moment, I haven't found a "bricks and mortar" store that stocks these thermometers, and I live in a fairly large town. I know I can get replacements from Matfer or places like Chefrubber, but I'd have to put in an order of at least $150.00 to make it worthwhile to pay for shipping charges.

[minas6907]

That's awesome you got the bubble out! I'm surpirsed, really. I had my eye on the glass thermometer in the metal cage from matfer for a long time, and I pretty much totally forgot about them. When I put in a big order from jb prince, I ordered a metal cage thermometer, as well as a backup glass thermometer. When the shippment arrived the backup glass thermometer was leaking inside the package, but the one already inside the metal cage looked fine, but when I tested it in boiling water, the temp registered about 88c. So that was quite frustrating, I wasn't expecting that whatsoever, usually when it comes to pastry products, Ive always loved matfer above other products. The people at jb prince kindly refunded me and said I didn't have to send the thermometers back, so I've had a cage thermometer for a while that just sort hangs there hahaha. I guess I just got two duds. Glad you got yours back in working condition!

Edited December 24, 2013 by minas6907 (log)

[annabelle]

I'm glad you got it fixed, Edward. There's nothing worse than being without a vital tool.

[glennbech]

For xmas, i bought one on of those kits for hard candy making; and got a thermometer that goes from 0 to about 200c. (32-400f)

Today I did some deep frying and kept an eye on the oil with both my Thermapen (accurate to +/- .4c) and the thermometer from the candy kit.

The candy kit was off by almost 10c below actual. (50f) !!! This is pretty bad isn't it? We probably did the candy all wrong, stopping the sugar at 10c below target temp.....

[hattermad]

Just to be clear - being 10C off is only 18F, not 50F. 9/5C + 32 = F is the conversion, but for differentials the + 32 does not apply as it cancels out.

That said, I think being 10C off is pretty bad, IF you were measuring at the target temperature for candy making. I personally use a thermapen and have found it accurate across a range of temperatures, but I have specific thermometers which match the thermopen at some points but then sail off wildly as they get further away from their intended target range. If the thermometer is 10C off at the temperature it's intended to target, it's nigh on useless.

[glennbech]

Just to be clear - being 10C off is only 18F, not 50F. 9/5C + 32 = F is the conversion, but for differentials the + 32 does not apply as it cancels out.

That said, I think being 10C off is pretty bad, IF you were measuring at the target temperature for candy making. I personally use a thermapen and have found it accurate across a range of temperatures, but I have specific thermometers which match the thermopen at some points but then sail off wildly as they get further away from their intended target range. If the thermometer is 10C off at the temperature it's intended to target, it's nigh on useless.

Thanks for pointing that out.

The sugar thermometer is about 10c off in the 200c range, and about 5 when I measure at 60c.... Useless. I probably need to re-do my hard candy recipes to see if this had any effect on the result.

[Norm Matthews]

I'd tend to trust the candy thermometer more than the thermapen. The candy thermometer is in the middle of the boiling liquid and measuring the ambient temperature while sometime i wonder if my Thermapen is measuring the surface of the liquid or the bottom of the pot. That little red dot isn't stopping in the middle of the batch.

[keychris]

If you've checked the calibration on your thermapen, I'd trust that (I'm assuming you're talking about one of these: Thermapen)

sometime i wonder if my Thermapen is measuring the surface of the liquid or the bottom of the pot. That little red dot isn't stopping in the middle of the batch.

If you're using an IR thermometer, it's measuring surface temperature. The dot is purely for your visual reference where you're aiming ie. the dot isn't doing the measurement, rather it's pointing at the spot that is being measured. IR is the only type I know that has a red dot

[Sue Casey]

Does anyone have a favorite candy thermometer when making caramel?  I have used Taylor digital and a traditional glass mercury type.