[kgs]

I assumed my Thermapen would only be a brewing toy, and an optional one at that. It has quickly become a treasured tool. Brewing, grilling, cooking, even just a quick read of the ambient temperature of a room in our unevenly-heated apartment... it's terrific. Fast and accurate. My sister just begged me to make the popcorn balls I made every Xmas (we're talking 1970s) so I'll practice my candymaking with it as well. I bought it in an eye-popping green so unlike my other thermometers, which were hard to find if I set them down in an  unsmart place, I always find my Thermapen. Love it!

[jeffy]

I was just looking at pricing on one.  Do you think they ever have a sale?
I bid on a used one just now on ebay, but somebody has a "plus a $ higher bid" thing going on.

[Alewyfe]

So we go to a party and I sit down to visit with a couple of "car" guys. Not wanting to disrupt the current topic, I sit quietly and wait to be acknowledged or to be able to interject a comment.
20 minutes later, I move on to another group as the guys I sat down next to were still talking only about "paint".
Throughout the evening, as I wandered past them, guess what, they were still talking about paint. When people of like minds get on a subject, it's always amazing how fixated on the topic they get. I've always thought that paint episode was a particularly humorous observation about motor heads. 

Lo and behold....this morning I find myself reading through 6 pages of conversation about a bleeding thermometer!
YIKES....don't tell anybody.

[ccfoo242]

Well, I'm cheap and ordered a most likely inferior competitor for less that half the price...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003V8A20Q/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

[Pinski]

I'm loving mine. Fast, accurate and versatile.

[ccfoo242]

I'll bet that 6 months from now I'll be cursing myself for being cheap and not getting one. 

[HydraulicSammich]

I use a Thermapen for everything, brewing and household.  Wouldn't be without one.  The link below is what I use in the carboy to measure wort temp coming from my chiller.  It has a 5 foot waterproof probe that I sanitize prior to use.  It is also certified.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/mtc.html

[majorvices]

I just can't get over my contempt. They are selling limited edition "flame" design for $96.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/

Seriously?

[denny]

The P.T. Barnum principle....

[kramerog]

You can instal a permanent dial thermometer and just walk up and look at it at any time and save way more $$$$$ if that's the way you look at it. 

I use my thermapen to check if I have stirred the mash enough.  When I don't see any more grain balls and the temperature fluctuations are below 0.1 F, I stop stirring and put the lid on the mash tun.  Can't do that with a dial thermometer!  Anecdoctally my mash efficiency improved since I started using the thermapen although it is pretty clear to me now that I wasn't stirring nearly enough before.

[majorvices]

0.1 degrees? I'm happy if I get within one or two degrees of my strike temp. Hell, I doubt if even bud is that anal. 

The thing sounds like a great thermometer. But it is way overpriced, as is obvious by their offering higher priced "limited" designs.

[tygo]

It is a great thermometer and worth every penny.  I'm using mine now while smoking some spatchcocked chickens and tomorrow I'll be using it for testing the mash temp.  I'll pass on the designer flames version though 

[boapiu]

Really like this piece of equip. I bought the flag one and it gives me piece of mind. I check strike temp, already okay with the dial thermo. Then I check mash in temp, already okay with the dial thermo. Then I check the temp during mash, already okay from the dial thermo. I don't really take time to check the boil until I am chilling but the pen verifies my dial thermo when I am cooling wort. Really sets my mind at ease during the brew day. LOVE IT!!!!

[kramerog]

0.1 degrees? I'm happy if I get within one or two degrees of my strike temp. Hell, I doubt if even bud is that anal. 

The thing sounds like a great thermometer. But it is way overpriced, as is obvious by their offering higher priced "limited" designs.

I didn't say I was within 0.1 degrees of the desired strike temperature.  If I get within 2 F, I've hit the target as far as I'm concerned.

What I said was that I felt that I had sufficiently stirred the mash or properly mixed the water and the grains once the temperature variations within the mash got to 0.1 degrees F.

[majorvices]

0.1 degrees? I'm happy if I get within one or two degrees of my strike temp. Hell, I doubt if even bud is that anal. 

The thing sounds like a great thermometer. But it is way overpriced, as is obvious by their offering higher priced "limited" designs.

I didn't say I was within 0.1 degrees of the desired strike temperature.  If I get within 2 F, I've hit the target as far as I'm concerned.

What I said was that I felt that I had sufficiently stirred the mash or properly mixed the water and the grains once the temperature variations within the mash got to 0.1 degrees F.

I'd like to see you over a ten bbl mash with your thermapen waiting for the temp to stabilize.  seriously, I think it's a great toy. Totally unecessay. Totally overpriced. But then again, I ride motorcycles as a "hobby" so stones must be set aside. I recon.