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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Dec 27, 2022 10:36:59 GMT -5
I started bowl tempering with one of my kid's IR thermometers that has body and surface modes. The chocolate came out fine but I always had to click a button to switch from body to surface mode which was annoying so I bought a new one that is surface only and has some extras like a red laser beam, calibration, etc. Comparing the two side by side the numbers are either pretty close or WAY off so now I don't know which to trust.
Googling turned up other types of thermometers.
Is there a 'best' out there for chocolate making and/or how can I test/calibrate this new one I got to make sure I'm getting accurate readings?
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Post by Ben on Dec 27, 2022 10:43:57 GMT -5
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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Dec 27, 2022 11:40:37 GMT -5
Do you have a preference between the IR and probe types?
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Post by Ben on Dec 27, 2022 12:24:55 GMT -5
I prefer IR since they're faster and I don't have to clean them after use.
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Post by Thomas on Dec 27, 2022 18:06:19 GMT -5
www.thermoworks.com/ makes the best temp probes. Their top of the line thermapen reads in 1 second. This is not required for chocolate but is a must for BBQ. The site also has some good info about IR basics, emissivity, and ice baths for calibration. See the 'LEARN' section. I think it's worth reading. I agree with Ben on the IR for chocolate and I've never had an issue with it. Although I need to get a new one as mine just stopped working so I've been using my thermapen. And yes, I have to wipe it off every time.
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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Dec 27, 2022 20:26:32 GMT -5
Their least expensive IR is $74. For our purposes do you think this is a case of you get what you pay for or my $15 Amazon special with over 1,000 positive reviews (of course none of those are fake...ahem...) is probably totally fine? amzn.to/3GjYMeq
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Post by Thomas on Dec 28, 2022 11:12:52 GMT -5
As long as the IR is accurate and the emissivity is set correctly it should be fine. The cheaper temp probes can take many seconds to read the temperature. But as long as you know that, it shouldn’t be an issue. I would still suggest taking a look at the ‘Learn’ section of the ThermoWorks web site. If you start using a new thermometer and have trouble with tempering, it may not be accurate. I have both IR and temp probes and I use both from time to time just to see if there is a difference between the two. I 100% trust the probe since it reads the temp within the chocolate and the IR only reads the surface. However, IR has worked fine for me too. Just my thoughts.
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Post by Fat Rabbit Coffee on Dec 28, 2022 13:19:04 GMT -5
I did follow your advice and read about it in the 'Learn' section. I also just ordered a probe based on a tempering video from Chokolat (someone on another thread recommended it) during which the chocolate maker pulled out an IR and chucked it over his shoulder claiming it to be basically useless and strongly recommending the probe style instead.
I'm not about to chuck my IR but I will test its calibration against an ice bath as recommended by that 'Learn' section. Also interesting to read about using it perpendicular to the surface. I've been zapping at an angle.
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