Category: (Kitchen)
3 new, starting at $21.95
The original version of this product has probably been the most widely chosen oven-cooking alarm in the market. It's not easy to improve on that but ThermoWorks has. From customer comments, the most frequently suggested new feature has been an On/Off switch to save on battery life. (The old one couldn't be shut off but batteries lasted months.) So, they have updated the housing to a more robust design and added a slide switch so the unit can be powered off. The proven circuit is the same and the button arrangement is slightly improved. The well-loved simplicity has been kept so you won't need to find the instructions each time you set an alarm. The new stylish housing folds the display up for counter use or flat for less obtrusive magnetic mounting to an appliance door. Cook's Illustrated said this: "The best of the bunch, an easy to use thermometer from ThermoWorks..." and "This user-friendly model allows you to view both time and temperature simultaneously and is free of the annoying and unnecessary USDA recommended presets for various types of meat that are all too common in other brands.
Negative reviews are missing the mark?Reviewed by Busy Mom, 2010-02-23
I've been using this product for over 2 years and love it. I give
it as wedding shower gifts, because it's one of my most useful
kitchen tools! (Mine was marketed under the Sunbeam name, but it's
absolutely IDENTICAL to this model TW362B, except mine has white
buttons.) I've been researching these thermometers again, because
I'm getting ready to buy a second one as a backup: I don't want to
be without this item for even one day.
Before buying this model, I went through 2 other brands / models,
and this one is best. I generally use it several times a week. For
example, I insert it in my whole-wheat bread loaves after they've
baked for 15 minutes; the alarm enables me to remove them from my
baking stone at the perfect time, when the interior temp is 194.
Keeping the probe in the loaf for a few minutes after removing the
latter from the oven has enabled me to determine that residual heat
causes the interior temp to rise to the desired 200 degrees. People
compliment me on these loaves all the time, and I've never had a
failure since I started using this tool.
My probe has been dropped numerous times, but I've never had to
replace any parts and it's still working great.
I suspect the negative reviews are due to one of the
following:
1) Some people appear to have been writing about the OLDER model,
not the new and improved Model TW362B.
2) Maybe people have been using it at temps that are too high. Like
ALL other probe-and-cable type thermometers that I've seen, this
one can't be used in ovens that have been heated to high temps, and
I wouldn't think it could tolerate the high heat of a grill, for
instance. That may explain many of the failures people have written
about!
The instructions say not to put it inside an oven that is hotter
than 392 degrees (presumably because the oven heat would damage the
cable and/or sensor). For a while, I was setting my oven to that
temp. Then I learned elsewhere that when you set your oven to 350,
it can actually spike up to 400 while it's heating. So now I try to
avoid using this thermometer in any oven hotter than about 360,
which is the temp I use for my bread. (I leave the probe sticking
in the bread for 20 minutes at a time in a 360 oven, and so far
it's worked fine.)
Having said that, I must admit that several times I've forgotten
and put it in a 375 to 400-degree oven for maybe 10 minutes at a
time, and no harm has come of it. Now that I've heard you can risk
higher temps if you wrap the probe cord in foil, I may go up to 400
deliberately, but only after I get my back-up.
Thermoworks, are you listening? How about upgrading this model so
that it can tolerate higher temps? Except for that detail, it's
just about perfect, and I hope you keep carrying it!
3) Maybe people have been getting sensitive parts WET. Somewhere I
read that for probe-and-cable thermometers of this type, the place
where the cable attaches to the curved steel of the probe can't be
made truly waterproof, so it shouldn't be submerged. I hand-wash my
probe, of course, and I've been careful to keep that spot dry (as
well as the other end--the part that inserts into the main body of
the thermometer).
If I need to soak my probe (which rarely happens, but sometimes I
leave it overnight and bread crumbs are stuck to it the next day),
I stand it in a small glass of soapy warm water, which makes it
easy to keep the cable-joining part high and dry. That works well;
the stuck-on stuff then wipes off very easily and quickly.
4) Regarding alarms that don't go off: at one point I thought my
unit had gone bad because its alarm inexplicably stopped working.
Then when I finally looked at it carefully, I discovered that my
daughter had turned the alarm OFF without telling me! A simple flip
of the switch cured that problem. (My previous models had lacked
that switch, so I hadn't paid any attention to the switch.)
I haven't ever used the magnet, because magnets on ANY product
never seem to hold as they claim.
In summary, I've found this to be a great product with MANY
uses.
excellent thermometerReviewed by Swamibob, 2010-02-08
Very good, highly recommended. No wireless but that means no wireless to quit working like the last two I bought and had to order another one. This is a quality thermometer.
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENTReviewed by BONNIE, 2010-01-13
I ALSO PURCHASED THIS COOKING THERMOMETER BECAUSE OF ITS POSITIVE REVIEWS AFTER DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH. IT NEVER WORKED RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING SO I CALLED THE PHONE NUMBER ON THE PACKAGE & THEY PROMPTLY SENT ME A NEW PROBE. IT WORKED FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS AND NOW THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING AGAIN. THIS TIME WHEN I CALLED, I KEEP GETTING EXCUSES (I.E. THE PHONES ARE DOWN, THEY'RE MOVING, THE PERSON I NEED TO SPEAK TO ISN'T IN NOW, ETC.) I WILL NOT PURCHASE ANOTHER PRODUCT FROM THIS COMPANY AGAIN. THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER COOKING THERMOMETERS ON THE MARKET, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ONE.
Love it!Reviewed by G. Galef, 2010-01-05
So, I saw this thermometer featured on a Food Network show, and decided to get one. This is the second I've purchased, but this time it was as a gift, as I love mine so much. Now, we don't use it very frequently, probably about once a month, so I can't rate it for heavy use, but I can say that we've loved the convenience and accuracy, and gone are the days of cutting a big beautiful hunk of beef tenderloin open only to realize it's under-or-over-done.
Thermoworks will not honor the guaranteeReviewed by Nic, 2009-12-14
I purchased this item from Amazon and used it a few times. The probe stopped working and Thermoworks sent a replacement. The replacement also stopped working after just a few months. Thermoworks will not honor the 6 month guarantee that comes with the probe, telling me that "damage" is not covered by the warranty. I used this item exactly as the instructions tell you to use it, it just stopped working one day. Don't waste your money on this product.
© 2009 Cooking News.
