ThermoWorks The Original Cooking Thermometer/Timer

Reviews of ThermoWorks The Original Cooking Thermometer/Timer

1.) Best value.
Reviewed by: JR Saratoga, CA
Rating:
I read the Cook's Illustrated magazine review. They rated this number 1. I called Thermoworks to ask about the probes. They said they are NOT "sometimes defective". But, over time heat and moisture can damage them. Or, if you let the cable rest against a heating element it will burn through the cable. So I got an extra probe. The price is fair. But still haven't needed it. I also asked about Polder. They said it is actually the same thermometer internally and made by the same factory in China. But they said they are not associated in any way with Polder. I've had mine since last Thanksgiving and I use it at least once a week in the oven or on the BBQ. It's easy to set and at this price I figured it was such a low risk. Since then I've decided its one of the best values in my kitchen. I also have the Thermapen - much higher price. Both work great.

2.) Nice Oven Thermometer
Reviewed by: Craig Md
Rating:
I use the Thermapen thermometer made by this same company and I wanted another one that I could set to beep at a certain temperature in the oven when it hits a certain degree. I even used it on the grill to cook steaks. I just closed the lid on the wire and found that lots easier than just probing the meat all the time. It works fine and I'm very happy with it.I will be buying another one for a friend.




3.) Cookings a breeze!
Reviewed by: Suzie Q Destin Florida USA
Rating:
I bought this based on a recommendation for thermometers on Cooks Illustrated website. They have a test kitchen and tested many different products. I have not been disappointed at all in this item. I use it all the time for baking, roasting and cooking of all sorts. Can be used outside when grilling, and provides dual function. Once inserted into your food, you can rest assured the alarm will sound when your food reaches the desired temperature inside the oven, no more guesswork. At the same time, you are able to set the timer for other items you're working on that require a certain amount of time for cooking. I would recommend this timer for cooks of any experience.

4.) Product is better than its average suggests!
Reviewed by: Busy Mom Virginia, USA
Rating:
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.


5.) Worked like a charm.
Reviewed by: Cholupa Nishinomiya, Japan
Rating:
Since buying this thermometer, I've used it a couple of times. Each time, it perfomed perfectly. The controls are very intuitive. The labels on the buttons really tell you all that you need to know. It switches from F to C with the touch of a button(which is great since my wife is Japanese and I'm American). The magnet on the back is very strong so there's now worry about it slipping and falling. I also like how you can change the settings "on the fly" without having to reset.
All in all, I have no real complaints. I would, howver, like it better if it had a button lock to help prevent accidental changes to the settings.


6.) Nice, while it worked
Reviewed by: Doug Chicago
Rating:
Bought this unit last year, on the recommendation of Cooks Country, used it once. Been attached to the stove for some months, go to use it and find all controls don't work.
Unit turns on and displays zero timer and a set temp of 122. Insert the probe and the probe temp displays fine, but the timer reset, Hr, Min, Up, Down buttons do nothing. So, it still functions as a temp probe, but all its usefull features are dead.

..edit..

Discovered I was still under warrantee, and since I had purchased directly from Thermoworks (recommended), I sent them an email. They promply sent a replacement, with a prepaid return label. Even included a small package of Jelly Belly's ! Nice touch.

Sometimes you have to have a product failure to really discover the value of a company. Customer service is 10 points, well done Thermoworks !

I've changed my rating to 5 stars, with customer service this good you can live with a glitch.


7.) Great Thermometer
Reviewed by: Bolo Jungle NYC
Rating:
A friend of mine cooks the best steaks I've ever had (no kidding). It is a simple operation, and the secrets are no secrets: the best ingredients (in his case, Lobels in NYC), simple seasoning, the right pans, and the right thermometer. I know everyone has their own opinion about great steaks - and they are all valid - but this is my experience. He left the country for a new job and we were left without my steak source. So I followed his steps, got the same ingredients and bought this thermometer. The results were outstanding. Who needs him!??

The thermometer is rugged, accurate and very easy to use. It stands alone or sticks, with its magnet, to any metal surface near the stove, and provides a clear read-out. Just very simple, well-designed, and easy to use. No opening the oven door to check on the progress, just a steady accurate cooking experience. (I am told that one of the other secrets to a great steak is not to mess with it, so not having to open the oven door is a real plus.)

Haven't tried it with anything else yet, but it is so easy to use and so accurate that I would expect great results with roasts, chicken, etc. etc. Very happy with this simple product.

8.) Fine little thermometer and timer
Reviewed by: Paul Claxton RIverside CA
Rating:
This is a nice little thermometer. This is a replacement for another "famous" name one that lasted me a good seven or so years before giving up the ghost. This one is nice in that it has an on/off switch to help conserve the battery power. The alarm is easy to set - both for the timer or the thermometer and plenty loud enough to hear across the house.

9.) Get This!
Reviewed by: Homemade Basics Charlotte, NC
Rating:
I am still learning the many things this little cooking gadget can do. I tried desperately to find this tool with the wand thermometer in local stores with no luck. I would accept no substitutions and am glad that I did not. This is great and has already been useful in many ways from checking food temperatures cooking stovetop to foods cooking in the oven....and much more.

10.) So simple to use...
Reviewed by: clinED guru Redwood City, CA United States
Rating:
I purchased this after seeing a Cooks Country review and used it for the first time yesterday. It's a breeze. You set the desired "doneness" temperature and can set the device to alarm when the temp is reached. I, however, forgot to set my roasting temp for 10 degrees less because it normally continues to rise about 10 degrees while the meat is resting. Hence, my roast was a little more done than I had intended. Great device, however!

11.) meat thermometer
Reviewed by: willow's mom florida, usa
Rating:
excellent, worked exactly how Alton Brown indicated it would on his "good eats" show, my roast was
perfection at medium rare at recommended temperature.

12.) Buy it!
Reviewed by: Paul Steamboat Springs, CO USA
Rating:
This thing is awesome. I'll never use another thermometer again. The only con is that it is awkward to store.

13.) GREAT timer
Reviewed by: Kable here
Rating:
I've read some reviews about the sensor burning out after one or two uses
I've had this for 3 years with no issue.
take care of it and it will serve you well

14.) COOKING THERMOMETER
Reviewed by: Martin James Omalley
Rating:
The thermometer works great, it even has a magnet so one can stick it to oven door, if you have ferros metal oven doors.

15.) I Give Up
Reviewed by: R. L. Shagon East Windsor , NJ
Rating:
This is an edit of an initially favorable review....would reduce to 1 star if I could.

1st probe was defective on arrival. The free replacement probe failed on it's second use. Probably not worth the hassle of trying again (isn't it 1 definition of insanity to keep repeating the same action and expect a different rsult?)

16.) Quality ThermoWorks Thermometer/Timer
Reviewed by: L. Krzmarzick Arizona
Rating:
My wife requested a new Pampered Chef timer/thermometer after I fried her temperature probe on the grill. I have since learned that this is a common problem. Grills get very hot, possibly over 600°F, which is simply too hot for most insulator materials, so the insulator melts and you get a short circuit.
Pampered Chef apparently no longer offers their timer/thermometer, so the hunt was on for a new unit, and this one seemed to be the closest with a decent price. I should also note that this probe works with the Pampered Chef unit, so now we know of one probe that can be purchased to fix that problem.
The tilt display on this is better than the Pampered Chef unit. Some people complain that the display cannot be turned off. Get over it.
One feature on the Pampered Chef unit does not appear to be provided. On the Pampered Chef, you can hit the "Start" button to start a count-up timer, which I use when making pancakes. I doesn't look like the ThermoWorks unit has this functionality, but everything else is there. We have not actually used the probe yet.

17.) Takes the guesswork out!
Reviewed by: Dawn M. House-bundy Pulaski, NY
Rating:
Nice to have. Insert into roast, put in oven. Set alarm or just keep an eye on the internal temperature. Perfect roast everytime! I love it. It would be nice if there was an on/off button, but I just leave the batteries in and it sits (magnetically) to the side of my refrigerator. Haven't had to replace the batteries yet.

18.) I use it ALL the time :o)
Reviewed by: MegaRamsey Mid Michigan, USA
Rating:
I bought one of these about 3 1/2 years ago, it just recently started acting goofy... so I'm shopping around, comparing pro's and con's, and I find myself coming back to the same one that I initially bought. I use it daily and just love it. I think my recent one started going weird on me after I put the probe in a 400 oven, I've learned from reading reviews that it's not rated for temps that high. After that, it started reading C instead of F when I didn't set it for C, and other weird things. I like the thing so much that I have decided to buy another one, I think with proper care it will last me a good long time :o)

19.) So far so good!
Reviewed by: M. Kelly Pittsburgh, PA
Rating:
This was a gift for my mother for Christmas after she accidentally overcooked the Thanksgiving turkey. I made her open it on Christmas Eve because she had planned a beef roast for Christmas Day dinner.

She is NOT a gourmet cook (makes better reservations than recepies) and is NOT very technically savvy. But she was able to use it straight out of the box and the beef was perfect!

20.) Nice timer
Reviewed by: D. Ruper
Rating:
I bought this to replace a simple timer. I have yet to use the thermometer function. The controls are intuitive and clearly labeled. I have two complaints. First, the magnetic base of my unit was warped. It was marking my cook top hood. I fixed this myself with the magnet from my previous timer. Second, I would like an automatic shut-off. I have a tendency to forget the timer once I've stopped it. I will recommend this unit for ease of use and good value for money.

21.) Great Device, Keep in mind...
Reviewed by: happiness makes up in height, for what it lacks in length. honolulu, hi
Rating:
The part of the probe that actually reads the temperature is JUST the end of the probe, the tip. It's not anywhere else. Once I found that out, I really loved using it on my ham. Amazon sells this older version of it, but if you go to the manufacturer website, there is an updated version with an on/off switch. Yes, this device doesn't have an on/off switch. Lame.

22.) Recommended with reservations
Reviewed by: vickidiane World
Rating:
Actually, Cooks Illustrated recommended this thermometer "with reservations." Here's what they have to say:

"The best of the bunch-an easy-to-use thermometer from ThermoWorks ($19)-was great when it worked but has probes that even its manufacturer admits are sometimes defective. Until a better meat probe comes on the market, we recommend this one-with reservations. Check the probe's accuracy by boiling water and taking a reading before trying it with a roast. If the probe doesn't read very close to 212 degrees, ask for a replacement."

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I also have a question about this item: the picture on AMAZON of the ThermoWorks Original Cooking Thermometer appears to be identical to the picture of the Poulder Original Cooking Timer and Thermometer. I wonder if they are the same . . .



23.) probe issues just like many other folks
Reviewed by: Tim CA
Rating:
I read all of the reviews and liked what I saw, so I purchased this ThermoWorks rather than competing models. Over and over people wrote about how flaky the probe was, but I thought, "hey, I read dirctions and I'm very careful, it won't happen to me."

But it did.

I did not get it wet. I did not place it or the wire on a heating element. I DID use it in an oven over 392 degrees. The instructions don't tell you that it will break if you use it in an oven over 392 degrees. This is what broke my probe.

The reading on the temp screen read: "HI." The reading never went away. I called the Amazon seller (Handy House) and spoke with lady who was fantastic, and confirmed that other folks have had similar issues with the probe. She graciously contacted the owner of the company on my behalf to advocate for me to try to have them send me a free replacement. I'll find out within the week, I hope, but I intend to buy extra probes just in case.

So A+ to Handy House for their low price and excellent customer service. A grade of "C" for the ThermoWorks for being so gentile. I will write, however, that the layout and functionality of the device are outstanding.

I DO suggest getting this ThermoWorks, just make sure to get at least one extra probe, even if you think you are super careful and won't break the probe, you probably will.

24.) A word of caution
Reviewed by: Curious Cook
Rating:
I'm a huge fan of Cook's Illustrated and consider their reviews when buying equipment, which led to my choice of this thermometer versus another when the one I'd had for years died.

Only problem? It failed after just a few weeks and uses - which were stove top (i.e. I didn't fry the cable cooking things at 500 degrees in the oven). Wrote to the seller, who forwarded my complaint to the manufacturer, who blamed me for the problem with a long explanation as below regarding how the probes are not covered by the warranty. If the cable can't stand heat, I guess I don't see how useful the target temperature setting is unless you want to buy probes by the gross.

I'll go back to one with an on/off switch as I've never turned it off inadvertently and had no problems with the last model I had from another manufacturer. Maybe being "on" all the time isn't such a hot idea after all if the thing wears out so quickly.

25.) It is what it is
Reviewed by: Dan Gazaille Boston, MA USA
Rating:
It works very well but the alarm no longer sounds and I have only used the thermometer a few times. As long as I watch it my food comes out awsome.

26.) Bad probe
Reviewed by: Matthew Lanzer
Rating:
All these digital probe cooking thermometers are essentially the same and work pretty well, however the one flaw most manufacturers seem to have is in the probe and cable itself. Mine seems to have some sort of short in it which makes the display light up like Times Square if you move the cable at all, maxing out the temp display and everything else. I'll try for a refund or a replacement but it seems like it will be a crap shoot as to whether or not I get a working probe (judging by other reviews). The previous model I had worked flawlessly for 5 years or so and finally gave up the ghost after New Year's Day, so obviously there are decent ones out there... just don't be surprised if you get a defective one.

27.) mite work, mite not
Reviewed by: BBQer Batesville, MS
Rating:
I have bought 4 of these in the past year, 2 of them are not working


28.) four down and none to go
Reviewed by: Sandra E. Malkovsky
Rating:
I really am quite careful with my kitchen equipment so when this unit stopped working after a couple of uses, I assumed I had a defective unit, I returned it for another one. This one too died after a few uses. I read more about it on line, bought new one, and an extra probe because the manufacturer suggested it. I treated it with the most tender kid gloves and again I found after only two or three uses, it did not work. So I have given up, it is going to the electronic recycling. My last probe broke after one use. I am posting this only to help others not waste money!



29.) Worked the first time I used it, Died the Second
Reviewed by: G. Kepnick
Rating:
I roasted a chicken with this the first time, worked quite well. The second time was in a thick steak on the grill. The temp would go up and down quite a bit, then was reading HI when it was all over. Testing it with my hand it would go up and down depending on the wire, so it seems like the wire got a short in it or something.

I will be contacting the manufacturer to see if I can get a replacement probe (or 10) since they do not seem to last long.

30.) Poor quality...
Reviewed by: Pamela
Rating:
Base works great still, but the probe died after about 6 months of normal use. 300F in the house? I don't think so!

31.) Great at first...
Reviewed by: Gregg S. Chappell
Rating:
I purchased this recently after seeing it used (or a similar item...) on "Good Eats". It worked great 1 time, and now reads 256 Degrees F when I turn the unit on. Bottom line - It is not a well designed or put together unit with a short lifespan. I suggest a different unit.

32.) LED Screen
Reviewed by: Steve AR, USA
Rating:
The first time I used this, the screen went mostly out after the temperature went over 100F. The full screen returns when the temp of the roast or ambient goes back below 100.
The alarm does work fine, however.

Features of ThermoWorks The Original Cooking Thermometer/Timer

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1.) Sticks to your oven for use as oven food thermometer and timer.;
2.) Indispensible tool that monitors both food temperature and use as a timer;
3.) Put the probe into the food and close the oven door. Set the desired temperature and alarm will ring.;
4.) Digital display of food temperature, alarm temperature and countdown timer.;
5.) Adjustable alarm setting range of 32 F to 392 F for a variety of meats and doneness.;

Package Height x Length x Width: 8.3 in. x 8.3 in. x 5.4 in.
Package Weight: 0.25 lbs.