You Need This: Thermoworks Thermapen & Chef Alarm

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Thermoworks Thermometers = Best Kitchen Investment

With over 40 years of home cooking and tool testing behind me, I will be posting suggestions about all the goodies you just shouldn’t live without. You Need This will include really good utensils and ingredients that will elevate your cooking and make your  recipes be the best they can be.  At the starting line, consider purchasing  the best cooking thermometer – which is hands-down the Thermoworks Thermapen or  the Chef Alarm probe thermometer. 

Why Thermapen by Thermoworks

 Thermapen Mk4 is made in England — not in some electronics sweatshop in a developing nation.  It has thermocouple technology, which allows Thermapen thermometers to be repaired when needed, unlike most digital thermometers on the market. Also, the thermocouple point of fusion (where the temperature registers) is in the very tip of the probe, meaning when you stick it in a steak, for example, you are getting the reading of that one point. An ordinary thermometer registers an average temperature  for the first half inch of the probe, like a dial thermometer. You can do better. Pinpoint accuracy is the name of the game

What Happened To Science?

One of my favorite memories at La Cuisine is the experience with a customer who complained that no matter how many thermometers she had purchased at other places, all of her roasts were overdone.  And she certainly was not going to spend any more money on thermometers.   I told her that a simple test of placing her thermometer probes in boiling water would reveal any accuracy problem.  Boiling water is 212F or 100C.  I received a call from her a few days later. She thanked me for the advice and had tested her existing thermometer,  but wanted to let me know that I had the temperature wrong for boiling water: it was 160F and not 212F. Definitely a candidate for any Thermoworks thermometer!

Beyond Boiling Water and Grilling Steak

So please – take the guesswork out of your cooking with a Thermapen or a Chef Alarm probe!  I use the Chef Alarm with its flexible probe to test oven temperatures.  My oven is really hot, so I simply make adjustments in timing.  It works separately as a timer, too. or you can use the timer as an alarm when your roast or frying temperature reaches the desired preset temperature. .  I use the Thermapen to check the doneness of cakes and breads – which is in the area of 195F to 205F.  Use it when you are checking the temperature of your custard base for ice cream or creme anglaise,  which should vary from 160F to 180F depending on how thick you want it to be.  You can purchase replacement probes for the Chef Alarm if you destroy or lose yours.  And you also get a handy-dandy clip from Thermoworks to attach your probe to the side of your pan when you are working with frying oil or sugar syrups. 

A warning from Thermoworks about their products on Amazon, eBay and other sites 

The lowest Internet prices for ThermoWorks thermometers, accessories and parts  are available at thermoworks.com and through special offers sent to subscribers to ThermoWorks emails. You really should sign up for their emails, as they offer nifty deals periodically, including promotions on my beloved Thermapen and Chef Alarm. 

Amazon, eBay, walmart.com, sears.com and their sellers are NOT Authorized Dealers. There are unscrupulous sellers at those sites who have purchased ThermoWorks products at retail prices and are then re-selling them at significantly elevated prices, sometimes 2 to 4 times the Authorized List Price. After receiving numerous complaints from customers who were victimized by those listings, we felt it was important to do what we could to warn unsuspecting consumers.

Furthermore, ThermoWorks has  received a growing number of complaints that such sellers are offering counterfeit, copycat, stolen, and “Open-Box” units as authentic NEW ThermoWorks products. So, since January 1st of 2016, technical support and warranty coverage are available only on ThermoWorks thermometers  that are purchased directly from ThermoWorks or from ThermoWorks’ Authorized Dealers. In this way, they  know the consumer is fully and fairly protected.  

Shop directly from the manufacturer

Nancy Pollard

After owning one of the best cooking stores in the US for 47 years, Nancy Pollard writes a blog about food in all its aspects – recipes, film, books, travel, superior sources and food related issues.