Taylor Instant Read Analog Meat Food Grill BBQ Cooking Kitchen Thermometer with Red Pocket Sleeve for Calibration, 1 inch dial, Stainless Steel

Great thermometer
For $4-5 this is very efficient and functional equipment. It’s “instant read” because the dial is constantly adjusting to the temperature based on the metal inside the stem. So if you place it in boiling water it will take about 10 seconds for the metal in the stem to expand and accurately display the temperature of its surroundings. When I received it the gauge was off by a couple degrees, which is no big deal because I just placed it in the plastic holder it comes in and let it sit in boiling water until the gauge was steady and adjusted it according to the instructions (which is very easy – just twist the dial) to 212 degrees. Now it works very accurately, you can always test it by setting it in ice water or boiling water. I’ve only had it for a few days so I will update if anything happens. I only use this for measuring water temperatures – and for that it is definitely worth it over the more expensive thermometers!If you are planning to use this for measuring your meat temperatures I would suggest going for a digital read where the measuring part of the instrument is only in the tip. There is a dimple 2″ from the tip where the thermometer must be submerged into whatever to give you the proper temperature so you could insert it into the side of a thin cut of meat and it should work properly.

Built-in magnifier; slow; but good quality
While the dial is small and the numbers on the dial are tiny, it has a built-in magnifier to help with reading it. If your light is overhead, this works well; but if the light is coming in from the side it doesn’t work so well, with half the dial in shadow.Also, I wouldn’t call it “Instant Read,” as they do. You have to leave it in for quite a few seconds, which means either taking your food out of the oven and closing the oven door; or letting a lot of heat into your kitchen while you wait for the needle to stop moving. The dial says “NOT OVEN SAFE” and the listing says the lens/magnifier is plastic; so you can’t leave it in the oven with your food.Given The caveats, though, it does work well and I would expect it to do so for many years.The dial reads from 0º – 220º F; so you could use this to check your refrigerator, freezer or even room temp.

Surprisingly good, but instant is a stretch
Calling this thermometer instant is a stretch, as it would be for any gauge of this type.Starting at room temperature and placing it in a glass of ice water while just counting in my head, the thermometer read the correct temperature:within 10 degrees in 10 secondswithin 5 degrees in 20 secondswithin 2 degrees in 30 secondsBut that is for water which touches the unit directly and conducts heat rapidly. For the best trust under more of a worst case scenario like air I suggest waiting:1 minute for +- 10 degrees2 minutes for +- 5 degrees3 minutes for +- 2 degrees5 minutes for best resultWith 5 minutes of settling the unit might actually be accurate to 1 degree, though I can’t imagine trusting a cheap unit like this to that level for serious work. Speaking of price though, this feels surprisingly sturdy for the money.Mine was high by 2 degrees when I got it. I adjusted it with the tool and it required significant force to turn, so accidentally throwing off the calibration is unlikely, but just for good measure I still prefer to push and pull it by holding the stem rather than the head whenever possible.It happens to have a dimple on the shaft exactly 2 inches from the tip (probably part of the manufacturing process rather than a defect) which makes it quite convenient for taking soil temperature at a consistent depth.

This thermometer is easy to read and sits well in the conditioned air outlets in vehicles. It is accurate and , at the price point I paid, not worth losing any sleep over if it gets broken or lost.

Funciona bien.

As advertised – work well. Thank you.