I just use a little instant read thermometer I got at Sam's Club, $7 for two of them, brand name unknonw, but they appear to work just fine. They don't have a timer, though, so you can't go do something else and leave it... Annie

I bow to you Mimsic if you have never served an overdone turkey!! I find it's awfully easy to lose track of the turkey when you have a house full of family and presents are being opened and the momosas are flowing and the noise level is high....and all of a sudden you think "OMG!! The turkey!!....and the legs are falling off! Then there was the time I got the turkey in the oven the hors d'ouvres on the table. We do very heavy kid friendly hors d'ouvres during package opening time...meatballs little smokey sausages, shrimp, cheese ball, a chunk of salmon, shrimp and sometimes a chunk of grilled beef filet to slice....and of course cheese, crackers and veggies. Anyhow...one Christmas, during the time that the 3 boys who are about the same age were 2-ish we set out the "lunch" and set out opening gifts. The turkey was in the oven the potatoes peeled and in water...the green beans tipped and tailed salad in the frig, wine chilling table all set.... And about an hour and a half into the game I went to check the turkey....and some little guy had turned the knob on the oven.....to it's lowest point.....so I cranked the temp and we had a late meal! LOL! If he had turned the knob the other way we would have smelled it and checked sooner....probably was unsafe...but we survived and no one got sick! If I had checked with an instant read, I probably would have discovered that that turkey was sitting at about 100 degrees for a couple of hours!! Linda C

I wanted to chime in on this thread. I make yogurt regularly and have been for several years. Atleast 2-3 times a week. And I do not use a thermometer. I have also studied the dairy science of making yogurt professionally and despite all the math, it boils down to providing a comfortable pasturized medium for the bacteria to grow. Here is the easy recipe if you will that I wrote up for some other friends.. I usually make 1/4 gallon. But it really does not matter as you just need a longer time to "set" yogurt if you use more milk. Use ultra-pasterized organic milk (I usually pick up Horizon's or Costco or Stermicks or whatever is available on sale that week at my store). Heat the milk. If heating on stove top use a stainless steel pot with thick bottom. You can also heat in a microwave. If you are heating on stove top, use low heat and stir frequently to prevent milk from scorching and prevent the skin from forming. With a microwave, you need to eyeball it until you figure out the math for your microwave (how much milk in what casserole for how many minutes). The milk is heated enough when you can see steam arising steadily. If you put a drop of milk on your wrist, it should feel hot. Now take remove the pot from heat and let cool. You are ready to add the yogurt culture when the milk feels lukewarm (give the milk a good stir and do the wrist test again). Don't worry about specific temperature, as long as it feels luke warm and tepid, the yogurt will set. Add the culture. For the first time you can use a commmercial culture like Yogourmet (available at wholefoods for me). Use just 1 packet and follow instructions to mix the powder in a bit of milk and pour it into the pot. For subsequent times, you can save a few tbsps of the made yogurt and use it as culture for the next times. My current culture is going strong for 3 years. Mix the culture throughly and put the lid back on the pot. Keep it in a reasonably warm place. If you warmed the milk in the microwave, you can just mix the culture and leave it in there. If you live in a cooler climate, you can leave it in the oven with the ligh on. Or just cover the pot with some dish towels. Do not move/ disturb the pot too much. The yogurt will set. How long --> depends on ambient temperature (cool --> longer, warm --> sooner). Check after 3-4 hrs to see if the yogurt is set. Tilt the pot slightly to see if is liquid still or solid. You will often see a small layer of whey on top when it is set. You can put it in the fridge when it is set to stop the bacteria growth. Some Q&A: Yogurt is a bit sour Home made yogurt is not sweetened and can be a bit more sour. It will also be more sour if the milk was too warm or the place you set it is too warm (the oven or the room in summers). Just try setting it with slightly cooler milk and move it to the fridge sooner (good tip for warm summer) Yogurt takes too long to set Try with warmer milk and a more insulated area. My friend in cold canadian north uses a yogurt cosy (adapted from a tea cosy)she made to give the milk a nice ambient temperature. Why ultra pasturized organic milk Ultra pasturized basically means that the milk has been super heated to get rid of most bacteria (which explains the long shelf life of milk here). This actually makes it easier for home yogurt making as basically all you need to do is to get the milk to ambient temperature to introduce your yogurt culture/ bacteria. I usually heat it a bit more as my milk container has usually been opened and used for a couple of days. Organic is just my choice for my family. Milk and dairy products is one of the things I personally believe that it is a better choice to use organic. I NEED to know the science. This feels too "go with the flow" You asked for it. The science in yogurt making is simply to pasturize milk to kill any present microorganisms/ bacteria and then re-introduce the preferred bacteria culture that makes yogurt. When using a thermometer, heating milk to between 165 and 180 degrees Farenheit for a few minutes is basically same as ultra pasturization. This also denatures milk proteins so that they all set together as opposed to forming lumpy curds. Then the milk is cooled to 110 degrees Farenheit which is the best ambient temperature to incubate the usual yougurt bacteria (lactobacillus acidophillus, bulgaris) etc. The fermentation occurs over a period of 4-7 hrs. I want thicker yogurt Many store brands use gelatin. I don't like it as I feel it is too goopy. You can instead mix non-fat dry milk in the milk and mix it throughly (no lumps) before heating. You can start with 1/3 cup and then experiment to see how thick you want the yogurt. Also using whole milk will make thicker yogurt. Basically more solids in the milk (either fat or the solid non-fat), thicker the yogurt. Thicker yogurt will take slightly longer to set. Straining is another way to thicker after the yogurt is set. Nice but too much work IMHO. Flavored yogurt You can add pureed fruits to the mixture or jam even. I prefer to just add fresh fruit and other things like nuts, agave syrup or honey to dress the yogurt later. I usually find that the set of the yogurt sometimes gets wonky if you corrupt the milk before the culture is added. Can I use cute single serving jars This makes it a bit tricky to make sure the culture is evenly distributed and the ambient temperature is maintained for the fermentation. Results are sometimes not consistent. Suggest you try one of the yogurt makers in the market which already has the glass single serving jars. Try adding culture individually to each jar (same amount) to get consistent setting. Microwave Method please My friend simply boils milk in microwave oven till 180 to 185F (15.5mins for her corelle container in our microwave)wait it cools down to 110F to 120F. Just keep the warm innoculated milk in the oven that was pre-heated to 170 and SWITCHED OFF.

I have both a thermapen and a thermopop (and the DOT which makes me a tremendous nerd). I love them both. That said, I'd say that the thermopop is the best value unless you're a super-nerd like myself. The main functional differences: The thermapen comes to temperature in 3 seconds and is then essentially continuous. The thermopop takes up to 5 seconds to and then is essentially continuous. I don't find the 2 second difference to be substantive and they are both basically continuous after those first seconds. Understand that once they reach temperature they are both essentially continuous. It's only the initial rise to temperature where one can see the 2 second difference. Once at temp they are equally fast. The second difference is that the thermapen is guaranteed to be accurate within 7/10 of a degree (if I remember correctly) while the thermopop is guaranteed to be accurate within 2 degrees (again in memory serves correctly). I find that 2 degrees of accuracy is more than enough for almost any home application. Plus, the thermapen reads more quickly when set to single degree accuracy instead of 1/10 and so most folks don't even use it in the 1/10 degree mode. More importantly, I find that the difference is only in the guarantee and not in actual performance. I have compared the two often and always found them to give identical readings. In fact, all three products have always given me identical readings. In other words, the company won't promise that the thermopop is as accurate at the thermapen but in reality it performs as accurately. Long way of saying that at $29 ( and occasionally $21) the thermopop is an amazing value. I started using it at work and no fewer than 10 of my fellow firefighters have been inspired to buy one (thermowords should be paying me a commission). Unless you're into molecular gastronomy and like to nerd out on stuff, go with the thermopop. BTW you're going to wonder why you wasted so much time on the old fashioned (non) instant reads. That said, if cost is no issue, then go with the thermapen. I love mine.