Your cellphone? Good timer because you can carry it with you.

dcarch

Cellphone, but a $2 timer or a $20 one are equally good. Being loud is an important feature for me

I use my cellphone because it lives in my pocket :-)

I had a Polder, the one that has a lanyard for several years and loved it. Bought it because of Grainlady's recommendation. It went missing about a year ago and has never resurfaced. DS just replaced it with another Polder. The first one he ordered was defective and got replaced. It's a bit different from the old one and the the alarm doesn't seem to be as loud as the old one. Don't think I would recommend it now.

I had replaced the missing Polder with a cheapo LinkDM from Amazon. Hate that thing. The printing on the buttons quickly wore off, the operation of it is counter-intuitive (to me) and it has no direct numerical input. You definitely want a timer that has a number key pad so you can directly input say, 36 minutes, instead of having to press a button 36 times to get 36 minutes. I think the term is 'Direct Entry'. Another thing to watch for is how much time you can set it for. Some will limit you to something like 99 minutes which, IMO, makes them pretty useless for a lot of tasks.

After the first replacement Polder arrived non-functional, I had decided to try the CDN TM30 but Amazon sent a replacement Polder instead of giving a refund. Or, since DS had ordered it, he probably just asked for replacement.

I like my old West Bend digital with 3 separate timers... nice to have when needed.

I used to have one that clipped to my shirt....but then I got an iPhone....and the timers sit in a drawer!

My oven has two. They are not especially loud, I can often hear them from another room but DH cannot.

Thermoworks has timers on sale (admittedly not deep discounts ;0)) right now. I bought several Timesticks with neck lanyards for Christmas stocking gifts and included one for me in my order.

Thermoworks Timers

I use an Oxo Good Grips timer, and I like it because you enter the time digitally from the numeric keypad. Also, you can set it for three different times at the same time, which I find very useful. DB uses his cell phone, but I find that cumbersome, plus I don't know how to use it. You can put the Oxo in your pocket if you want to carry it around with you.

Well, I certainly learned something new with this thread! My immediate reaction was, go to Target - any of them will be fine. They I Googled "kitchen timers" and discovered that since I bought my last one (20+ years ago?), they have changed and not for the better. They're either those old spring unit twisting ones (who knew they were even made anymore - horribly inaccurate!), or ones with so many tiny buttons that glasses are required to see to set it and one best not have big fingers. I will now give my old timer the respect it deserves!

Are there any that let you set the volume, or maybe have a choice of loud or soft? That's what I'd want.

I use my oven too, it really works great - so sorry that's not an option for you any more.

As for phone timers, I use a free timer app on my phone that you can add your own sounds to & I downloaded extra loud free ringtones to use (I'm on Android). The one I have for it right now sounds like the bell used for boxing matches.

I do have a couple of old school windup timers and the bells really do seem awfully wimpy, now that I'm used to something better!

P.S. I also have an old Samsung phone that's been deactivated, but some of the apps still work - esp. a timer app I just love, so I use that around the house for all kinds of things.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DMW0JWM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got my first one with the mixer. I love it!

It's a Kitchen Aid timer.

The cell phone isn't a great idea for me because it's usually sitting on my desk, not in my pocket. Lot's of good ideas here, thank you!

Then there is Alexa. (Amazon)

"You can set one or more named timers using your voice with Alexa. To set a countdown timer, say “Set a laundry timer for [duration].” After the timer is set you can ask Alexa how much time is left, or to stop, cancel, or resume the timer."

dcarch

Disclaimer, I am not the owner of Amazon

It would never have occurred to me to use my cell phone......I love this place !

I live Lars' link lol

I have an older version of KitchenPad Timer on my iPhone and use it when I have several dishes going simultaneously (think holidays!) I really like being able to see at a glance which burner or dish in the oven is beeping. For single dishes I just use the Clock app.

KitchenPad Timer

I use my watch as a timer. Always with me. Admittedly some watches are better at this than others. I currently wear an Apple watch which has a timer screen. This is easy to use, I even have a preferred timer preset for naps. I used to wear a mechanical divers watch that had a rotating bezel, which was only marginally better than simply remembering "take it out of the oven at 4:50". I used to have an absurdly complicated watch with lots of tiny print and miniscule LCD screens that were periodically obscured by the watch hands. That watch was actually a very good timer, but I forgot how to navigate to and work the timer function if I hadn't used it in a week.

DD also uses her watch as a timer. When she was little I got her and DS those cheap, waterproof, and so functional Casio calculator watches. They are black plastic and cost $10. When she started working in the kitchen at camp she wore her calculator watch for timing, resizing recipes, etc. It became the thing for her kitchen coworkers and now there's a little ritual every summer where the new k-staff are taken into town to get their own $10 calculator watch. DD has become a fan of the vintage calculator watches from the 1980s, which are available on eBay. They are really cute, some are even alphanumeric (!) and store names and addresses and phone numbers (!!). Her current calculator watch is gold and can hold, wait for it, FIFTEEN address book entries (!!!). Boy, technology is amazing.

The coolest calculator watch I've ever had is a rarity, a watch that you built from a kit that some engineer in Australia was selling as a side project. It was called the U Watch and it is RPN, has various scientific functions, and generally is geeky as all heck. I love it but don't wear it anymore, as it isn't waterproof or even rainproof. I can't remember if it has a timer.

A smoke detector is also a good timer. LOL!

dcarch

I use my oven, my microwave, my cell phone, and have about 3 of the old fashioned timers you wind up to the time you want. There is a digital one somewhere but I don't use it at all. Many times I have more than one thing going and have to have more than one timer.

Sue

I have a boat load of timers. I'm 90% dependent on the iPhones now with the one on me and the old ones. And the watch. I keep a older retired one in my kitchen drawer that needs to be plugged in to work. Another hooked up to the music system for its file of song. The old ones work great for other things but no longer as a phone.

For digital I like the round one in pic and the Polder. One handed turn, set, done. Quick. I have many mechanical manual ones. One in my knife drawer for a quick spin, one handed. Gave my mother the knob style design that she loves. Her new stove has digital that she can't figure out and it is at the back so she can't read it let alone set it. (not sure why she doesn't like to wear her glasses)

Tossed that kitchen aid one in the trash. Too fussy. Anything with fiddling I don't like....more that the needed 3 buttons. I have the Ikea digitals at work. And the Ikea stainless is an old favorite I used to give as gifts and have many back-ups for fear they will discontinue. I use them as a hack for time-lapse photography. Always one in my kitchen knife drawer.

I baked two batches of crackers last night and used the one handed spin needing 10, 20, 15, and 5 min quick settings. My new wall oven's timer is great but an unnecessary amount of button pushing to scroll. Phones can be fussy needing to power on and tap and scroll but still the most dependable.

I don't recommend any that I have. Even the ones I like. They fall short in design and quality. Should be better built, better materials, stronger magnets.

Anything by Thermopen I would recommend even though I don't have one. Just noticed the ChrisKimble one on their site. One handed. Larger numbers, easy to set and scroll between two different timers. Strong magnet on the back.

And I bet it is easy to return if something goes wrong. But I doubt they have many returns. Not many bad reviews. Also easy to clean with no nooks around the buttons.

John Liu, that is hilarious. And I like Kate's choice.

I did not realize that my phone has a timer I love this forum. Now I can time things when I have to leave the kitchen, which occurred last night. The pizza overbaked. Now being able to set the timer on my phone, I can make sure to get back in the kitchen in a timely manner. Thanks so much for that hint.

You can also ask Siri to set a timer. That's what my daughter uses.

Ovenbird, thanks for mentioning the Kitchenpad Timer app. Looks good. I bought it.

I have this one, I bought a package of two at my local Meijer store for less than $8.00. They have a strong magnet on the back which will stick to my stainless steel refrigerator, the alarm is loud enough I can hear it throughout the house, it's easy to set and to turn off.

https://www.selloscope.com/bez/Sminiker-2pcs-Countdown-Timer-Magnetic-Digital-Kitchen/B01A0AZTMI

My oven has a timer that takes so many steps to set that I had to write them down and I still managed to turn the oven off about half the time, messing up whatever is cooking. I live in the sticks and have no cell phone reception, so I don't bother to have an expensive phone that cannot be utilized. I don't even own a watch, and I'm retired, so time doesn't matter, LOL.

I have a $4 timer, works great and when I drop it on the ceramic floor for the 100th time and finally break it, I get another one.

Annie

I want an RPN timer!!! That would be so cool! Though if I need a calculator, I usually just ask Google and it gives the answer. :) I miss the efficiency, though, of entering a stack then inputting the operands. It made so much more sense.

For anything requiring precision, I do use my oven, but for most of my cooking the timer is more about, "Don't forget the oven, Idiot!" rather than to the second science. I have one of these mechanical ones by Progressive that has a good enough analog mechanism and a big rattly bell.

Until this morning, I never knew there was a timer on my iPhone. Thanks one and all!

Used the iPhone timer last night on two different occasions. Works just perfectly. Such a great tip!

The best use of the cell phone timer is not in the kitchen.

If you have to take the train to commute to work and back, best to set the timer in case you snooze,. Or you could end up who knows where.

dcarch

Lars, Elery loved that SNL clip, he forwarded it to his brother and a couple of guys he worked with, he was cracking up. And that's just about how I feel about Alexa too. (grin)

Annie

Google was selling the Google Home Mini for under $30 for a while. It makes for a great voice-controlled timer. You can even set multiple timers to run at the same time.

And it serves all sorts of other useful kitchen tasks: "OK Google, add flour to the shopping list". "OK Google, how much is 300g in ounces?" "OK Google, how much does a cup of sugar weigh?"

I love that I can do all these things without having to touch any appliance with my greasy/dirty fingers.