I was given one that did IR and probe. It was okay. I think it would be useful for the things you mentioned. I'd rather hold my hand over the griddle, though. The probe was also okay. But for an instant read probe, my ThermapenONE is so much better than anything else I've tried, including a lesser probe from Thermoworks. I'd suggest you get an IR only gun from Thermoworks, the one you think is best. I think it was Sleevendog who suggested Thermoworks. They do have combo units, but my guess is the one task units are better. But I don't have experience with their IR units, though I've bought many good gifts from them over the years.

I have an IR gun from Thermoworks. After measuring the temp of everything in sight for a couple days, I haven’t found much use for it. There are adjustments that need to be made for color, reflectivity, or God knows what. What it shows for oil in a pan might be 50° different from what the Thermapen shows. Might be closer to 100° off but I don’t want to exaggerate as I don’t specifically remember. I haven’t tried to use it on the grill. I suppose I could replicate grate temp with it but I wouldn’t count on it being an accurate number.

I’m sure people can and have made use of these. I’m just saying there seems to be more to it than point and click, and I lost interest. I’d be most open to hearing from others how they use theirs to good effect.

Wow! I had some kind of similar results when I first got my inferior one, but kind of figured it out without all the calculations, though even so, it did have quirks and wasn't easy to use. I figured the gun would be easier and more accurate.

I used to drive myself nuts with this stuff. But let’s take a look at my well-preheated oven. It’s set at 350. I’ve got a probe for my $100 Smoke over a pan in the middle of the oven, which shows the oven swinging from 365-385. Disregarding time, we can average that to 375 suggesting my oven is running 25° hot. But look at the $10 bimetal thermometer next to it, reading just a touch over 350. Now as the oven is in a downswing I open the oven door at a probe-indicated 375 and as quickly as possible take some measurements with my $175 IR gun:

Left: 313

Back: 394

Pan: 325

Right: 378

I quickly close the door and see my Smoke registering at 321. Not unexpected, but useful beyond being a reminder to minimize opening the oven?

Which of these numbers is useful? Here’s what I can tell you: My last oven was wildly off temp and very difficult to moderate. This one, a couple years new, per the cheap-o thermometer is fairly spot on. Stuff roasts and bakes in expected times. And regardless of how uneven my IR deems the oven to be, I rarely feel the need to rotate the cookie sheets. Unlike my last oven.

Another thing I can tell you is that none of it has made me a better cook. Though the new oven itself has.

get a cheap IR from Harbor Freight .

I should add that I do think the IR could be useful. For instance, find hot and cold spots on a griddle or determining when it’s come to temp. I’d probably treat those numbers as relative, not necessarily literal though.

Potters use “cones” of some material calibrated to slump at specific temperatures. They talk in cones, like “fire to cone 6”, not in F or C. I wonder if something similar would work for cooking?

John, only if you do a presentation as Foodonastump did ;)

Food, it is comforting to see that I am not the only curious egg head here! I love your research and demonstration. I do things like this, even as the tide comes in and there’s salt water up to my ankles.

Years ago the termostat/thermometer wore out in my car. I couldn’t help but notice as I was returning on a very cold January day from a trip to the Berkshires and had no working heater for the two hour drive.

DH bought me a new spring-like thermo sensor, but I wanted to experiment with it before he installed it. I had the old one and the new one at the kitchen counter with various pans of water and thermometers. Lots of fun. Yep, there sure was a visible difference between the old one and the new one. Extra fun that the old one seemed to suddenly fail that one Sunday afternoon on the coldest January day.

I was hoping that the heat gun thang would work well and not be so all over the place. The prices are all over the place as well. I don’t need it, just thought it would be fun and useful — but not with that level on inaccuracy.

I thought I might use it for:

— The wood stove (we currently use a metal magnetically attached spring thermometer). I’d want the actual, accurate temperature.

— For checking the temperature of our ceilings, above which are flexible electric heating sections. I could know where they are located.

— Check to see if anyone in my doctor’s waiting room has an unusually high fever.

I have a pistol shaped infrared thermometer. I got it thinking it might be useful, but have found it’s really more of a toy than a tool.

The heat in an oven is never uniform from side to side, top to bottom. That’s why baking instructions often suggest turning the sheet pan or baking vessel at the halfway point for even cooking.

Ditto for griddles and skillets re uneven temperatures .

Remembering back to high school autoshop, which I know was in a very different automotive era, diagnosing a broken thermostat was pretty quick to do. From a cold start, a car should reach operating temperature quickly, not more than 10 minutes. If it doesn't, the thermostat may be stuck open. If it does hit the expected mark but then gets overheated (and/or if the rad hose remains cold), the thermostat is stuck closed.

I make no assumptions about how accessible they are in today's cars but as the part isn't expensive and labor to wait to watch a pot boil (yuk) isn't, it can be easiest to simply replace it. Except in cases where access is a challenge. In days of old, we never labored (another yuk) over whether a thermostat was good or bad. Slow warmup or overheating are the usually signs and often have been happening for some time before the car owner thinks to have it checked.

It was a demonstration.

Sorry if I misunderstood what you said, but I'm not sure how I might have interpreted this differently, when you wrote that putting them in hot water was "how to test them"

" Discussing thermostats and how to test them, the instructor dropped one into a small pot of water, "

Did he discuss the essence of what I described? Because by the time you've gone to the trouble to remove a thermostat, you may as well put in a new one. Did he mention that in some vehicles, it's sometimes common that they're installed backwards, which for sure prevents proper functioning

Elmer - It was a light-hearted aside, not intended for scrutiny although I should have anticipated it knowing your presence here.

What I also didn’t mention, is that the course was for marine diesel. Which means by far the more likely cause of overheating would come from the raw water side. As a non-cruiser, a thermostat is less likely to be an onboard spare part that I’d carry. While cheap, I’ve not come across any Auto Zone equivalents out on the water so they might be harder to source on the fly. Now could there be a scenario where after picking pieces of impeller from the heat exchanger I’m still overheating, and I decide to run a quick test on the galley stove rather than make assumptions and run the engine without the thermostat for hopefully a limited time? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t care and neither does anyone else. He showed us how a thermostat could be tested. And it reminded me of kitchen experiments. That’s all.

FOAS wrote: While cheap, I’ve not come across any Auto Zone equivalents out on the water so they might be harder to source on the fly.

HA HA HA

I’m pretty sure there’s a Mariner’s Auto Zone just north of Matinicus. Closed on weekends.

food, you seem to be rather accomplished at non-sequitur comments and backtracking attempts by saying you were kidding.

Marine diesel engines are no different than other diesel engines as far the engine itself is concerned. I used to have a boat with a diesel engine myself. For recommended timely periodic maintenance and trouble checking, I recommend your finding a decent marine mechanic. You won't find them out in a bay or ocean either.

I wasn’t kidding about anything. We saw a demonstration on testing a thermostat and the setup reminded me of kitchen experiments. Pot, burner, probe thermometer. This isn’t hard. If you want to focus on my writing I’d recommend the first half of the first sentence and the last three sentences of my prior post. What comes in between was an attempt at engagement, which with you is always a mistake. Going forward I will attempt to avoid such mistakes. Have a nice day.