Turkey Fryer

[brew captain]

I want it and need it badly!!

Please, please!!

Cheers!

[Rezzin]

It's yours Rob. PM your number and I'll drop it off the next time I'm near your place.

[JonGoku]

Well, I can still take it back, but I did bite the bullet and pick up a turkey fryer at lowes along with an additional thermometer.

The bill came out looking like this:
Turkey Fryer Kit $35.50
Extra 12" Deep Frying Thermometer $5.00.
Tax $3.34
Total: $43.84
(btw Lowes wouldn't accept my brewcommune membership for an additional discount j/k)

Turkey Fryer Link (2nd from top)

Thermometer Link (bottom of page)


So, please chime in. Did I get an ok deal, or should I seriously hold out for a SS pot and a better then average burner?

[maltbarley]

You'll use the burner for a while even if you do get a SS pot, so I'd go with it. Why the extra thermometer?

[Rezzin]

As long as you don't mind modifying your burner stand a little it might be ok. If you get a larget SS boil pot, you'll want to make sure it stays on the burner safely. I still use a similar 3 legged burner but had to modify my burner stand to safely hold a converted keg which I use as my boil pot. As long as you can as stand on the burner when assembled and it feels sturdy, I would think it's ok. You don't really need an ultra power burner although it's nice to to be able to bring the wort to a boil faster.





I found these metal thingies (sorry, I don't know the name but I believe they are used with garage doors or something) at Home Depot
I use a digital thermometer that can be calibrated and although it takes about 10s to get an accurate and steady reading, I'm happy with it.

[JonGoku]

You'll use the burner for a while even if you do get a SS pot, so I'd go with it. Why the extra thermometer?

Good question. I assume because I thought it was a good deal at the time, but now it's a bit fuzzy
Actually was thinking about using it for my fermentor water bath as it would be easier to read then the floating one.

[brahn]

The deep frying thermometers I've seen are setup for much too wide a range for most brewing uses. They go from zero to somewhere around 500F IIRC. That pretty much makes it impossible to get an accurate reading in the temperature ranges we're interested in while brewing.

[JonGoku]

The deep frying thermometers I've seen are setup for much too wide a range for most brewing uses. They go from zero to somewhere around 500F IIRC. That pretty much makes it impossible to get an accurate reading in the temperature ranges we're interested in while brewing.

Crap, your right. It's 50-550*F... That makes it about as accurate as my floating thermometer and so I think I will return it. Thanks for pointing that out.

[brahn]

For monitoring wort temp after the boil I used a thermometer like this one for a long time until I got a brewpot with a thermometer port.

http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/ ... hTerm=7413

For all other temperatures I use my Thermapen, which is expensive but really rocks especially if you use it for things other than brewing. If I were you though, I'd probably just go with something like what Rezzin suggests.

[Marotte Brewery]

I bought one of these digital thermomters at Target:

Taylor TruTemp Digital Cooking Thermometer with Alarm and Timer
http://www.target.com/Taylor-TruTemp-Di ... f_rd_t=201

It was on sale for like $10.00. I wrap the cable around the handle on my kettle a few times to keep the probe off the bottom (Thanks to Alton Brown on Good Eats). It even has a temperature alarm that will tell you when you have reached 170d. I also keep it in there for the cool down with the wort chiller, so I can hear when I have reached 80d.

[red]

I found a remote version of that electronic thermometer in the bar-b-que section at wallmart on clerance for 10$. I brew in the back yard and am able to walk around in the house doing other things while keeping an eye on my temps. I love it.They work great!

Brian

[JonGoku]

For monitoring wort temp after the boil I used a thermometer like this one for a long time until I got a brewpot with a thermometer port.
http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/ ... hTerm=7413

That looks nice. I wish I could get out of th3 $7.99 shipping cost. B3 and their free shipping isn't helping either as their list price is $24.95 (CLICK ME!!)

For all other temperatures I use my Thermapen, which is expensive but really rocks especially if you use it for things other than brewing. If I were you though, I'd probably just go with something like what Rezzin suggests.

Expensive is an understatement What else do you use it for that makes it worth $178.00? (CLICK ME!!)

I bought one of these digital thermomters at Target:

Taylor TruTemp Digital Cooking Thermometer with Alarm and Timer
http://www.target.com/Taylor-TruTemp-Di ... f_rd_t=201

It was on sale for like $10.00. I wrap the cable around the handle on my kettle a few times to keep the probe off the bottom (Thanks to Alton Brown on Good Eats). It even has a temperature alarm that will tell you when you have reached 170d. I also keep it in there for the cool down with the wort chiller, so I can hear when I have reached 80d.

That actually looks pretty good. Can you calibrate it? Have you tested it for accuracy?

[brahn]

$178 is the price for TWO

It's still expensive at $89, but I love how fast and accurate it is. I mostly use it for cooking and brewing. I used a bunch of the probe style thermometers at different times and had various issues with them. I'm pretty sure I spent more on the ones I bought and broke/didn't like than on the thermapen.

[Marotte Brewery]

That actually looks pretty good. Can you calibrate it? Have you tested it for accuracy?

I never tested it, but since it is made for food, I figured it should be fairly accurate... I haven't got salmonella from my chicken yet...

I do notice that my boil runs around 215-219 (depending on the gravity), which makes sense. I never tried to put it in plain boiling water to see how close it is to 212... Maybe I'll try it tonight...

[JonGoku]

I never tested it, but since it is made for food, I figured it should be fairly accurate... I haven't got salmonella from my chicken yet...

I do notice that my boil runs around 215-219 (depending on the gravity), which makes sense. I never tried to put it in plain boiling water to see how close it is to 212... Maybe I'll try it tonight...

If you could that would be great. More importantly though, is there a dial or other method to calibrate it if it is off? If it was off I assume you could just add or subtract the difference, but what fun is that.