Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Accuracy


As you all should know by now accuracy plays a huge role in pastry world. In the pastry kitchen each recipe is weighed and calculated appropriately. Tools like this thermocouple help me to achieve ideal results in my desserts. This particular model is the Therma Plus Ultra Rugged Waterproof thermocouple by Thermoworks (probably one of my favorite tools). It comes with a pretty hefty price tag $189.00. There are plenty of other models that are just as nice but a little more cost effective. Thermoworks also makes another model that I have used called the Thermapen which has a price tag of only $99. Whether you are going to use the most expensive model or the cheaper alternative accuracy is still your focus. If you are going to splurge on an expensive thermometer you want to check for a few things: response times (how long it takes to get a reading), the range (how high/low your thermometer will read), calibration (usually comes with a certificate), battery life (how long your thermometer will last), F or C (whether your thermometer will read in Fahrenheit or Celsius), and finally accuracy (usually to .1%). All of these factors will determine how much your thermometer will cost. When it all comes down to it the thermometer will pay for itself in the quality of your finished products.

2 comments:

  1. Hi, very nice site and excellent Pastry Chef !!!
    In regard of thermometers, do you thing using those infrared-shooting-ray in the kitchen is going to achieve good accuracy?

    Thanks
    Umberto

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  2. Umberto,
    Thank you for the kind remarks. As far as the infared thermometers...they only read surface temperature. So if you need to check the surface temperature of something they work excellant. I use an infared thermometer to check the temperature of my chocolate when I am tempering. You would just need to agitate the mix to ensure that it is reading acurately. I hope this helps.

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