Instant-read probe thermometer Hearth Bread and Flatbread Discuss Instant-read probe thermometer in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; I've never baked before, and have been reading a bread baking book, trying to learn, before I start baking in ...

[PizzaJNKY]

I've never baked before, and have been reading a bread baking book, trying to learn, before I start baking in my WFO. One of the tools I need is an Instant-read probe thermometer.

Here comes the rookie question...I have a meat thermometer, and am not sure if it is the same thing. Is there a thermometer that is specific to dough?

[telehort]

It's not specific to bread, but a thermopen is the way to go. I have had one for a couple years and have nothing but great things to say about it..they are a bit pricey, but they are worth it.

[CajunKnight]

The meat thermometer will work in a pinch but the problem is that it is not INSTANT READ. The time it takes to get the temp on the standard meat thermometer is time wasted if the bread is not at correct temp. This time will slow cooking process enough to sometimes lessen the quality of a great bread.

[RTflorida]

I picked up two of them at Target...think they were about $12 each. Seem to work great - I tested them against each other...both had the same readings.

RT

[DrakeRemoray]

Another vote for the thermapen. Much faster than the $12 unit...but the $12 is much much better than not using a thermometer...

Thermapen Digital Thermometer

Drake

[Frances]

You watch out with those things, they can be dangerous! Read in the paper that some guy recently stabbed someone in the back with a meat thermometer...

I just knock my bread on the bottom to check that its done.

[RTflorida]

$100 for a cooking thermometer? No thanks. That is more than I paid for my IR.....and it goes to 1100 degrees, accross the room, heck - down the block (not with great accuracy at that distance).
my $12 pen style also gives a reading in just a few seconds, and is not another expensive toy (I have plenty) I have to worry about dropping, losing...and can be replaced in 10 minutes for $12.
To each his own, I guess...I just don't need or use one enough to justify the cost.

RT

[PizzaPolice]

Geez, Frances... What the heck is going on in Switzerland? ...Stabbing people with thermometers. I've taken guns, butcher knives, ball bats and even a homemade bomb from people. Not one thermometer.

[DrakeRemoray]

I know $100 is a lot for a thermometer, but I use it all the time. Measuring the dough temp, measuring the flour temp, water temp, roasts, bread. I used the other type for many years and they are very good, but this one is truly instant and digital. I got mine as a Christmas present, but now I am hooked. If I lost it or it broke I would buy another in a second. Same with the IR therm. Lots of folks don't use them, but once you start, you are hooked.

I have been baking about 20lbs of bread on average. Once I have that kind of investment (in flour and time!) on bread, I want it to come out right. The difference between a loaf at a 190 degrees internal temp and 200 degrees is significant, and I want to know when the bread is done without letting a lot of heat out of the oven.

[Wiley]

So Drake,
So just what is your process for checking? Do you pull one loaf from the oven and stab it? What about different sized loaves in the same batch, check the smallest first then proceed to the next bigger? That would seem logical. Is the oven open or closed while checking or is the process so fast that it doesn't matter?
Thanks,
Wiley