Laser thermometer? Tools, Tips and Techniques Discuss Laser thermometer? in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Since Harbor Freight seems to be a popular place for FB members to shop, is anyone using the Cen-Tech laser ...

[exceloven]

Since Harbor Freight seems to be a popular place for FB members to shop, is anyone using the Cen-Tech laser thermometer. Are you happy with it?

Thanks, Mark

[Jed]

Hey Mark,

I am using one of the Harbor Freight thermometers.

I don't have complete confidence the thing is consistent or accurate.... If I wasn't feeling cash strapped, I would have ordered one up from FB.

JED

[Les]

Originally Posted by Jed

Hey Mark,

I am using one of the Harbor Freight thermometers.

I don't have complete confidence the thing is consistent or accurate..

Ditto - I bought one as well. I wanted to know the temps on my first fire NOW. But at the end of the day, whats a few hundred degrees for bread

My advise is to upgrade...

Les...

[brokencookie]

I have been happy with the performance of the Cen tech laser, but my expectations are low anyway. I only used it to get a general feel of the temps. So much of cooking is done by experience, feel, and on the fly adjustments that the thermometer becomes obsolete fairly quickly. I would get one just for the initial phase of learning to cook and not worry if it is a few degrees off. Search the forum for thermocouple and you will see a lot of the same thing. Some people put in a lot of thermocouples but end up only 1 or 2 ( if that).

[Ken524]

I have the FB laser/IR thermometer. LOVE IT. It's dead-on accurate and has a nice meat probe too.

I'm asking Santa for an "Original Super-Fast Thermapen" for Christmas. That should satisfy my temperature measuring requirements for a while!

[Wiley]

As a quick test of my HF Cen Tech infrared thermometer I just boiled a pan of water. As we all know water boils at 212 F at sea level and I live and the test conducted at an elevation just under 200 ft. I had about one inch of boiling water in the pan and after I had a good boil, I turned off the heat and the instant the water surface calmed I took it's temp from a distance of approximately 8 inches. The test was repeated five times (bringing the water back to a boil each time) and the results were: 213.8; 208.6; 210.1; 210.5; and 211.4. The reason (for those curious) I allowed the water surface to calm (bubbles popping on the surface... this took but just a moment) was I wanted to read the temp of the water and not have the reading influenced by the water vapor/steam from the exploding bubbles which is at a higher temperature.
It would be interesting if someone with another brand of infrared thermometer conducted the same test and reported their results.

It is also to be noted that most measuring instruments have a "sweet spot" or range where they are most accurate and the accuracy decreasing outside this range. However, since we would be measuring the same thing in the same range using the same type of measuring device perhaps this is of less importance.

Wiley

[Wiley]

A quick second thought: Doesn't matter if it is a different brand; even testing another HF infrared thermometer would give useful data.
Wiley

[exceloven]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Mark