Taylor 1470 Digital Cooking Thermometer/Timer
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Taylor 1470 Digital Cooking Thermometer/Timer
Customer Review: What good is a quality thermometer when the probes are junk?
Summary: 1 Stars
Here's my (ongoing) tale of woe...
I purchased two of the 1410's to use while smoking meat. They seemed to work fine, although I didn't use them more than once or twice a year, for a couple years. Then one day I decided to try them in a roast on my grill, and the probe insulation hardened and cracked, rendering the probe useless. Okay, so maybe they're not rated for grill temps, I don't know. Perhaps my own fault...
So...I ordered two new probes from Amazon, listed as (Thermometer Probe with Stainless Steel Braided Wire, 1470NBRP,1470). With the braided wire insulation, I'd hoped these would be a lot more robust. Imagine my surprise when they don't even work at ALL! They read temperature, all right...but it's something like 40-50 degrees off! I tested them three ways, with boiling water, ice water, and finally just comparing to another digital thermometer for ambient air temperature (I'm a heating contractor, so it there's one thing I know, it's measuring temperature!)
I contacted Taylor via their support email, and this is how the conversation went (so far):
Me:
I have two 1470 thermometers, which I use for smoking meat. The
insulation on my probes melted while being used in a propane grill
for normal grilling. I was not aware the probes could not handle
that much heat. I purchased two more probes from Amazon,
(Thermometer Probe with Stainless Steel Braided Wire, 1470NBRP,
1470)which are armored with braided metal insulation, however they do
not read correctly at all. They are 40-50 degrees off. What can you
tell me about this?
Taylor rep (took almost three weeks for a response!!!):
> We are sorry for the delay response.
>
> You can purchase those units from us you will need to send a check or
> money order to our return center for $5.00 each and once we receive
> those we would be glad to send you the replacement probes.
I replied:
So....can you tell me whether the probes I purchased from Amazon are the
correct ones? Why don't they work properly? Would the ones I purchase
directly from you be the more robust versions, with the metal braided
insulation, or like the cheap original ones that came with the units?
They replied (about a week later):
> We are sorry to hear that.
> How many batteries does your unit carry?
So, after THAT surrealistic little exchange, I called Taylor's customer service hotline today (as listed in their emails). I was on hold for 5-10 minutes, during which time a recording repeatedly admonished that I'd probably be better off just leaving a message. I did not choose that option, just left the speakerphone going while I continued working in my office. After about 10 minutes I heard a recorded voice saying I was automatically being routed to leave a message ANYWAY!
So...my opinion? Save your money. It sounds to me like the people at Taylor are more than a little bit confused.
Customer Review: So far so good!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've wanted a probe thermometer for a long time because I'm tired of my roast "spouting like a whale" (in the words of Alton Brown) after I've stuck the instant read into it four times in ten minutes waiting for that perfect temperature. I looked around here on Amazon and found that ALL the probe thermometers received mixed ratings, but the conclusion seemed to be that the Polders are junk so I bought this one by Taylor.
I used it for the first time tonight and so far I absolutely adore it. The roast came out absolutely perfect and the timer alerted me to that fact with a nice loud beep. No spouting whales!
I understand from the reviews that the probe isn't likely to last all that long, but you know, if I can keep turning out perfect roasts and chickens for even six months, it's worth the inexpensive price. I'd pay more than that to not have to worry about ruining a $100 prime rib roast at Christmastime. (Almost happened -- I was unable to find a probe thermometer in stores and had to buy an old-fashioned dial meat thermometer, and to my horror on Christmas morning I discovered the LOWEST temperature setting on it was 135 degrees. We eat our meat rare and it comes out of the oven at an internal temp of 110 and coasts to 120 before carving. By 135, which the meat thermometer said is "rare" it'd have been shoe leather. I had to use the guess-and-check method and fortunately I guessed right the first time and the prime rib came out beautifully. The experience scared me into buying this Taylor.)
The reason I'm giving it four stars instead of five is because for some reason, while I was test-driving it last night, I couldn't figure out how to use the temperature alert feature at first. I had boiled some water and stuck the probe in there, then set the alert to go off when the temperature had dropped by 10 degrees. Instead of performing correctly, the alert would go off once a minute briefly and then shut off. After some guess and check I figured out that it only works when the temperature alert is set to a number ABOVE the current temperature of wherever the probe is stuck. It does not work if the alert is set to go off when the temperature has dropped to a certain point. I have no idea if this is normal for the Taylor or I'm doing something wrong or my thermometer is defective. It doesn't really matter to me because I don't need to use it to keep track of a food that's cooling rather than heating, but you might want to note it anyway.
Customer Review: Works fine for me - Can't live without it
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, it seems that the major complaint here is that the thermometer has a "short life". I must totally disagree with this. I have had mine for about 2 years, and I have had no problems at all. In fact, I left the thing out in the rain about a month ago, while it was still on, for about 8 hours, and it still works fine. I thought I had managed to kill it, because it acted funny for about 2 days, but I think it just needed to dry out. I even checked it against 2 quick-reads, and it was dead-on with the temperature.
I was a chef at a restaurant for about a year, and I really wish I would have had this when I worked there. Sure, I got pretty good at the "touch" method (which is very dependent on the cut of meat), but there were the occasional overdone steaks and dry chicken breasts. The biggest problem was whole beef tenderloins. Those had to be done by time, since we couldn't press on them, and then after they cooked for a while we could use quick-reads, but that was just a hassle.
Now I just cook for family and friends, and I think this thermometer has made me an even better cook. I use it all the time for any piece of meat I cook, and I have yet to have a steak come out overdone, a chicken (whole or pieces) come out dry, or any piece of pork be dry and bland. Everything is perfect, and people ask me how I do it. I gladly show them the thermometer and how basically you stick the probe in, set the desired temp, and forget about it. I say I am a better cook for 2 reasons. First, the "set it and forget it" ease of use. All you have to know is what temperature your desired doneness is at, and you really can forget about what you are doing. Which leads me to point 2: Since I am not constantly worrying about the meat temps and times, I can focus on making fantastic sauces and side dishes, which is a skill I have greatly improved
So... I recommend this to anyone who wants to have a perfect piece of meat, every time, with no hassles.
Customer Review: Works perfect!
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many other reviewers, I have owned several of these thermometers over the years. I've had all different models and price ranges and it always ends the same - dead probe. No matter how gently it's handled and washed, it only lasts for so long.
This Taylor model has a plastic coated wire (some prefer the metal mesh/netted probes, but these also break in time). The probe wire is nice and long so there is plenty of slack. The unit has an on/off switch to conserve battery life. It can be set to alarm at a specific temperature with a decently loud beeping noise that can be easily heard a room or two away. This feature could also be set on/off. It has a timer that will display how long food has been in the oven. (I found this useful for the Thanksgiving turkey). The temperature reading is dead-on accurate, which is the most important thing to me. I tested it before I used it in boiling water and got 212 degrees on the nose. After about a half dozen uses, I thought it was reading wrong so I re-tested it in the boiling water. It shot up to 212 degrees again without a problem. It also reads fairly quickly. I've had others that will climb very slowly, a degree at a time until it decides on a temperature reading. This one goes climbs at a decent pace, a few degrees at a time and gives a clear reading without fluctuating around.
All in all, it does everything it is supposed to do and does it well. For fifteen bucks, I am very satisfied. How long it will last is yet to be seen. Sadly, it seems most small appliances and gadgets only last a year or so these days. (I have to replace toasters, irons, egg cookers, etc every year or two). I guess it's true that "they don't make 'em like they used to." At least for fifteen bucks, it's not as painful when it does break.
Customer Review: Accurracy CANT be determined by boiling water.
Summary: 4 Stars
FIRST: i am VERY PLEASED with this therm. i make candy sauces which require precision temp for edible results. it's always been a sort of hit or miss operation for me before, requiring a lot of babysitting to make sure i get the temp just right. for the first time ever, i'm not only making perfect sauces everytime but i'm not tied to the stove. the very audible ring allows me to do other things around the house while waiting.
the reason i gave it 4 stars instead of 5?
because its requires some creativity to attach it to the pan in a way that keeps it suspended in the liquid.
i'm so pleased i was going to send one to my mom via this web site. that's when i stumbled upon these disagreeable reviews. puzzled that i was getting such good results with mine amid all these complaints, i measured the 'boiling point' of water as well, and several times it came out at 210 F. that's when my chem backround kicked in. i remembered...(and here's where my second point comes in)
SECOND: for those of you who complained about it's accurracy, it's important to keep in mind that the real world boiling point of water is contingent on several factors including the purity of the water (i.e. softening salts), elevation, humidity and room temp. all will affect the final outcome. there is a wide variation (with 208F (97.7 C) being within the range) in the 'true' temp of boiling water. if you dont believe me, you can visit:
http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/boilproj /index.html
this web site is challenging schools around the world to measure the boiling point of water, and has posted some of the results.
i challege you to try something other than water that requires a measure of accuracy and see if you still have problems.