Thermoworks Signals

I got my first Thermoworks Thermapen some years ago, when I bought it as a Christmas present for myself. It was a bit of an indulgent purchase. It wasn't quite a budget breaker, but it was a budget stretcher, to be sure. But I'd been wanting one for years.

I was tired of cheap thermometers, like the one that told me that my turkey had reached the internal temperature of an active volcano.

So, I bought the Thermapen, and since then I've added to my collection of their devices When I got an email about the Signals thermometer, I decided that I had to have it, and they offered it to me at a discount. I whipped out that credit card so fast, my wallet didn't even notice the intrusion.

It arrived in record time and I tore open the box.

I'm all about the box tearing.

So, this is a leave-in remote thermometer with space for four different probes. FOUR. It's supposed to be targeted toward professional barbecue folks, but it could be really handy in a lot of kitchens. And it's not like you need to use all the probes at the same time.

One probe is designed to measure air temperature, and it comes with a handy clip that keeps it above the grill grate or oven rack. The other three probes are basic probes like you'd use for meat. But they also have other probes you can buy separately, including one that's waterproof. I might be buying that one, for sure. There is also a probe extension wire, so you can move the base unit even further from the grill or oven.

Oh, but four probes isn't the coolest thing. The coolest thing (puts on geek hat) is the app that you can use to monitor and control the thing. No matter how easy a thermometer is to set, an app can make it easier AND an app can have more features. Like, you can NAME the four different things you're measuring. So, on Christmas, you can have one probe testing the air temperature, one probe in the turkey breast, one probe in the turkey thigh and one probe in the stuffing bread pudding or the ham loaf, and you can tell which is which, because you named all of them. Bill, Joe, Fritz ... no, I mean you'd name them oven, thigh, breast, and side. So when you glance at the app or the thermometer, you wouldn't have to remember if the breast is #1 or #4.

They also included eight little silicone rings, two in each color. I wasn't sure what they were for, so I sent an email to them, and they responded quickly. The idea is that you put the rings on the probes, one on the end that connect to the thermometer, and one on the probe end. That way, if you mix up the wires, you can match the colors to know which probe is in the casserole.

Each probe can be set for minimum and maximum temperatures, so you could use it to see if your ice cream base has chilled enough (I really do need that waterproof probe) or it could warn you when the gravy is starting to take a chill and it needs a little reheat.

Setup on this thing was simple. I mislaid the instruction sheet (okay, it was right under the molded holder for all the stuff that came in the box) but I still was able to turn it on and mess with the temperatures. Then I went to the Google Play store and typed in Thermoworks and the app was right there. I installed that, it suggested that I hadn't added a device, and it walked me through the setup. Easy peasy.

There are no batteries to change. This has a USB connector on the thermometer base and it came with a cord and a plug that you use for charging, so that's pretty convenient. And this comes in several colors, so you can pick a color you like. I got purrrrrple.

This has pretty much everything I could need or want in a remote thermometer. The only thing I can think of that would be nice to have is some kind of pouch to hold all of it. Once the probe wires are unraveled from their very neat packing, they're not going to fit back into the molded plastic holder they were packed in, and I'd rather not have them loose in a drawer. I ended up tossing the plastic and put the thermometer, probes, and the charging plug and cord into the box for storage. That works well enough for now, but I might find them a decorative little box or container instead.

I paid for this, but got a discount.