Thermometer Calibration

[Dr ROK]

What is the best way to tell if your digital thermometer is accurate?

[Jerod Broussard]

Boiling water to your elevation. About 2 degree reduction per 1,000 ft above sea level. I think, mile high should be about 202.

Ice bath, stirring the ice so you don't touch the ice with the probe tip. All elevations read 32 degrees F.

[Dr ROK]

So if I'm at 34 in ice water will that mean I'm really two degrees below the actual temperature at all temperatures, or does the 2 degrees difference change based on temperature increases/decreases?

[Jerod Broussard]

Do a boiling and see, and it seems at 34 you would be 2 degrees above, not below.

[Guy]

Jerod, what about boiling water?

[Dewesq55]

You stick the probe in boiling water and wait for it to stabilize. It should register what the boiling point for your elevation is. For added accuracy you can base it on barometric pressure which you can get on the internet for the day you are testing or on some phones/tablets.

[Jerod Broussard]

There's no ice in boiling so water I have NO idea.

[Huskee]

I did the boiling water test with mine. Here is my post on it.

[The Burn]

Thermoworks has an online calculator that includes retrieving your local barometic pressure and elevation

[Dr ROK]

I decided to do the tests again. I used two Maverick (732) probes to rule out probe variations (Didn't know if that was even a possibility, but wanted to rule it out in case it was). It didn't appear to make a difference. Both probes registered the same temps in both tests. I also used my thermapen to see what temps it would display it appears they were spot on. I used enough water in both tests to cover just over half of the probe.

In the ice test the maverick was 39. (This surprised me since in my initial test it was 34????) The thermapen registered 32. This test would indicate the maverick was registering 7 degrees too high.

In the boiling test the maverick thermometer was 207 and the thermapen was 205. I used the handy thermoworks link "The Burn" shared and the boiling point was supposed to be 204.88. This test would indicate it's registering just over 2 degrees too high.

Which would be the more accurate test?

[Dr ROK]

I decided to do the tests again. I used two Maverick (732) probes to rule out probe variations (Didn't know if that was even a possibility, but wanted to rule it out in case it was). It didn't appear to make a difference. Both probes registered the same temps in both tests.

In reading Huskee's post it would appear that it is indeed a potential variable and I'll need to keep that in mind with future probes.

[Huskee]

I think "potential" is the best way to word that. Maverick will surely develop more solid probes with better longevity. Their transmitters and receivers are great if you ask me but their probes are the weak link in an otherwise excellent affordable tool. Still, all things considered, I'd buy another Mav tomorrow.

[Huskee]

2 degrees is an average variable, I found (as you mentioned from my post) that I had a couple showing 2 degrees high and a couple showing 4 degrees high. The point in calibrating in boiling water is that you can find out for SURE what your variance is, and use that on future cooks- take your chicken to 167 instead of 165, etc. I also find that my older Mav probes HATE cold weather. They want to read strange things out in cold ambient air, like 114 degrees when it's 12 deg outside. Put them in meat and they begin to adjust, and they're accurate at cooking temps. Maybe that's just their age showing through.... My newer ones read high in ambient cold air, but not as bad. Again, in meat and the cooker they are accurate. perhaps other will find this too. It is unnerving though to trust a probe that says 48 deg or 114 deg when it's 12 outside.

[Dr ROK]

So do you think the boiling water test, rather than the cold water test, was the more accurate results for the Maverick readings?