Food Product/Gadget Reviews

I thought we could use a thread for reviews. In the food/food prep industry there are probably more products out there to help us than any other!

The product I want to offer a review on today is the Thermapen Mk4 Food Thermometer.



If have more than just a casual interest in grilling or cooking...a food thermometer is a very valuable kitchen tool...you have guests over and get requests for a med, med well, and med rare steak...you need a good food thermometer to pull that off.

After a few weeks of researching I purchased the Thermapen Mk4. It's marketed as one of the most accurate, and fastest digital food thermometers on the market.

Price...direct sell from Thermoworks...$99 free shipping, now on sale $91

Made...UK

My thoughts.

Accuracy...5 of 5...the boiling water test is one of the easiest and a quick dip of the probe into the boiling water and the Mk4 was spot on 212 Degs within 1 sec. If you want the other extreme, a dip in a ice water bath works equally as well.

Speed...5 of 5...in real world use, you will get a reading within 1-2 secs just about every time.

Ease of use...5 of 5...open the probe and the mk4 is on and giving the air temp where it is immediately, it lights up automatically when needed and the temp display will automatically rotate so you can always see it right side up. Close the probe and it's off.

Durability...3 of 5...tough enough to survive a fall or two but I they make a protective skin for a reason. Can briefly submerge it but not recommended as a regular MO...cleans easily with a damp sponge. Only had it a few weeks so I can't comment on batter life yet.

Value...4 of 5...The mk4 is pricey as digital food thermometers go. Within their own line you can spend less and obviously on the open market there are lower cost options. That said the accuracy, and ease of use mean you're more likely to use it and that increases the value of the mk4 imo.

Pros

• Fast
• Accurate
• Easy of use
• Comes pre-calibrated

Cons

• Expensive
• Protective add ons increase the price

Would I recommend it? Absolutely, especially if you grill/cook/bake a lot, or you just want the best. If the budget is a little tighter or you don't really cook that much, a great lower cost option is the Thermpro TP-18. For about $20, it's also accurate, and pretty fast...it's not as easy to use, but does the job. I bought a couple of these for gifts...I will keep one as a backup.

For those not willing to shell out $99 the Thermopop is very good value as well


ThermoPop by ThermoWorks

The thermoworks line as a whole works pretty good. I have the Dot and the smoke and highly recommend as well

ATL96Steeler said:

I thought we could use a thread for reviews. In the food/food prep industry there are probably more products out there to help us than any other!

The product I want to offer a review on today is the Thermapen Mk4 Food Thermometer.

View attachment 191925

If have more than just a casual interest in grilling or cooking...a food thermometer is a very valuable kitchen tool...you have guests over and get requests for a med, med well, and med rare steak...you need a good food thermometer to pull that off.

After a few weeks of researching I purchased the Thermapen Mk4. It's marketed as one of the most accurate, and fastest digital food thermometers on the market.

Price...direct sell from Thermoworks...$99 free shipping, now on sale $91

Made...UK

My thoughts.

Accuracy...5 of 5...the boiling water test is one of the easiest and a quick dip of the probe into the boiling water and the Mk4 was spot on 212 Degs within 1 sec. If you want the other extreme, a dip in a ice water bath works equally as well.

Speed...5 of 5...in real world use, you will get a reading within 1-2 secs just about every time.

Ease of use...5 of 5...open the probe and the mk4 is on and giving the air temp where it is immediately, it lights up automatically when needed and the temp display will automatically rotate so you can always see it right side up. Close the probe and it's off.

Durability...3 of 5...tough enough to survive a fall or two but I they make a protective skin for a reason. Can briefly submerge it but not recommended as a regular MO...cleans easily with a damp sponge. Only had it a few weeks so I can't comment on batter life yet.

Value...4 of 5...The mk4 is pricey as digital food thermometers go. Within their own line you can spend less and obviously on the open market there are lower cost options. That said the accuracy, and ease of use mean you're more likely to use it and that increases the value of the mk4 imo.

Pros

• Fast
• Accurate
• Easy of use
• Comes pre-calibrated

Cons

• Expensive
• Protective add ons increase the price

Would I recommend it? Absolutely, especially if you grill/cook/bake a lot, or you just want the best. If the budget is a little tighter or you don't really cook that much, a great lower cost option is the Thermpro TP-18. For about $20, it's also accurate, and pretty fast...it's not as easy to use, but does the job. I bought a couple of these for gifts...I will keep one as a backup.

Click to expand...

These things are great. I recently picked one up from their website for 25% off right after Thanksgiving.

For those of you looking to get one, I'd watch their website and not take a chance on getting a fake from Amazon.

Wunder.Noid said:

These things are great. I recently picked one up from their website for 25% off right after Thanksgiving.

For those of you looking to get one, I'd watch their website and not take a chance on getting a fake from Amazon.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately I paid full boat, but not disappointed...I smoked my 1st turkey ever this past Thanksgiving and it came in very handy. The smoked turkey was the clear winner...moist, yet a beautiful bronze color.

I had some huge Lobster tails on the grill and perfecto...they were much thicker than normal the shell turns red and you still have a ways to go...so getting the happy medium of cooked thru but not overcooked...150 Degs was my target and they maxed out at 154 at rest and were perfect.

I've played around with the Therm pro TP-18 like I was saying, not ready to review it yet, but as far as getting an accurate temp pretty quick, it's a good option for $20, I did get a cyber Monday price on it...$13...but if you want the best I agree, buy direct from Thermoworks...the 2 for deal they have is really good for a nice gift and keep one for yourself.

I love new kitchen gadgets, and new kitchen tastes/products that I haven't tried before.

Sous Vide precision cooker. I cant believe how many people still have never heard of sous vide before, and I cant believe how many people think they don't want one because they "don't like boiled steaks."

Pro's
Makes the most consistently perfect steaks
Best eggs ever.
Mashed potatoes aren't hard to make, but this is my families new favorite for mashed potatoes.

I have an Anova wifi unit, which is amazing. I can throw a frozen steak (i started vacuum sealing them from fresh now) into a bucket of ice in the morning. Turn it on via my phone while at work, come home and know my steak is 5 minutes from being plated. But if I need to take a shower first, my steak is still 5 minutes from being plated. I'm getting myself a joule unit as well for Christmas. Steaks cook at around 130 ish to personal preference, but our favorite mashed taters cook at 185. So a second unit will be nice.

My biggest new kitchen discovery, even bigger than Sous Vide is called black garlic.

Black Garlic - normal regular old garlic that has underwent the full maillard reaction (the crust on steaks). Apparently you can do this yourself at home, you just need to pack a regular rice cooker with regular heads/cloves of garlic and let it cook for like a month.

I couldn't handle living in a house that smelled like freshly cooking garlic at all times. So on Amazon and I'm sure many other places you can just order black garlic that somebody else made. I haven't done that yet either. But I bought a couple purchases of powdered black garlic so far. This stuff is fucking amazing. It smells like garlic, only not. It's somehow both stronger and weaker. It gets rid of almost all of the bite garlic has but is somehow still richer or something. 3verything I've used it on has been incredible. Use it on my dry rubs now, and my steaks. Love it on eggs. Made weird looking blackish deviled eggs. Put way more garlic than I meant to, and it looked gross because its black. We almost didn't eat it, it had to be too much we figured. Ended up being very good, without the bite, its hard to make things too garlicky now. Christmas eve tradition at my house is chex mix, and this year its gonna be with black garlic.

Pros
Like regular garlic. But better.

I want an instant pot, and an air fryer if people have used those?

Edonidd said:

I want an instant pot, and an air fryer if people have used those?

Click to expand...

I've heard of the instant pot, but have never used one and the air fryer is a new one on me. I have a friend that has a fryer, not sure if it's an air fryer.

This review is for the Lodge cast iron double sided griddle.

Price...$45 Amazon.com

Size...20"x10.44"x.81"

Ridge depth...est. 3/8"

4 of 5!



This is a versatile griddle...large enough to cover two burners on a traditional stove/range/cooktop. There is a slight incline to drain grease towards the grease tray. The ridge depth is slightly less than my Staub ridged grill pan, but seems to be the right height to keep food from bottoming out in grease.

I've used mine about 2 dz times in a fairly short span, steaks, chicken, bacon, veggies...

Pros

• Price, hard to find a cast iron griddle with this design feature for under $50.
• Even heat, typical of most cast iron cookware
• Integrated handles make it easy to handle
• Pre-Seasoned

Cons

• Smooth side of the griddle requires a considerable amount of additional seasoning to successfully cook delicate items like eggs, pancakes etc.
• Seasoning is ongoing, not so with an enamel coated cast iron griddle.
  
• Not easy to clean.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes!



This is a real world pic after 3 cooks all in the same day. From here,
it take about 8-10 mins to get it ready for the next cook. I heat the grill up to about 150-200, move it to the sink with super hot and a stiff nylon bristle brush...it actually cleans up pretty good.

I'll post a clean up pic for a before and after.

If you don't mind a little elbow grease to clean them, these griddles are really nice. When I don't want to fire up the Primo, but want to add a little flavor to grilled food, I turn to this griddle.

Btw, best way to test a thermo... First you dip it in boiling water(212 degrees) then you dip it into ice water(32 degrees)... that's how we were taught in cooking school.

Edonidd said:

I want an instant pot, and an air fryer if people have used those?

Click to expand...

i have on both, they both work

the instant pot i never got too good with, my sister uses hers all the time, but it works........the tricky part is if u dont want EVERYTHING to be so tender it falls apart, u have to cook some stuff, stop it, add more stuf,, etc. and each time u do you have to let it come back up to "pressure" because its basically a newer pressure cooker. SO when it tells u that it cooks for 5 min and its done, thats true, but thats 5 min at pressure, it may take 7-10 min to hit pressure

the oil less fryer i used with chicken breasts only and some sweet potatoe fries, multiple times, gives a nice crisp

SteelersPride said:

the instant pot i never got too good with, my sister uses hers all the time, but it works........the tricky part is if u dont want EVERYTHING to be so tender it falls apart, u have to cook some stuff, stop it, add more stuf,, etc. and each time u do you have to let it come back up to "pressure" because its basically a newer pressure cooker. SO when it tells u that it cooks for 5 min and its done, thats true, but thats 5 min at pressure, it may take 7-10 min to hit pressure

the oil less fryer i used with chicken breasts only and some sweet potatoe fries, multiple times, gives a nice crisp

Click to expand...

I'm getting the wifi 6qt model for krissmus. Any tips or recipes you can recommend? I saw a video on Youtube of someone cooking a whole slab of ribs in it a week or so ago. I think i'm going to try that at some point.

Camfantasy said:

I'm getting the wifi 6qt model for krissmus. Any tips or recipes you can recommend? I saw a video on Youtube of someone cooking a whole slab of ribs in it a week or so ago. I think i'm going to try that at some point.

Click to expand...

for which one the instant pot or air fryer

SteelersPride said:

for which one the instant pot or air fryer

Click to expand...

instant pot

Camfantasy said:

instant pot

Click to expand...

honestly, my sister uses hers all the time. i only ever made chicken, veggies, potatoes in there, repeatedly and i just turned everything to mush and tender. I dont wanna f ur food up

SteelersPride said:

honestly, my sister uses hers all the time. i only ever made chicken, veggies, potatoes in there, repeatedly and i just turned everything to mush and tender. I dont wanna f ur food up

Click to expand...

you'd fuck up a wet dream

I don't really have any recipes, but I use my instant pot occasionally. Actually, just used it as a slow cooker for chili. Works pretty well for the most part

ATL96Steeler said:

This review is for the Lodge cast iron double sided griddle.

Price...$45 Amazon.com

Size...20"x10.44"x.81"

Ridge depth...est. 3/8"

4 of 5!

View attachment 193061

This is a versatile griddle...large enough to cover two burners on a traditional stove/range/cooktop. There is a slight incline to drain grease towards the grease tray. The ridge depth is slightly less than my Staub ridged grill pan, but seems to be the right height to keep food from bottoming out in grease.

I've used mine about 2 dz times in a fairly short span, steaks, chicken, bacon, veggies...

Pros

• Price, hard to find a cast iron griddle with this design feature for under $50.
• Even heat, typical of most cast iron cookware
• Integrated handles make it easy to handle
• Pre-Seasoned

Cons

• Smooth side of the griddle requires a considerable amount of additional seasoning to successfully cook delicate items like eggs, pancakes etc.
• Seasoning is ongoing, not so with an enamel coated cast iron griddle.
  
• Not easy to clean.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes!

View attachment 193062

This is a real world pic after 3 cooks all in the same day. From here,
it take about 8-10 mins to get it ready for the next cook. I heat the grill up to about 150-200, move it to the sink with super hot and a stiff nylon bristle brush...it actually cleans up pretty good.

I'll post a clean up pic for a before and after.

If you don't mind a little elbow grease to clean them, these griddles are really nice. When I don't want to fire up the Primo, but want to add a little flavor to grilled food, I turn to this griddle.

Click to expand...

Here's the lazy man's after pic.

Never bother to heat up the griddle, just took a stiff nylon bristle brush under some warm water. The same process with a warm griddle knocks off just about everything.

LongtimeRamsFan42 said:

Btw, best way to test a thermo... First you dip it in boiling water(212 degrees) then you dip it into ice water(32 degrees)... that's how we were taught in cooking school.

Click to expand...

Good point...the calibration instructions seem to be content with one or the other, but one thing I've found...the most accurate temps occur when you pull the meat, etc. off the direct heat for a second, then check it.

ATL96Steeler said:

Good point...the calibration instructions seem to be content with one or the other, but one thing I've found...the most accurate temps occur when you pull the meat, etc. off the direct heat for a second, then check it.

Click to expand...

100%... you don't want the heat of the grill influencing the temp of the thermo at all. May not seem like much, but can definitely pop it up a few extra degrees.