24HP-01-1

I bought two of these because the spec said its accuracy is ±25°F and I wanted to get readings from two side-by-side gauges to observe potential variance in testing the pre-heating of my new oven (a Whirlpool GGG390LXS). Sure enough, one of these thermometers read about 20°F greater than the other. An important finding of this test was that although the final temperature of my oven for this test (350°F) was reached fairly accurately, it seemed at first that my oven pre-heat was very slow, that is, it took about five minutes longer to reach the 350°F than when the oven controls said full temperature was reached. Then it occurred to me that perhaps the oven was correct and the gauges are simply slow to respond to temperature changes. So I repeated the test using a thermocouple on an electronic multi-meter. It turns out that the oven was very accurate and in fact cycles above and below the set temperature by about 15°F. I.e., the 350°F temp is "held" actually by heating up to 365°F, then the gas goes off, it cools to 335°F, then the gas burner goes back on, and repeats this up and down. Thus, since the Cooper Oven thermometer has a much slower response time than an electronic thermocouple, you get the average temperature. And you would normally want this to be the case. I wrote up the above test results in case someone else, like me, was testing the time it takes to pre-heat the oven. Because of the slow response time of this type of gauge, don't use it for that purpose. However, it does a good job as intended in monitoring the relatively steady state temperature in the oven. For an instant measurement, you need to use a thermocouple. As a final note, on the initial preheat, the temperature (as read by the thermocouple) actually shot up to 390°F and then proceeded to the cycling of 350°F ±15°F as described above. I believe this is by design because when this oven's control panel says preheat is completed and put in the food, it knows you will be opening the oven momentarily to put in the food and the temperature will drop while the oven is open. This initial overshoot helps compensate for that loss.

It is so important to have a correctly calibrated oven. The only thing is, there is no way to calibrate mine. When I moved into my new house, I quickly realized that my oven wasn't cooking at the right temp. I do a lot of baking so this was very obvious. Turns out, the oven runs hot by 25°F. One thing that I know about electric stoves is that they do not hold a steady heat throughout the baking cycle. (It can vary as much as 50°) For example, you preheat your oven to 350°F. Once it has reached temperature, you go ahead and place the baking tray in, set the timer and walk away. As the oven slightly cools during the cycle, it can get as low as 300°F before the heating element will turn back on. This can have a HUGE impact on what you are cooking or baking. What also has a huge impact is the aforementioned scenario combined with: Say you need to set your oven to 425°F, but it's really only heating to 375°. This means prior to using the thermometer, the oven will drop all the way down to 325°F before heating up again. This is a far cry from the desired temperature of 425°. I only use the thermometer to set my oven. I have to put mine on 325°F if I want to bake something at 350° - AND IT"S A BRAND NEW OVEN! This is why it's so critical for you have the oven properly set on your target temperature. I can't imagine not using one of these no matter the age of your oven. Disclaimer: This product was a PERSONAL PURCHASE for myself at the normal retail price. I am reviewing it solely because I want to share my experience with other potential customers. I have received no compensation for my review nor do I have any relationship with the seller or manufacturer of this product.

I ordered 2 of these to use on my smoker and charcoal grills. They are reasonably accurate and useful for quick reads, both are generally reading about 5 F cooler than my Maverick ET733 probes at 225 F and about 7-8 F cool at 325 F. At 550 F they read about 10-15 degrees cool, not the most accurate, but not bad. This is consistent across multiple cooks. My BBQ thermometers attached to the lids by comparison are off by 30 degrees (too high) at the lower temps and as much as 70 degrees at 550 F vs the Maverick probe at the grate level. They are a bit slower to obtain an accurate reading than a digital probe, I usually have to wait a minute or two for the needle to max out once the temperature in my grill has stabilized, sometimes maybe 2 minutes. The reverse is true as you lift a lid and the temperature drops, not a big deal. I've only owned for several weeks now so I can't comment on long-term reliability, but I've dropped them each a few times and the seem physically durable. For the price, these are great for quick reference for cooks where you don't care if it's it 220 F or 232 F, as long as it's not 300 F or 170 F. I like using them when I'm doing 2-zone cooking or cooking in my smoker on 2 or 3 levels. Some reviewers seem concerned about them being built in China. As long as they perform, I don't care. I've given 4 stars for 2 reasons - accuracy could be a little tighter at higher temps, but also there's 2 drawbacks. First, the numbers are a bit tough to read at some angles, especially if you need to bend down low. Second, compared to other dial thermometers I've used, these seem to require cleaning a lot more in order to be able to read. That said, if I get 2 years out of these, I'd be fine buying 2 more again.

Very accurate. I compared it with another highly rated thermometer (CDN Proaccurate) and their readings are identical, so I am assuming that they are showing the correct temperature. There have been some complaints that the numbers at the top of the dial are hard to see because they are obscured by the wide rim surrounding the dial. I found, however, that if the thermometer is bent back a bit on it's stand, all of the numbers are easily seen. It's nice to have an accurate thermometer because my oven's built-in thermometer (Samsung) is definitely not accurate.

It's tiny and compact. Barely occupies space and works like a charm.

Accuracy and clarity of the dial

Muy buen termometro, relacion calidad precio perfecta cooper atkins es sinonimo de precision, antes teniamos un kitchenaid que lo unico bueno que tenia era el nombre, si estas buscando y llegaste hasta aquí no lo pienses mas.

I bought this because my cakes were coming out under baked and my oven was really ancient. Using this i found that my oven temperature was off by 50 degrees. It works great, i should have bought this sooner.