January 17, 2022 - 8:41am
Bread thermometer
I'm a 77 year old newbe to bread making. The loaves are coming out OK from the Oster countertop oven, but I would like a thermometer that can remain in the loaf during cooking. ThermoPro says specifically that their thermometers are for meat and fish and to use one that is designated for bread specifically. Since it is possible to adjust the temperature to any desired setting (200 degrees F), I don't know why that statement is made.
Anyway, without spending a fortune, what are goo bread thermometers that when the internal bread temperature reaches 195-205 degrees I can take the bread out of the oven for "perfection."
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I am an occasional hobby baker. I bake bread based on timing the loaf per the recipe time. I usually bake about 85-90% of the suggested time then begin checking internal temp at that point until the desired temp is reached. I verify the internal temp using a Thermapen Classic instant read thermometer.
https://www.thermoworks.com/classic-thermapen/
Most probe thermometers use a cable that can't take higher temps you may have your oven set to for bread backing. The found the thermometer cable to be a pain to deal with.
I don't have an oven-safe probe thermometer, but I do have a Comark PDT300. The response time is not as fast as the Thermapen (≤6 sec vs 2–3 sec) and the accuracy is less (±2 °F vs ±0.7 °F), but it costs a fraction of the Thermapen (≈$20 vs ≈$80). Comark is a division of Fluke Corporation, one of the main companies that make test and measurement equipment. I worked for years in a laboratory environment and Fluke instruments were always highly regarded.
I’m 78 & have been baking for many many years. I took a break from baking when my brother passed away. When I came back to it I felt like a newbie. I reread many of my books , read some I hadn’t. This I realize with my experience of age. I. Will. Never. Be. Perfect. The goals I have for my baking are most of my bread coming out good and a lot coming out great & some coming out exceptional. Though I may have had my exceptional bake years ago. Oven temperature and dough temp and baked temp are all important. I have been using an instant read thermometer I bought at the Chefs Store quite a few years back. It works well. Only problem is the face that shows the temperature is small & not backlit. And the probe is short so I am pushing down on it to bend it so I can see. Not a good idea because the hole it leaves is very large. So I figure I need a thermapen type.with easy off on hold & C & F buttons. Nothing but nothing tells me when my bread is done better than my thermometer and with that the time it,s been baking & the color & time suggested by the recipe. That does not always work but it’s a good guide.feeling the dough will tell you if it’s cold or slightly warm.
this website is the absolute BEST. The folks here that usually jump in to help have been baking for years. Many of them are perfectionists. Read listen & learn then do what you are comfortable with. Try to do your best & don’t worry about it and as one of the great bakers says “anything you bake will be better than what you can buy”. And have fun. ok I’m on a roll. I must say my inspiration for baking was a friend. I helped move him, his family, some friends a willful donkey & a truck load of food in 5 gal buckets out to the middle of a canyon. Time to eat someone got the cooking heat going & someone else did something else & my friend sat down in front of the fire cross legged, opened this cloth bag of whole wheat flour, dumped some in a bowl poured sone water in and proceeded to mix with his hands & shape chapatis. Enough for us all. To be able to feed yourself or others is a gift. They were the most wonderful flat bread I ever ate. Was it perfect? Darn right it was.