Infrared Thermometer

Buy your infrared thermometer on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2SzymMy

Having an infrared thermometer comes in extremely handy with chocolate making since the nature of working with chocolate is very messy; melted chocolate sticks on everything and there just is no way around it. Our primary use of this type of thermometer is checking cacao surface temperature when oven roasting and getting temperature readings during the tempering process. Of course once you get one of these, you will find yourself using it on everything since they are so fun to use. This specific model sold on Amazon has close to 300 reviews at the time of this post and 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is a mid range priced thermometer so follow the link and also check out ones that are less expensive of even higher end if desired. One thing to note, when we are getting our final temperature readings during the temperating process, we use an instant digital read probe type thermometer (specifically this one https://amzn.to/2SRv9bB), because it is more accurate for final temperature readings critical points in the tempering process; infrared thermometers can be very accurate but are typically +/- a few degrees accurate. For example this particular infrared thermometer is +/- 4 degrees F accurate. We sometimes get reading that are right on the mark compared to our digital probe thermometer, but sometimes it is off a few degrees; the last thing you want to do is have to re-temper your chocolate if it blooms, so we don't take any chances. Having said that, there are plenty of chocolate makers that only use infrared thermometers when tempering, so it is certainly possible with enough practice. If you are only trying to get in the ball park with your temperature checks, you can definitely just go with a cheaper infrared thermometer and it will still come in very handy. Below I have listed some of the key product details from the Amazon listing.

• Non Contact Temperature Range: -58 to 932˚F (-50 to 500˚C)

• Field Of View: 12 : 1

• Display Illumination: Back-lit LCD Color display

• Target Indicator: Circular Laser Spot

• Resolution: 0.5˚F / 0.5˚C

• Accuracy: +/-2˚C (4˚F) or +/-2% of Reading

• Response Time: 0.5 Seconds

Note: Check out our Education page for reference material on the chocolate making process all the way through tempering.

Buy your infrared thermometer on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2SzymMy