Most helpful customer reviews

146 of 149 people found the following review helpful.
As good as therometers twice the price
By The Crusher
I own 4 Thermoworks products, and they've all been top-notch. This is only a few dollars more than their "slow" reading pen, and it's more than worth the extra cost. And it's only a couple of seconds slower than Thermowork's top-end model, which costs twice as much. The probe is longer than most, which keeps your hands further away from hot foods and grease splatters. The probe tapers to a very thin, sharp point, which should easily pierce any meat. I checked the accuracy using boiling water, and it read right on the money. This is a professional-grade unit, and is intended to be used for long stretches at a time, so it doesn't auto-shut-off. If that's a big issue for you, look elsewhere. But even if you accidentally leave it on, it can run continuously for over half a year on a single A76 battery. The display is fairly large, but there are larger displays. But a bigger display make the unit more top-heavy. This seems to be a nice compromise. Unless you have severe site problems, you should have no problem reading it.

142 of 145 people found the following review helpful.
Instant Gratification
By A Shopper
Cook's Illustrated recommended this thermometer in their current magazine. The higher-priced model, Thermapen, is much more costly than I am willing to spend on a digital thermometer. When I tried it today I was amazed at how fast a reading I got. As soon as I turned it on, the thermometer read the temperature of the room. We stuck it under my husband's arm and got a body temp for him.

I bought this thermometer for food preparation and cooking. I am really thrilled with it.

Now I can take the temperature of butter and know when it has reached room temperature for use in my baking. Not to mention knowing when roasts and quick breads have reached the perfect temperature.Yay! No more guesswork

*UPDATED 11/19/2010...I never bake without using this thermometer. The other day I was about to bake but the thermometer's display was blank. It was two days before Thanksgiving and I started looking for retailers who would ship a new one to me overnight. I called ThermoWorks. The people there were very helpful and willing to stand behind their product. They told me where to purchase a battery and if the new battery would not resolve the problem, they told me to call back and they would help me. The battery did need to be replaced and now it is working perfectly again. I really feel comfortable and confident in a product when I know a company will stand behind their products. If anything ever happens to this thermometer, I would definitely purchase it again.

This battery is sold in Walmart, as well as other local stores: 1.5 volt, type A76 or equivalent x 1 piece (included)

103 of 112 people found the following review helpful.
Works as advertised but it has a flaw. New: A happy ending from the manufacturer.
By DavidG
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R19OHULGJC0JZD March 7, 2011
I received a call from ThermoWorks today to ask how I liked my RT600C. I politely described again the situation I was experiencing (read my March 3rd entry for the gory details). The customer service rep offered me three choices to resolve the problem.
1) They would ship me a new replacement thermometer, but a different model. The new thermometer would be model RT301WA. I chose this option.
2) They would ship me a new replacement thermometer of the same model.
3) They would issue a return material authorization and I could return the thermometer to Amazon for a refund.

I chose to get the RT301WA instead of the RT600C because:
- once bitten, twice shy regarding the RT600C
- after playing with the RT600C I found that its lack of an auto shut off is a detriment. The RT301WA has all the features that I liked from the RT600C and it has the all important auto shut off feature.

In short, ThermoWorks came through for me. They demonstrated an excellent customer focused attitude.

March 3, 2011
Today I received the ThermoWorks RT600C cooking thermometer in the mail. I purchased the RT600C from Amazon.com and it shipped directly from ThermoWorks.

Functionally, the thermometer works as advertised. I tested the thermometer speed and calibration using an ice bath. The thermometer went from 70.4 degrees to 32.5 degrees in around six seconds. So my RT600C is accurate to manufacturer specifications.

The thermometer I received has a problem. It will turn itself on if the probe passes anywhere near a static electric charge. Even worse, the RT600C doesn't have an auto shut off feature.

Imagine this scenario: you put the RT600C in a drawer, it turns on by itself, and the battery is dead when you need to use it.

I called ThermoWorks customer support at 800-393-6434 and they:
1) Acknowledged the static electric problem that affects RT600C units.
2) Explained that it's "OK" that RT600C turns on by itself because the battery has a 5000 hour life (around 208 days).
3) Directed me to other (more expensive) models in their catalog that do have an auto shut off feature.