Taylor Precision Products 5924 Large Dial Kitchen Refrigerator and Freezer Kitchen Thermometer, 3 Inch Dial,Silver

Taylor Precision Products 5924 Large Dial Kitchen Refrigerator and Freezer Kitchen Thermometer.
Thank goodness this product has eased my mind. Knowing that I can actually see the numbers on this Refrigerator/ Freezer Thermometer. Works good..

This is the product EVERYONE should have. It always surprises me how many people do NOT have a thermometer in their fridge, and how many people rely on digital circuitry that is built-in to the unit alone without having any means of verifying the exact temp.

As the price of this shows, it’s a very small expense. And while this seems like an items of minimal importance, it can save a lot of money and a lot of grief.

I like to think of myself as middle of the road when it comes to the level of strict with food handling/safety. I clean my kitchen using accelerated hydrogen peroxide, carefully clean the areas I prepare raw meats that make contact with it, don’t prepare foods to be eaten raw with raw meat on the same surfaces or with the same tools, refrigerate food promptly if there are leftovers, etc. But I don’t worry about illness from food to a point where it consumes me. I use generally sensible practice, and rely on that practice to ensure my health and the health of those I cook for are never compromised. Thus far it’s worked well at least for me.

As much as we hear talk about illness from incorrectly handled or cooked foods, we don’t hear nearly as much about incorrectly STORED foods, which is equally or even more important. Foods left between 41 degrees F to 140 degrees, are in what is commonly referred to as “the danger zone”. This is where bacteria multiplies at the fastest rate (sometimes many fold more than out of the danger zone, and it is not linear–> in some cases, food that is not refrigerated at the correct temperature can have more bacteria in it in under 3 hours than the same food stored correctly for 5+ days). So that is why we have fridges to begin with (i.e., slow bacterial growth). So you want your fridge to stay at 40 or below (preferably slightly below) and your freezer at 0 (preferably -10 if you put larger quantities of hot foods [ex: soup] directly in the freezer because it increases the temp more).

If the temp goes above this for an extended period, there are various strains of bacteria that can multiply and can make even healthy people sick. As you generally use a fridge to extend the time food is safe to eat, a prolonged period of days of storage, even if just a few degrees above 40, can result in an explosion of bacteria which can cause illness ranging from gas and stomach cramps to a trip to the ICU. Likewise, if you store meat in a freezer for 10 months and it is not stored at the correct temperature, that can end pretty badly.

Luckily, this is simple to avoid: keep your fridge/freezer at the right temp, verify it, and don’t worry about it further. As the stakes are pretty high if one fails to keep the temp correct, is reliance on a built-in thermostat alone sufficient? NO! We cannot ‘feel’ 43 degrees versus 39, and built-in thermostats lack a way to verify and sometimes do not work properly. [Over]Reliance on them alone is a pretty big gamble and sets the stage for an outcome comparable to ‘the GPS told me to drive off a cliff and I did because the electronic device can’t ever be wrong, hence conscious action & judgment on my behalf was unnecessary.’

So you get this thermometer to verify rather than assume. Ideally, you put one towards the front of a fridge (near the door area), and one towards the back close to where the cold air comes in…you will immediately notice the difference and how fridges do NOT maintain a completely constant temp. Some foods store better towards the colder areas, and others it does not matter. You only need one in the freezer.

Another thing you will notice is that if you put large quantities of hot food in the fridge, most fridges will see a considerable rise in temp. While this is normally safe and the temp is quickly brought back down to safe levels, in cases of huge quantities of hot food (ex: a ton of soup), the rise in temp is above acceptable degree and time (so for large quantities of soup, a cooling paddle is advised).

One more note that comes to mind is that most fridges take 12-24 hours for an adjustment of a thermostat to take full effect. On heavily stocked units with large quantities of liquid, this can take even longer.

So the bottom line is that this allows you to take charge of your food for the price of under 20 bucks total. You don’t have to passively rely on a thermostat that you would otherwise have no means of verifying was correct, and you don’t have to worry that your fridge might be too warm but have no way to verify. If the power goes out, now you know if you have to throw all of the food out, or if this is an unnecessary waste of hundreds/thousands of dollars of good (and safe) food. Now you can verify the temps are correct, and you can also be 100% sure that when you adjust the fridge or freezer settings that the adjustment is what you wanted it to be.

So my personal opinion is that this is a necessary kitchen tool, rather than a luxury, and that the benefits of this small investment are tremendous.

Great little thermometer! I bought this to go with a chest freezer and ended up buying a 2nd one for the smaller freezer as well. No batteries and it gives you what you want, an accurate temperature reading. I have an infrared thermometer gun I use often, and I checked these thermometers at room temp and in the freezer as I adjusted the temp dial on the freezer.

Freezer thermometer fab. Good value, in time delivery.

i bought this for my minifridge so id know the temp of it. it does an amazing job!. if i need more of these i will buy from this brand from here on out!