Will this thermometer work?

[Ryan0186]

So I went to the fish store here in town and tried to find the temperature strips to stick on the side of my primary bucket and carboy. The strips that they carried only went to 64 degree at their lowest so i decided to go with an electronic thermometer. I have three ways that I can try to do this and wanted y'alls advice on the best way. I can either only measure the temp of the water in the swamp cooler and trust that it will be close to the temp of the wort or I can drill a hole in the top of my primary bucket and run the wire into the wort and try to sterilize and seal the hole in the top where the wire runs in and pray that it doesn't leak oxygen. I also was thinking of trying to run the wire through my air lock after everything has been sterilized. I am thinking that just measuring the water temp within the swamp cooler is going to be the most simple and best option to not taint the batch. Any thoughts?

 

[501irishred]

A fourth way, the one that I typically use, is to tape is to the outside of the bucket/carboy and tape some insulation (bubble wrap) over it. Simple, no contamination issues, and pretty accurate.

 

[Cyclman]

I really recommend Thermoworks thermometers. Great reviews, they have been very accurate in my personal experience.

 

[501irishred]

Thought about ya while putting a batch in the chamber tonight - here's a couple pic's that show what I described earlier.

 

[Ryan0186]

That's what ill do then. Looks like it would work great. Thanks for posting the pics!

 

[JeffD1]

I use a very similar thermometer and I run it through a blow off tube into the fermentor. I love the system! It gives me the exact temp of the middle of the fermentor and eliminates estimating or guessing. I really recommend you try to get that into the fermentor, but I would not drill a hole in it. Switch to a blow off tube and run it through that.

 

[Ryan0186]

I think IM just going to see if I can drop it down through the S curve style air lock that came with my kit.