Choosing The Right Thermometer

A successful food safety plan starts with choosing the right tools.

Creating a quality product your customers love starts with having the right tools for the job.

You need to serve safe and consistent food, and temperature is one of the biggest factors influencing both efforts. Bacterial growth is especially tied to temperature, which makes monitoring temperatures across your operation vital to your food safety plans. The thermometers you use are important in protecting your product inventory from spoilage and prevent potential foodborne illness outbreaks before they start.

With the safety and satisfaction of your customers on the line, it’s important to choose the correct thermometers to help meet all your specific Storage and Preparation & Cooking temperature monitoring needs.

What to look for in a thermometer

When looking for a reliable temperature monitoring solution, you should consider:

• Durability: You need to be confident that the thermometer you choose can survive the harsh environment of a commercial kitchen.
• Accuracy: Thermometers must be properly calibrated and tested to ensure consistent results that adhere to industry standards of +/- 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Factory calibration services available with after-sales support can be a huge bonus.

• Longevity: A long-lasting product and trusted warranty help reinforce the overall reliability of a solution.

Storage Temperature Monitoring

Your responsibility for food safety begins as soon as any product enters your facility.

That’s why maintaining proper temperatures begins with receiving and proper storage.

Food temperature needs to be checked, maintained and monitored throughout the storing and holding processes to help ensure safety and quality. Having the right temperature monitoring solution is an important part of food safety. Cooper Atkins thermometers can help with all your important storage temperature monitoring needs.

Storage temperature monitoring solutions include:

• Wireless fixed temperature monitoring
• Environment thermometers

Wireless Fixed Temperature Monitoring

Need to keep an eye on storage area temperatures from afar? Wireless fixed temperature monitoring solutions help you remotely monitor storage and holding environment temperatures. These solutions

automatically collect and record time-stamped temperature data around the clock and store it in the cloud for easy retrieval. The system can notify you if doors are left ajar or temperatures fall out of range so you can take corrective actions quickly.

Wireless fixed temperature monitoring allows you to eliminate manual temperature logging so you can reallocate time to better serve customers. With hardware and software you can install yourself, you can rest easier knowing that there are always eyes on your product inventory temperatures.

Environment Thermometers

Environment thermometers help make day-to-day temperature monitoring easy for employees. Having temperatures visually available inside storage spaces allows you to continually track and help safeguard your product inventory. Simply place these thermometers in a refrigerator, freezer, hot holding or dry storage spaces for continual monitoring and display of environment temperatures.

Preparation & Cooking Temperature Monitoring

When it comes to cooking, temperature is critical. Food prepared or maintained at the wrong temperature is vulnerable to bacterial growth and spoilage. Thermometer solutions for cooking and preparation can help keep temperatures out of the danger zone and enable you to prepare and serve a safe and consistent product.

The right thermometers can help you with temperature readings of:

Air – Monitor ambient air temperature as well as temperatures in coolers, freezers and ovens to help ensure kitchen equipment maintains proper temperatures.

Surface – Spot-check surface temperatures of equipment and food within receiving, cooking, preparation and holding to help ensure safe temperatures are maintained.

Internal – Test internal food temperatures to help ensure the safety and quality of your product with insertion thermometers for solids, semi-solids and liquids.

How To Select The Right Preparation & Cooking Thermometer

Connected Handheld Digital Thermometers

Streamline monitoring and reporting by sending temperature readings directly from a thermometer to a connected mobile device. Connected handheld digital thermometers work with the Digital Cold Chain Platform and most third-party food safety platforms to integrate tamper-resistant temperature checks into your HACCP records.

These handheld instruments are compatible with all type-K thermocouple temperature probes, are built-to-last in a USA ISO 9001-registered facility and protected by a five-year manufacturer limited warranty. Southern Hospitality do not currently stock these, but please talk to your Account Manager if this is something that you may be interested in

Thermocouple Instruments

Thermocouple instruments have digital displays and can be used with all type-K thermocouple temperature probes for adaptability and versatility. These interchangeable probes can be removed and replaced without the need for recalibration, allowing for a wide range of applications in a variety of environments. Many of our durable thermocouple instruments are built-to-last in a USA ISO 9001-registered facility and are protected by a five-year manufacturer limited warranty.

Infrared Surface Thermometers

Using infrared technology, this contactless thermometer solution allows for quick spot-checking of surface temperatures in receiving, cooking, preparation and holding. Infrared surface thermometers can be used to read temperatures of both food and kitchen surfaces, giving you increased versatility, efficiency and reducing the likelihood of cross-contamination. Some models include a thermocouple jack so you can connect a type-k thermocouple temperature probe to check internal temperatures as well.

Digital Thermometers

Digital thermometers are insertion thermometers used to measure temperatures of solids, liquids and semi-solids, including both thick and thin foods. They feature thin-tip probes for insertion versatility, digital displays for clear temperature reading and fast response times for task efficiency. An anti-microbial additive is used on both the thermometer body and protective sheath to help prevent bacterial growth. With factory calibration set in a durable memory chip, digital thermometer calibration is Accurate for Life guaranteed* on some models.

Bi-Metal Thermomemters

Bi-metal thermometers are insertion thermometers used to measure the temperatures of liquids and thick foods. With a dial display and a built-in insertion probe, these mechanical thermometers are available in a wide variety of models designed for solving specific temperature-testing needs. When choosing a bi-metal thermometer, it is important to look for certification from NSF International to ensure that you are buying a quality solution.

Connected Solutions

Using innovative technology, a connected solution allows you to pair your temperature monitoring solutions with a mobile device and cloud platform. Once connected, you can integrate temperature checks with software such as Digital Cold Chain Platform or most third-party food safety platforms. A connected software system can help you digitalize pencil-and-paper HACCP tasks for streamlined data collection and reporting. Send temperature readings straight from a thermometer or sensor to the connected app, then upload from the app to a cloud-based portal for increased visibility, transparency and efficiency.

How They Work

Connected solutions include:

• Wireless fixed temperature monitoring
• Connected handheld digital thermometers

Interchangeable Type-K Thermocouple Temperature Probes

Interchangeable type-K thermocouple temperature probes from Cooper Atkins allow you to quickly adjust any compatible thermocouple instrument for specific air, surface and internal temperature checking and monitoring needs. These probes can help you read temperatures in, on and around equipment or food quickly and reliably. Each probe is designed to be easily interchanged and assembled to high engineering standards in the USA. Plus, all are protected by a one-year manufacturer-limited warranty.

The right thermometers can help you with temperature readings of:

Air probes include hand-held probes for ambient air temperature monitoring and probes with clips for attaching inside freezers, coolers or ovens.

Surface probes include probes for food, griddles, grills, motors, pipes, plastic moulds and more.

Internal probes include probes for insertion into thick and thin solids, semi-solids and liquids.

Food Safety Expertise

Preventing spoilage and potential foodborne illness outbreaks is critical to the success of your business and Southern Hospitality and Cooper Atkins are here to help. We stand behind the quality and durability of our products. We are continually expanding our technological capabilities with the right tools to help ensure both consistent food quality and safety and to help protect your brand integrity.

Southern Hospitality has a wide range of thermometers, contact your Account Manager if you need still need assistance selecting the right thermometer.

Credit: To our partners at Cooper Atkins for this blog content