Review of the ETI mini digital thermometer – PenTemp

Whist idly browsing the Internet I came across this little digital thermometer on Amazon. It advertised it as an ETI made thermometer so I searched for more details on the ETI site – nothing!! This triggered my curiosity and a couple of emails later ETI confirmed that it was one of theirs, but that they only sold it on the Amazon site and not their own!!

I already have an ETI Thermopen which I use all the time as part of the “cooking to temperature principal (see ………..Cooking Food To Temperature – The Cook’s Digest) but this was keyring size – and so I would always have a thermometer with me in case of cooking emergencies (who am I kidding – at £5 I just fancied one!) and within 3 days it was on my keyring!

It is tiny and unlike the Thermopen it is powered with a tiny button battery and instead of turning on as the probe is pulled into position you have to press an on button (and press it again when finished to turn it off). Making direct comparisons with the Thermopen, the readings were very close, always within 1 degree C over a reasonable range of temperatures between 5C and 90C that were tested. Whereas the Thermopen registered a steady temperature within 3 seconds, it took the Mini about 6-7 seconds – confirming my emails with ETI. This is reasonably standard for a thermistor style probe.

In practice it worked really well and having used it through the whole of the summer would happily use it all the time when travelling so I could leave the Thermopen at home. I have also used it when doing cooking demonstrations just to illustrate how easy cooking ‘to temperature’ can be and how it doesn’t need to be expensive. Best bit of news – 5 months on and still using the same battery! Certainly a great piece of travel kit and for around £5 – highly recommended!

……………………a great addition to the travel kit!!