Lavatools Javelin (formerly thermowand)

[CharliefromLI]

Been checking this out for a while and finally pulled the trigger this week so its ready for my thanksgiving turkey smoke.



http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Accurate-High-Performing-Digital-Thermometer/dp/B00GRFHXVQ

I would love a thermopen but a nearly $100 thermometer just isn't in my budget.
My $10 Weber instant read is just too slow. I would have the lid open to long while cooking and it would slow the cook down.

The Javelin seemed like a great alternative for a 1/4 of the price and got great reviews.

I haven't cooked on it  yet but when arrived yesterday and i unpacked and gave the ice water/boiling water tests.

Its a pretty big unit, way bigger then my weber. the big display should come in handy when cooking in low light. The tapered tip is a little less invasive for sensitive cuts too.

Ice Water first:
The ICE water test was accurate but took WAY longer then the 4-5 seconds advertised. It took between 10-16 seconds on a few cooks. I was concerned that i might have an issue but i went forward with the Boiling water test.

The boiling water test was really impressive: It was reading+/-2 degrees of 212 in under 2 seconds. really impressive.

I don't love the slow test on ice water but since most things i test will be closer to boiling then freezing (i guess a med rare steak is close to midway)

I will reserve my full judgement for an actual cook measuring meat.

[austin87]

@CharliefromLI how did it work for your turkey?

[CharliefromLI]

@austin87 really well. For the money ($25) it's great. Used it again last night on some chicken and temps register in 1-4 seconds.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Thanks for the info.  Just ordered two of them for xmas presents.  Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will order me one too!  I usually cook with my maverick and just go by those....I rarely use a handheld.  Even for my turkeys this year, I used multiple maverick probes and just unplugged and plugged in the ones I wanted to see at that moment.  I have 4 probes plus a grill temp probe after replacing my original probes with 6 footers, so I have plenty of extra probes if I need to monitor more than one thing at a time.