Is the Thermapen that great that reading temps in 2-3 seconds is worth nearly 4x the price of the ThermoPop?
Only the potential purchaser can answer that question. The main differences between a thermopen and a thermopop
Thermopen is hand assembled and tested in England. Thermopop is produced in China
Thermopen uses a K-type thermocouple design and circuit board. Thermopop uses a thermistor design which is less expensive to produce
As a result of the design, Thermopen is faster (<3 seconds to 1 degree of accuracy) vs Thermopop ( <6 seconds to 2 degrees of accuracy). Not a big difference to a home cook but a pretty big difference to a professional that is using the device to temp multiple batches/items.
Themopen can be recalibrated by the user, and has some settings that can be configured by the user. The folding probe design is less likely to get banged up in a drawer or if the unit is dropped.
I am a big believer in using a temperature unit while cooking as it not only allows you to be safer by meeting minimum temperatures, but also allows you to know exactly what temp your food is at which I think makes for a better end result.
I like both units myself and have given thermopops to each of my daughters. For the money, I think they are a great value.
But then again, I have a serious thermoworks problem....
Winz