Infrared (IR) Thermometers?

[tananaBrian]

Hi,

  Does anyone here happen to know if infrared thermometers work?  I have no clue how the emissivity (usually .95) matches up with milk/cream/cheese curds, but have wondered for awhile now if an IR thermometer would work ...and be one more way to keep infections out of the product (especially for aged cheeses).  In my quick looking around (and very rudimentary initial learning), my first thought was that they aren't accurate enough.  Most that sell for $100 plus or minus are only accurate to +- 3 degrees F at best, with many in the 4 to 5 degree range... not so good.  That said ...if someone here does know of a low-cost IR thermometer that works well in the cheese making world and has good accuracy, then please do offer a recommendation!

Thanks,
Brian

[iratherfly]

I have never worked with one but looked into them a while back for the same reason though my understanding it that they can be incredibly accurate. The problem seems to be that they don't immerse and only measure the surface of the object, so it will catch for example the milk temperature on the surface but not 2"-3" deep where the real average product temperature is. The surface is always cooler. It may work though for measuring temp in the cave

[tananaBrian]

Ah!  Good point!  Hadn't thought about surface versus bulk temperature.  I guess that makes sense.  It just seemed so tempting to have a touch-free way of measuring the temperature... 

[iratherfly]

Right. I would be more concerned about accuracy than sanitation. Most thermometers have stainless steel probes that you can clean with a no-rinse sanitizer or drop into boiling water, no big deal.  But... a while back I did a post here where I dropped 5 thermometers into the same jar of warm water and each of them showed an entirely different temperature reading.  Best practice is to purchase one from a reputable brand and possibly one that was certified for commercial food production. Even better if you can find one that you can calibrate once in a while.