SC/TO Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks

[Tex]

Back to my search for a probe to go into my thermometer/reader.

Looking at the female plug at the end of the reader, it is flat.  Having connected with the eBay seller that Milo linked me too, he said that means that they are "miniature".  Aha....that propelled my search for information quite a bit.  My most recent landing place was at Omega, and they have a "probe configurer"......

http://www.omega.com/config/probeconfig.html

Very cool.   

So.  I'm thinking K-type, Quick Disconnect, Stainless Steel, 12 inches, 1/8" diameter (those are all guesses so far), but then I'm totally unclear as to whether I want grounded or ungrounded.   

Whaddya think?

This is Day 2 on the search for a thermometer.....I'm nuthin if not S L O W .....

Susan

My 2?

I'm in agreement with Alton Brown - single purpose tools don't belong in my kitchen. So, I'd opt for a needle type K 6" long grounded probe with a 24/36" lead terminated with a miniature plug.

Then you'd have a dual purpose tool that'd be useful when cooking the Thanksgiving turkey or roasting coffee.

[SusanJoM]

I'm in agreement with Alton Brown - single purpose tools don't belong in my kitchen. So, I'd opt for a needle type K 6" long grounded probe with a 24/36" lead terminated with a miniature plug.
Then you'd have a dual purpose tool that'd be useful when cooking the Thanksgiving turkey or roasting coffee.

That sounds good to me, too....I'm an equal opportunity purchaser....But/and were all those possibilities included in the Omega configuration?  Or did you just tell me what I should be looking for "somewhere"?

Susan

[peter]

And THEN I'll have to stop procrastinating and actually roast some coffee....

            

Susan

I added some info to my last post after you posted, that you may find helpful.

Just drill your probe hole as low as you can.  The only thing about these thermometers I don't like is the stiff, braided wire.  They're made so that you can run them into an oven, so they have to be stiff, but it gives the wire a mind of its own and the probe isn't heavy enough to have its own mind.  That's why I weighted down my probe with a couple of small hex nuts, but then had to go with a slot in the spacer instead of a simple hole.

Glad you're having fun with all this.  Are you retired, that you have all this time?  

[SusanJoM]

Are you retired, that you have all this time?  

Oh yes.   Seems to me when I was working I didn't have time to do anything at all.  I owned/ran a business distributing dairy products to the natural foods and crossover grocery stores throughout the SF Bay area, and even when I wasn't working I was.....worrying about working.  Two of my employees were anxious to grow the business bigger than I was interested in, so I financed them to buy me out and they are doing a terrific job with it.  Win Win Win.....   What I can't figure out is:  how did I ever have time to work??

Susan

[Tex]

That sounds good to me, too....I'm an equal opportunity purchaser....But/and were all those possibilities included in the Omega configuration?  Or did you just tell me what I should be looking for "somewhere"?

Susan

I'd probably go with an Omega probe, something like this: TJ36-CASS-18G-6-SMPW-M

[peter]

That sounds good to me, too....I'm an equal opportunity purchaser....But/and were all those possibilities included in the Omega configuration?  Or did you just tell me what I should be looking for "somewhere"?

Susan

I'd probably go with an Omega probe, something like this: TJ36-CASS-18G-6-SMPW-M

$33, plus $8 shipping, and more if you want them to put a connector on the end?  You must know something about Susan's financial position that she hasn't disclosed to the rest of us. 

[Tex]

I'd probably go with an Omega probe, something like this: TJ36-CASS-18G-6-SMPW-M

$33, plus $8 shipping, and more if you want them to put a connector on the end?  You must know something about Susan's financial position that she hasn't disclosed to the rest of us. 

No disclosure provided - I cite what I'd use; and this is cheap enough for this quality.

1/8" probe grounded type K t/c
S/S sheath
rugged transition (not plastic)
40" leads
male mini-connector

You can bend these probes to fit, so proper placement wouldn't be an issue. For the UFO/CO I'd probably get a brass compression fitting to hold the probe in place Just don't tighten the fitting to the point of crushing the ferrule.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I know it makes sense to use what you have, but the easier route would be to just buy one of these;

digital cooking thermometer

Under $14, free shipping, goes to 482 degrees.


I have a similar one, with the countdown timer and temp alarm.  The timer is set for 3 minutes.  When the temp gets to 300F, I stop the heat and start the timer for the drying phase.  When those 3 min. are up, I jack up the heat and turn the alarm on, which is set for 344F.  When the alarm goes off, I kill the heat and it coasts to 350, and I set the 3min. timer again to let it sit in that range for caramelization and sweetness development.  The temp alert and timer makes it a no-brainer.

That is a good find...   I picked up some k type probes a while back and I just use my PID as a thermometer but if I have to expand I will keep these in mind... 

Susan if you have the TC that came with your thermometer you may be able to open it up and wire in just about any TC.. (if it is a screw together like mine)  I have used that bare wire TC that comes with the thermometer quit successfully but the ridged probe is better... 

[SusanJoM]

I know it makes sense to use what you have, but the easier route would be to just buy one of these;

digital cooking thermometer

Under $14, free shipping, goes to 482 degrees.


I have a similar one, with the countdown timer and temp alarm.  The timer is set for 3 minutes.  When the temp gets to 300F, I stop the heat and start the timer for the drying phase.  When those 3 min. are up, I jack up the heat and turn the alarm on, which is set for 344F.  When the alarm goes off, I kill the heat and it coasts to 350, and I set the 3min. timer again to let it sit in that range for caramelization and sweetness development.  The temp alert and timer makes it a no-brainer.

That is a good find...   I picked up some k type probes a while back and I just use my PID as a thermometer but if I have to expand I will keep these in mind... 

Susan if you have the TC that came with your thermometer you may be able to open it up and wire in just about any TC.. (if it is a screw together like mine)  I have used that bare wire TC that comes with the thermometer quit successfully but the ridged probe is better... 

I do have that TC, and it is currently reasonably firmly fitted under the glass and into the roasting chamber of my IR2.  I'd as soon leave it there for the time being.  I still have vague notions of learning how to use that machine more accurately someday (you know, with a Milowidget or a PID or.....?).  I'm thinking now the trick is going to be to find a probe-wire-mini plug combination that I can use with it as needed.

On the other hand, I'm going to go and look and see how easy it is to take apart....

Meanwhile I ordered the one that Peter linked me to on eBay.  I need to get it here and get started.  I'm beginning to recognize that I am scared to try my first roast.  Remember I've never roasted more than 150 gm at a time (in the IR2), so the idea of experimenting with 10-16 ounces is....intimidating to me.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I do have that TC, and it is currently reasonably firmly fitted under the glass and into the roasting chamber of my IR2.  I'd as soon leave it there for the time being.  I still have vague notions of learning how to use that machine more accurately someday (you know, with a Milowidget or a PID or.....?).  I'm thinking now the trick is going to be to find a probe-wire-mini plug combination that I can use with it as needed.

On the other hand, I'm going to go and look and see how easy it is to take apart....

Meanwhile I ordered the one that Peter linked me to on eBay.  I need to get it here and get started.  I'm beginning to recognize that I am scared to try my first roast.  Remember I've never roasted more than 150 gm at a time (in the IR2), so the idea of experimenting with 10-16 ounces is....intimidating to me.

Hmm.. if you decide you want to get a probe for that thermometer you may find more of the yellow plugs in one of the sources linked to in the milowidgit thread... I think that is where I saw it   other wise you are on the right track...  I found 12 oz of green is best in my SC/TO partly because 16 oz reacts differently and more importantly I use pint mason jars with one way valves in the lid for storage... 12 oz of greens fits nicely in two jars after roasting.. and 3 jars is 1 pound of roasted coffee.. (on average)..

Don't be afraid... (don't roast your La Esmeralda lot 7 first) but don't be afraid....

[SusanJoM]

Hey, I use the pint jars too, but no valves in the top.  I'll have to look into that part.

Thanks for the kick in the keester.  I WILL roast as soon as the thermometer comes !!!!

Susan

[ButtWhiskers]

Meanwhile I ordered the one that Peter linked me to on eBay.  I need to get it here and get started.  I'm beginning to recognize that I am scared to try my first roast.  Remember I've never roasted more than 150 gm at a time (in the IR2), so the idea of experimenting with 10-16 ounces is....intimidating to me.

I would recommend that you try your first roast sans thermocouple.  Start out by running both the oven (at ~380-400?F) and the UFO for 2-3 minutes to warm up, then dump in 12-14 ounces of your least expensive Central American hard bean.   It is pretty hard to totally pooch a roast that way.  If you don't start hearing the first crack by 9 minutes or so, turn up the power.  Chances are, though, that you will hear the first crack begin at about 7 minutes.  Time the gap between the end of 1C and the start of 2C, if it goes over 3 minutes or so, turn up the heat.  This will give you some good experience with the sights, sounds, and smells, and allow you to get your handling method down. Going through the motions will allow you to focus on the temps next time around after having a good idea of how everything fits together and building some confidence in the hardware.  Make sure you have oven mitts, a wooden spoon, and your bean cooler handy before you start.  

[SusanJoM]

Okay.
I will.
I'll go do it now.

Before I get cold(er) feet.
Back soon....

Susan

[peter]

That's the beauty of the SC/TO; things happen in a relatively slow and even progression, and there's not much that can go wrong.  You'll notice that with the larger bean mass it takes more to get it moving, but you'll also notice that once they do get going they like to keep going.  With that in mind, try to anticipate 1st crack and avoid pouring too much heat into the beans.  While you don't want to stall the roast, it'll be easier to detect the end of 1st and control what happens after.

[SusanJoM]

Well, they are going around and around and beginning to brown up a bit.  I'm 6 minutes in.  Arms are still changing directions periodically.  It's pretty chilly out here on the back porch  --42 degrees  -- so I left the UFO heater on as well as the TO heater.  I also seem to have f largish "leak up around one side at the top between the silicone and the TO.  Time to stop typing and be really sure I'm listening for a bit.  Back soon....

Susan