Infrared Thermometers at Harbor Freight

[beermikester]

I happened by Harbor Frieight today in Crestwood. They have a three day sale right now that includes an infrared thermometer. I forget what the original price was, but I think it was in the $70 range. But they have them as part of their sale for $19.99.

I haven't verified how accurate they are yet. But I am making a yeast starter right now, and so far, every time I've used it on that, the temperatures are right where I would expect them to be. I'm thinking that if this is a fairly accurate thermometer, I should be able to use it to get instant readings on my hot water and mash temperatures.

[beermikester]

Nevermind.

I used mine today during a brew session. It worked great at measuring the hot liquor and boiling kettle temps (just to see how close I was getting to the boiling point). But it didn't work out so well in measuring the mash temp, which was the main reason I was interested in it. It only measures the surface temperature of the mash, which can be quite a bit less than the internal temperature.