Sit back and relax while I tell you the tale of the two thermometers.  I tried a new recipe and a new thermometer at the same time.   See how this is already shaping up?

The cheap Acu-rite thermometer from Walmart works great, but my eyes don’t.  Since it wasn’t as detailed as I’d like, I bought a Taylor brand.  I was having trouble reading the glass thermometer and I liked that the new one had a well spaced candy making gauge.

So we began making some caramel. At first, it wasn’t far off.  About 2 degrees.  Around 100°F (38°C,) Taylor started to show a 7 degree discrepancy.  The metal thermometer started to slow down and seemed to get stuck at this temperature for the longest time. 

I was so busy watching the thermometers that I burnt my candy sauce!  I didn’t realize it until the rancid smell wafted up to my nose. 

Since it was already scorched, I decided to try the water drop method to see which thermometer was correct.  At softball on the Acu-rite and not even showing boiling on the Taylor (notice the boiling of the syrup,) I dropped a bit into cold water.  It formed a little ball that fell apart when you moved it around.  Looks like the cheap thermometer is winning.

I didn’t get any further pictures of inaccuracy as the candy syrup began to smoke and I needed to stop immediately before it became dangerous.  But I have a picture of the candy hardened.  Doesn’t it look tasty?  I hate wasting food!  It’s very upsetting.  

I did some research and read it could be the immersion line wasn’t deep enough.  So while I was boiling away the hard, burnt candy, I stuck in the thermometer.  As the water just started boiling, the temperature stuck at 180F.  I added more water to be sure.  At a rapid boil for 10 minutes, it still never reached above 200F.   

I  may have a lemon but I’m not willing to find out with another one at this large of a temperature discrepancy.  I decided to finish cleaning off the thermometer, let it cool and carefully placed it back in the packaging.  Glad I kept that receipt!  I’m going back to my $3 thermometer.  Maybe I’ll buy a backup…  

And this is also why I was searching for a new thermometer in case you were wondering.  It was inevitable that I would drop this poor fellow.  Sorry about that, Thermador. We made some great peanut butter fudge together and you will be fondly my friend. Yes, I name a lot of things in my kitchen and talk to inanimate objects. You will live on in this tale of the two thermometers.