Alright, here is one to get TMB all worked up. The Mad Blogger should have learned his lesson a few months back when trying to cook a tri-tip on the ole BBQ out back, but he didn’t, so history repeated itself on December 25, 2011. The Good Cook Classic Meat Thermometer NSF Approved
, pictured to the right, has to be one of the worst designed products of all time. Take a look at that photo. That photo is taken at room temperature.
So you start cooking your bird, and you follow the directions, a 20-24 lb bird will likely take between 4.5 and 5 hours, at least according to the packaging on our turkey. At about 3.5 hours TMB decides that it is time to check the temperature on the bird, the instructions say the internal temperature of the turkey should be at least 165 degrees to ensure it is fully cooked. Grab your trusty meat thermometer, and stick is in the bird, watch the needle spin. Wait, which needle are we wathing for?
Exactly. There is a red needle, and a black needle, but how are you supposed to know which needle is for the temperature, and which is for the “doneness”. There are no instructions, there is nothing written on the display to give you a hint.
The only way to read this is (based on my testing, against another thermometer) the BLACK needle measures the temperature, so you need to stick it in the bird you are measuring and wait for it to spin around the dial. Wherever the black needle stops is the current (or close to) temperature. The Mad Blogger googled some results, but found posts stating both the Black and the Red needle are used for the temperature, so obviously there is a ton of confusion out there.
The "GoodCook" website doesn't even show you a details page for this thermometer anymore, you have to go and find it in a Cached version from google, I can only imagine this is because they don't have any faith in it.
This product has to have the worst User Experience and ease of use of any product I have ever purchased.
DO NOT BUY