Thermometer Calibration-Need Help

[Chick-a-de]

I calibrated all of my thermometers and all are pretty accurate, but I keep getting readings that are way off. My digital thermometer will say 101 and my meat (also digital) will say 108. How can 2 calibrated thermometers be so different? It's driving me crazy. Please help.
Thanks.



































 

[Chick-a-de]

I don't think that a meat thermometer is designed to be accurate down to one degree. Those little Chinese digitals are not too swift either. I would use a medical thermometer because they have a narrow range that brackets the exact temperature we are interested in and they're designed to be good down to one degree, You can further calibrate on yourself.















Thanks, I have a metal one that was spot on in ice water. Hopefully that will be good enough.

 

[Chick-a-de]

Thank you, I will test the other one in boiling water. I tested the meat thermometer in both and it was good. Just seems like they all have a mind of their own, lol.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you have a forced air (fan) or still air or thermal (no fan) incubator? Warm air rises. With a fan the air is supposed to be blown around enough so you get the same reading no matter where you are in the incubator but if you have a still air the height where you put the thermometer is very important. In a forced air the recommended temperature is 99.5 F anywhere but in a still air the recommended temperature is 101.5 F at the top of the eggs. With a still air you get a temperature and a location.

I also use an old medical thermometer to calibrate my thermometers. It was calibrated when I bought it and it is in the temperature range of incubation, not at the extremes. I just trust it more.

 

[Kiki]

Please remember that incubators are not the exact temperature in every spot and there are quite a few incubators that have hot spots.
Depending on which incubator you have and where your heating element is, you might get a higher reading in one corner of the incubator compared to the other, which is why it is good to have multiple calibrated thermometers in your incubator at one time.

 

[Iluveggers]

I have tried to calibrate 5 different thermometers, including a Govee. I put the ice in water and let it sit for 30 minutes, then put the thermometers in ziploc bags, and put them in for about 15 minutes. None of them would register below 35. They are all within a degree of each other. Any better way to figure it out? My meat thermometer showed 32.2 in the water. Maybe the bag isn’t allowing the temp to regulate correctly but I can’t put them in without it.