Customer Reviews

Taylor 1479 Commercial Wireless Remote Digital Food Thermometer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

I am an Engineer at Taylor and would like to address the issues communicated in the 1 star reviews.
Large fluctuating or inaccurate temperature readings: We have found that in some cases the probes are not completely inserted into the meat being cooked. We recommend that if you get fluctuating readings or temperatures that do not seem correct push the probe in further so that it is submerged past the taper point on the probe. This should eliminate any fluctuations in readings and will insure that the sensor is well into the meat to give you a proper internal temperature.
Error reading instead of temperature reading: Although the design of the probe is meant to be rugged, these probes can be damaged in the following ways:
A) Submerging the probe in water while cleaning. Moisture can get inside the probe and damage the unit causing the error reading when the probe is plugged in. Make sure you DO NOT submerge the probe in the sink, use your sponge to clean the probe keeping the wire end out of the water, it can get splashed, just not submerged.
B) Pulling on the cord to remove the probe from the meat. The probe has a 90° angle shape to assist in proper removal using an oven mitt protected hand. We find that many users do not have a mitt or hot pot holder handy at the time they want to remove the probe, so they grab the cord and pull. This can and most likely will damage the probe and cause an error reading. Please handle your probe with care when removing it from food and when washing it.
C)Smashing the cord in the grill lid. The cord is rugged to withstand some smashing and high temperatures, however, it can be damaged by getting smashed by the lid of a grill. The damage is not likely to happen with an oven door, but the grill lid can damage the cord. There are usually holes in the sides of grill lids that have gaps when the lids are closed. Users should slowly close the grill lid with one hand while aligning the cord so that it sits in the side hole and does not get smashed.
D)Exposing the probe to temperatures above 500°F. The probe is meant to take internal readings of food and is not meant to take grill surface or internal grill air temperatures. If the probe is left exposed on the grill surface it can easily reach very high temperatures that will permanently damage the sensor.
All of the probes that we have gotten returned due to the error reading message were found to have been damaged due to one or more of the above findings. Please handle your thermometer with care and you should be able to get years of service from it. If you do damage your probe you can contact Taylor customer service and purchase a replacement.
Taking care to properly use, clean, and protect your instrument will give your product a long life and it, it turn, will give you great cooking results.

Just finished reading my copy of Cooks' Illustrated and I see they've listed this wireless as their new #1 thermometer, knocking off the previous title holder. I love this piece and am glad to see the experts think so too. It's compact and works well. I love the backlight and that the remote beeps, vibrates and flashes a light for the various pre-alerts I've set for cooking. I use it more indoors than for BBQ's, but it's clearly a great piece and by a company who knows thermometers. I have other Taylor items too.

I purchased this item at another retailer (wish I would have gotten it here!) and have used it twice already. The price was great! I had a corded one before that didn't have the remote, but wanted to try this. I used it on the grill to cook some chicken and had no problem with the cord at all. It was great because I didn't have to constantly run to the grill to check the temp -- I did once but then realized I didn't have to and waited for the beeps (and it was cold out). The chicken breast turned out well. I used it in the oven this weekend for a roast, and again, it was great. The meat was done really well and cooked just the way we like it. I like that I don't have to spend all my time in the kitchen checking and checking the temperature. I truly didn't worry about the roast until I got the beeps. Can't wait to try it again for the holidays

I have read the "help" offered by the Taylor engineer. I think he is just explaining away the fact that Taylor did not design this appropriately for the environment it is going to be regularly used in. I am an engineer by training and have used these types of temp measurement devices before many times - they are popular because they are accurate and reliable. If packaging is not designed correctly, anything will fail. (perfect example - computer manufacturers design keyboards to have a drink spilled on them; is this logical: no; does it keep the keyboard safe in its likely use environment: yes)
My problem is that the crimp that holds the wires into the probe did not hold well so the plastic protective sheath pulled out and, no, I did not pull the probe out by the cord. Now the little wires that actually combine to determine the temperature rub on the probe opening and cause an error (especially if even slightly moist). Bottom line: the cord should have been sheathed in braided metal like every other probe out there.
There may be good news: as I was writing the review sitting on hold with customer servcie, someone finally answered my call. They will send another probe out for free...in a month and a half because they are backorded. I'm sure the Taylor engineer will chalk the demand for replacement probes up to user error. Good luck to those who purchased.

Bought this item in Crate and Barrel. Very happy with the features. But, I used it 6 times and it's already broken! Figured it just needed batteries when it stopped working, but no, the display panel is defective. What a let down.

I purchased this Taylor wireless remote digital food thermometer for my husband. The first time we used it - the sheath around the wiring appeared to be defective, so I returned it. We thought it was just defective because the instruction do state it can be used on the grill. Amazon sent another one right out. We did not get around to using the second one until this past weekend...well the same thing happened to it. I would not recommend it for the grill. I will again return it, but because the return period has expired - looks like we have just lost our $$.

Even with "proper usage" as described by the Taylor engineer's review, and treating this unit with kid gloves, this unit is wildly inaccurate as described by previous reviewers. The UI is cumbersome and NOT user friendly. I can safely say that I got pretty frustrated when trying to set the unit for a "custom" temp when cooking the Thanksgiving Turkey. I am very tech savvy and having to go through more than 3 *different* key presses to even approach the setting needed is unacceptable. Not to brag, but if I have to get the manual out, it's too tricky.

Also, the glue holding the magnets in failed within a week of occasional usage. The wireless feature is hit or miss (mostly miss). I wasted $21 and wish I had replaced my Polder with another Polder. I bought this unit on the recommendation of Cook's Illustrated, and while their reviews are pretty good, I think they missed the train on this one.

(AS MANY OTHER REVIEWERS SAY DO NOT BUY A SILICONE COATED THERMOMETER CORD) As much as I want to like this product I've had 2 faulty ones. The first one had an error on the digital screen that basically made it useless. With the second one the cord (which is covered in a silicone coating) melted on my grill and exposed the wires. The second one also had an error on the digital screen too, but I'm assuming it's because the cord melted. Both of these were used for less than 3 times on the grill.

I read the Engineers review (in Amazon) and I'm guessing the first question would be "was the grill over 500 degrees?" From my grills internal thermometer no, but I'm not an expert. Also the grill was on low so I don't know what else I could do.

The digital reading is convenient (if it works) because you can select different meat settings (rare/med rare/etc...) but to me it's a poorly made product. I WOULD NOT recommend this product.

Also, Taylor has extremely poor customer support and no information in their book or online.

The title might seem harsh, but it is too true. Upon delivery of the Taylor 1479 from Amazon, the unit was inoperable out of the box.

Upon power-up, the display registered what seemed to be the ambient room temperature. I then placed the probe under my hot water tap and the display immediately registered 'LL'. I did not submerse the entire probe, but rather just ran the water over the last few inches of the probe to avoid getting water inside of the tube. After a minute or two, the display came back to ambient temperature, then back to 'LL' and repeated randomly.

I decided to test the Taylor 1479 against known boiling water. The Taylor 1479 displayed 139 degrees in a pot of 212 degree boiling water.

Allow me to state the obvious... An inaccurate meat thermometer is worse than no thermometer at all. Most people use a meat thermometer to aid in judging the 'doneness' of expensive meat, e.g. prime rib. Trusting the Taylor 1479 will guarantee ruined meat as well as ruined occasions.

To answer the Taylor engineer/apologist who provided the last 5 star rating... I am an Electrical Engineer with over 40 years experience in measurement devices. I grew up with a Simpson 260 VOM, and have used everything from an oscilloscope to a real-time Fourier analyzer to a bus monitor. I know how to use a probe thermistor, and the Taylor 1479 was faulty out of the box. Let me make this clear... THE TAYLOR 1479 WAS FAULTY. Maybe you should do something about it?

I know I'm living in a dreamworld, but how cool would it be if Taylor hired a group of people in the US to perform quality checks on their Chinese-made products? Maybe some kids trying to earn their way through engineering school, or some retired Navy metrology specialists trying to supplant Social Security? (Metrology being the science of measurement, not the science of weather.)

Oh, yeah... I had to go to Kohls on Christmas Eve to buy a mechanical bi-metal thermometer. Kinda sucks since any high school kid could build a science fair digital thermometer that interfaces with their iPhone for about 45 cents in parts. But I bought my mechanical bi-metal thermometer and went on my merry way. Upon getting home, the thermometer read 32 in an ice slurry and 212 in boiling water. Something the Taylor 1479 could never do.

This product seemed to work fine the first time I used it in a very slow low temperature (150F oven) of a beef roast for about four hours. The temperature slowly climbed and the pager worked fine. This product has a terrific concept; the pager is very handy if you're not planning to hang out by the oven the whole time.

So I thought it was a great product after that first use. But the next day I tried it on a 3 lb pork roast I was doing at 350F. Well the temperature quickly climbed and it claimed the center was at 160F after just 30 minutes. I figured that couldn't be possible, so I put my normal analog thermometer in and it was reading only about 105F. In the next half hour or so it climbed to 210F while the analog thermometer was reading only 130-140F.

I had the probe inserted deeply into the center of the roast, the same basic location I was putting the analog thermometer for comparison. I removed the probe completely and reinserted it but it still read the same high temperature.

I hadn't smashed the cord, pulled on the cord, gotten the probe wet, or anything like that. The unit had brand new Duracell batteries in it (I trashed the cheapies that came with the unit).

So unfortunately I'm going to be returning this product. I didn't get it from Amazon; I spotted it at a local big box store while shopping and decided to try it out.

As great as the product's concept is, if you can't rely on the temperature it is reading, it is basically worthless.