I'm looking for a fast digital hobby thermometer

I’d say get one of each:  A pistol type infrared thermometer and a probe-type thermometer.  The former to measure surface temperatures and the latter to measure temperatures inside things you can poke.

Unless you need super accuracy (temperature or spot size), an inexpensive IR pistol will probably do the job.  I bought one on Amazon for about $15 that was well rated and it’s been great.  It even has a laser pointer that drives the dog insane.

I went through a bunch of cheap probe thermometers and they all failed.  What I settled on and just love is the ThermoWorks DOT. Well built and the company stands behind the products.  Not quite as fast as the famous Thermapen, but less than half the price.  And I prefer the flexibility of having a cable rather than sticking the whole thermometer into the oven in my hand.

Here’s a source for digital thermometers (20 possibilities on this page)  and BTW, a source for all things DRONEical.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/RC_PRODUCT_SEARCH.asp?strSearch=thermometer

I agree with blackketter who says you’ll need two different types to cover all you mention, but I will give one strong recommendation for the Thermapen for your probe thermometer.

Spending close to $100 for a thermometer was a mental hurdle for me, but for checking the temperature of food, the Thermapen is amazing. The speed of the readings it provides is magical…you can easily find the coolest part of that chicken you have on the grill because the reading changes instantly as you move the tip. The skinny, sharp probe means you can check multiple times without destroying your meal, and you can check things like a baking loaf of bread. I’ve had my Thermapen for years now with no problems, but if it failed I would rebuy immediately.

Hi. You’re talking about different applications and unfortunately there isn’t a single type of thermometer that will work well for all your applications. I’m going to split them into hobby (surface temp) and food (inside temp):

Hobby – Inside of your car, laptop battery – Either a pistol grip or a multimeter probe type will work for these. I personally have both since they are pretty cheap these days. BUT and this is the big one, pistol grip type infrared thermometers have an issue with reflective surfaces, anything reflective will result in a combined/averaged temperature of the object and any infrared light hitting it and bouncing at you as well (This is simplified but is close enough). That means that it would not work well at all on a solar panel, mirrors, glass, shiny surfaces especially white, etc. Also pistol grip types are a little less accurate and background temperatures can corrupt the reading if you are measuring something small.

For food, just get a probe type as recommended above, I’ve tried a couple and haven’t really seen any difference; it’s the same circuit as the multimeter type but encased in a steel probe. You can even buy the steel probe type thermocouples that plug into your multimeter as well if you somehow need to know your foods internal temp down to the decimal point

Finally there is a new player in the game, FLIR’s are finally coming to smartphones, this is a camera that sees infrared light like a pistol grip type, but it sees it over a wide area and determines temperature that way. I’ve tried one and they are incredible and on my to-get list. www.thermal.com/

 

Thanks all! Super useful guidance. I got a Cen-Tech infrared thermometer at Harbor Frieght as it was on sale and about $10 less than Amazon’s price and had good reviews. I’ll keep looking into all of your probe-type thermometer suggestions. I’ll report back with my results!

Here’s Cool Tools’ review of the Thermapen.

You can get inexpensive digital multimeters (volt, ohm, amp meters) that have a thermocouple input. It’s very fast if the thermocouple is already in the environment—you just turn the meter on, and it gives you a temperature. I bought a glass-insulated thermocouple from Grainger that works to 900 degrees F, although cheaper meters might not read that high. The meter usually comes with a plastic-insulated thermocouple good to moderate temperatures. Some can be calibrated using boiling water and ice water (100C to 0C, or 212F to 32F), but some can’t. The advantage is speed. I’ve been using mine to measure the temperature of my HVAC registers. I leave the thermocouple in the air flow, then just flip the switch on. It’s basically instant reading.

You can get inexpensive digital multimeters (volt, ohm, amp meters) that have a thermocouple input. It’s very fast if the thermocouple is already in the environment—you just turn the meter on, and it gives you a temperature. I bought a glass-insulated thermocouple from Grainger that works to 900 degrees F, although cheaper meters might not read that high. The meter usually comes with a plastic-insulated thermocouple good to moderate temperatures. Some can be calibrated using boiling water and ice water (100C to 0C, or 212F to 32F), but some can’t. The advantage is speed. I’ve been using mine to measure the temperature of my HVAC registers. I leave the thermocouple in the air flow, then just flip the switch on. It’s basically instant reading.