I'll look up Napa Valley on street view later. More than any other country, I'm totally fascinated by looking at American states, cities and streets.
Yes indeed, we're paid up members of the Thermapen crew!
Yes it's a nice colour isn't it. It's not as vibrant or fun as the red, yellow or orange but I'm really pleased with it. I'm thinking of maybe buying the magnetic silicone sleeve for it for extra protection and sticking to my fridge.
Here's an interesting thing. It's a bit science technical.
Have you tested boiling water yet? I noticed with both my Thermapen and slow thermometer, my water is already boiling at about 98 to 99c. The Thermapen gets to 99c quickly. It does eventually reach 100c but it takes longer.
Thermapen does mention this in their details, saying that water only boils at 100c dependent on atmospheric pressure and elevation. And also the water must be pure/de-mineralized.
Thermoworks provides a pretty cool feature where if you put your zipcode in, it shows the atmospheric pressure and elevation for your area. You put those two numbers into a box on the page and it calculates the water boiling point for where you live. Here's the page if you'd like to try it.
https://www.thermoworks.com/bpcalc
It doesn't work for me as it's only for the US, so I'm going to call ETI to see if they have a page like that for the UK.
My auto backlit illumination works well but when it goes off and I touch the light sensor to turn it back on, it doesn't always work. The manual says it can't be done in well lit areas, but mine seems temperamental even in the lowest light. I don't know if it's a fault or not but I'll ask them tomorrow.
Interesting when I first got my Thermopen I immediately tested it with boiling water. Since I’m near sea level (elevation 150 ft) water boils at 212°F. I have an electric kettle so I boiled water in it as it boils water relatively fast. I dipped the Thermopen in end it registered 212°F. Which surprised me because my Thermalpop Usually registers 211°F in boiling water.
When I looked at the website you linked and put in the elevation and current barometer pressure, It indicated 211°F. When I boil water in a small all-clad saucepan and did the reading with my Thermopen, it shot up to 215°F. But I think the all-clad is generating additional heat.
I noticed the back lighting came on when I first open the pen. But when I set the Thermo pen down on the counter with the sensor facing up toward the ceiling light the back lighting went off. So I picked it up and walked into the living room where the room light was off, and the backlighting immediately went on in the darkened room. Then when I stepped back into the kitchen the back lighting went off. So I put my thumb over the sensor and the back lighting immediately came on So my back lighting sensor seems to be working correctly.
I know, cannot believe the speed of this thing!
By the way don’t forget to wash and sanitized/sterilize the probe after each use. If just baking or cooking vegetables I sanitize after washing by dipping the probe boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 min. But if it’s been anywhere near any kind of meat or raw egg it gets washed and sterilized with an alcohol wipe, then dipped in boiling water.
I kind of like the idea of the sleeve to not so much to attach to anything since I keep It in a drawer next to my stove, but to keep the probe enclosed and clean.
The Napa Valley is the most famous wine region in the United States. Even though wine has been made in this region for about over 150 yrs, No one took American wines seriously until about 40 yrs ago.
Then in 1976, a British wine merchant by the name of Steven Spurrier organized a blind wine tasting of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from French and California wineries. Officially it was the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, but had become known as the Judgment of Paris.
Of the 10 judges, 8 were French, 1 was American, and Spurrier of course was British. The American and Spurrier‘s ballots were not counted. So only the French ballots are counted.
The California wines won in both categories. The French were so angry one of the judges demanded her ballot back. The French wine industry as a whole ban Spurrier from all French wine events for over a year. The French media collectively refused to report on the tasting. In fact all of the media outlets that were invited to the tasting thought the whole thing was ridiculous, so only one news organization showed up: Time magazine.
When news broke that California best French in blind tasting by French judges on less, the French then asserted the California wines were poor quality and investments as they would not age well. So over the years Spurrier and other wine experts organized wine tastings of the same wines. Even 30 years later those same California wines were still beating the same French in wine tastings.
So the Napa Valley is now the premier wine region in the US. The valley floor is covered in vineyards, end to end. It’s great the valley is successful, but a mono-product economy and monoculture is never good in the long run. And wine is a luxury product. An extraordinary amount of farm land and natural resources are depleted in creating a product that doesn’t sustain life. So there’s that side of the wine industry.
