Monitoring your Freezer from Afar – and Other Improved Products

Jun 20, 2023 by Chef David

By Chef David

What do you worry about when you leave for vacation? I worry about the food I have stored at home, and what will happen if the house loses power. This is most concerning when I have a packed freezer and a full refrigerator. The loss can be devastating, and a mess to clean up. Fortunately, if the refrigerator and freezer doors remain closed, food can remain safe for two to three days at a safe temperature – which is 0° F for a freezer and 40° F for a refrigerator. But, how can you monitor the temperature when you are away from home? We tested a thermometer made by Thermoworks which monitors the temperature and alerts your phone. Monitoring the temperature remotely gives you time to act.

A Trick

A packed freezer stays cold longer. If your freezer is not packed with food, fill it with bottles or bags of ice. And since heat rises and cold air sinks, try storing more perishable items at the bottom of the freezer. In the event of a power failure your food should stay colder longer.

NODE Lets you Know

The NODE TX-5404-YL is a thermometer that monitors and provides temperature readings directly to your phone. After installing the ThermoWorks application on your phone, NODE keeps you connected and informed. It sends alerts if the temperature goes outside your target range or if the battery is low.

NODE allows you to set your own parameters for the monitors, and change your high/low alarms remotely. You can schedule notifications and configure your account right from the app, including customizing the names of each NODE and channel. Information can be presented as graphs or numbers.

Setting up the ThermoWorks application was a bit trickier, but once we installed the app, it worked like a charm. Physical installation was easy. NODE can either be mounted to the wall with powerful magnets or screwed in place. The NODE is even waterproof.

NODE operates using either batteries or plugged directly into an electric socket. Initially, we tried running the NODE in the freezer and discovered that the batteries did hold up under extreme temperatures. Overall, it works wonderfully, we have it attached to the freezer door and also use it to measure room temperature.

The NODE is a versatile device that works with ThermoWorks’ full range of probes, it can be used for smoking meats or monitoring other temperature-sensitive appliances even aquariums or hot tubs.

ThermoWorks

ThermoWorks believes temperature affects your daily life, and make thermometers that can make life better. ThermoWorks, located in Salt Lake City, Utah has decades of experience in the temperature measurement and instrumentation industries.

They focus on continually improving their products. Their aim is to elevate the user experience from great to extraordinary. Our May 2021 article on meat thermometers featured ThermoWorks’ ThermoPop. As the name suggests, this thermometer resembles a lollypop that provides an instant read and a clip to attach to the thermometer to your pocket. ThermoPop is light and versatile, with a backlit display that rotates in four directions with the press of a button. We enjoyed using it, finding it compact, without skimping on the probe or screen, and it is waterproof.

We recently tried one of Thermowork’s newer offerings the Thermapen One which really won us over.

Thermapen One

Thermapen One provides improved functionality, and accuracy, making it a delight to use. Like the ThermoPop it is waterproof, rotates, and is easy to read. Thermapen offers speed, with a truly instant read-out in under one second and with improved accuracy ± 0.5°Fareinheit. The automatic backlight is brighter, and the light sensor is more sensitive to changes in ambient lighting conditions.

This thermometer is smart. It has a motion-sensing sleep and wake mode, which lets it turn itself off and on. The sleep mode saves battery life, allowing a single AAA battery to provide approximately 2,000 hours of power. The display automatically rotates 360° by taking advantage of accelerometer technology to intuitively turn right-side up.

This ‘instant-read’ thermometer is our new favorite and has become an indispensable kitchen staple.

The foldaway design protects the probe. In addition to being waterproof, the Thermapen is shockproof, and dustproof and uses Biomaster Antimicrobial Silver Ion technology to reduce microbial growth.

ThermoWorks products can be ordered online.

Another Advance 

Our January 2022 article discussed Kitchen Scales and introduced the two products from Ozeri. The Pro II scale boasts a built-in kitchen timer, alarm, and a removable weighing platform. The Zenith Digital Kitchen Scale is advertised as the thinnest scale. It is stylishly made of stainless steel with a fingerprint-resistant coating and a blue backlit LCD screen.

Ozeri expanded its collection with Touch III 22 pounds Baker’s Kitchen Scale with Calorie Counter. Their new product features a built-in calorie counter for common products, eggs, butter, oil, flour, sugar, and milk. This scale was designed to handle additional weight, making it ideal for bakers, who want to count calories and for dietitians. These features increase the functionality and weighing capacity of Ozeri’s ever-increasing line of scales.

The Touch III, like all Ozeri scales is sleek, and compact, with standard functionality, including a Tare button, that zeros the scale allowing you to accurately count the calories of each ingredient you add. It automatically turns off after two minutes of inactivity.

Ozeri can be purchased at local retailers.

Focus on Food

Kitchen appliances are getting faster and more precise, with subtle modifications that take out the guesswork. The Thermapen One shows the temperature in one second, NODE reports temperatures to your phone anywhere in the world, and Ozeri’s scale offers expanded functionality that meets their customer’s needs.

Ozeri and Thermoworks infuse the latest technology with a sleek design. Their solutions let cooks focus on what matters – creating memorable recipes.