A meat thermometer is a great way to ensure that the protein you are cooking will reach your desired temperature every time without fail.
There are a couple of ways to calibrate your digital meat thermometer. You can use boiling water or an ice bath as temperature control to test your thermometer.
Once you have an ice or boiling water bath to test your thermometer, you can adjust the calibration using the settings in this guide.
How Do I Calibrate my Alpha Griller Thermometer?
A meat thermometer that isn’t accurate isn’t a very useful tool. You need your meat thermometer to be accurate to give the best results.
To calibrate your Alpha Griller Thermometer, you need to hold down the calibrate button and then adjust the temperature up or down using the light and hold buttons.
You need to ensure that you have something accurate to measure before adjusting the thermometer, though. Such as boiling water or an ice bath.
If your thermometer says “Lo,” you must do some things before calibrating.
Calibrating an Alpha Griller Thermometer
First things first, you need a controlled temperature to measure against. To calibrate your Alpha Griller Thermometer, you need either an ice bath or boiling water.
The ice bath or boiling water is a set temperature that you can measure the temperature of to ensure that your Alpha Griller Thermometer is accurate.
Calibrating Using the Boiling Water Method
The boiling water method is the most accurate way to calibrate your thermometer at home. Here’s how it’s done:
- Add water to a pot on high heat
- Wait for the water to boil
- Insert Alpha Griller Thermometer probe into water
- The Thermometer should read 212° Fahrenheit or 100° Celsius
All you need to do for the boiling method is put a pot of water on to boil. Once the water is boiling, it should be at a steady 212° Fahrenheit or 100° Celsius.
Once you have that steady, controlled temperature to measure against, place the tip of the Alpha Griller Thermeter probe into the water and hold it there for a few seconds.
If you are using a gas stove, you want to ensure the top of the Alpha Griller’s Thermometer probe isn’t anywhere near the flame, or the results won’t be accurate.
It is also important to ensure that your probe isn’t touching the bottom of the pan directly but is suspended in the liquid of which you are measuring the temperature.
How to Know Calibration Worked
If your Alpha Griller Thermometer is calibrated correctly, it should read 212° Fahrenheit or 100° Celsius.
If it does not read those temperatures, you need to adjust them using the calibration instructions below.
Calibrating Using the Ice Bath Method
The ice bath is an additional method to the boiling water method. Here’s how it’s done:
- Fill a container with ice
- Add enough water to cover the ice
- Stir the ice water mixture for about two minutes to normalize the temperature
- Insert Alpha Griller Thermometer probe into the ice bath
- The thermometer should read 32° Fahrenheit or 0° Celsius.
Fill a container, like a cup, with ice. Add just enough water to take up the remaining space. We want more ice than water in the container.
Stir the ice and let it sit for about a minute or two for the ice bath to normalize and bring the temperature down to 32° Fahrenheit or 0° Celsius
Then, insert the Alpha Griller Thermometer’s probe end into the ice bath. You want to be certain that the probe end of your Alpha Griller Thermometer is not touching the sides of the container.
If your Alpha Griller Thermometer is calibrated correctly, it will say the ice bath is 32° Fahrenheit or 0° Celsius. If it doesn’t, then you’ll need to adjust it using the calibration instructions below.
Adjusting the Calibration Settings of your Alpha Griller Thermometer
The thermometer only has three buttons, all of which have a separate function for calibration, making calibration quick and easy.
How to Calibrate your Alpha Griller Thermometer
Calibrating your Alpha Griller Thermometer semi-frequently ensures it will be in working order when needed.
- Hold down the button at the top labeled °C/°F and CAL (this is the calibration button)
- Once the thermometer is in calibration mode, you can use the other two buttons to adjust the digital temperature up or down.
- Use the HOLD/MAX/MIN to adjust the temperature reading to match the temperature of your chosen temperature control method.
- Use the LIGHTBULB button to adjust the temperature reading to match the temperature of your chosen temperature control method.
- Press the °C/°F and CAL buttons to save the settings
Once you have saved the new calibration settings to your Alpha Griller Thermometer, you should test it again to ensure the settings are saved and working correctly.
If the thermometer isn’t reading the correct temperatures, try going through the calibration process again to ensure the settings are saved.
Conclusion
Calibrating an Alpha Griller Thermometer is easy and done relatively quickly. The main thing you want to be sure of is the temperature of your test subject.
You won’t yield the best results if you don’t have a test subject with 100% certainty of its temperature. The best way is an ice or boiling water bath.
