On 29 Mar 2007 12:06:13 -0700, "Dee Dee" > wrote:

>As to heating the oven with 'your' thermometer, I've been wondering --
>how does one know whether one's therm reading is any better than the
>oven's reading. And supposing the readings match? Does this mean they
>are both right, or both wrong.

Well, you can trust the manufacturer's specification -- for a digital, this is
probably some percentage of the reading (frequently 0.5%) plus another factor of
plus or minus a number applied to the low-order digit (for A/d conversion
error). Too complex to play with for most of us. Generally, you get what you pay
for in terms of accuracy and repeatability.

But IMO, so long as the temp. you want to measure is expected to be within the
range of your thermometer, you can just calibrate it with a bowl of ice water
and a pot of boiling water, and extrapolate the error from what you see at
boiling.

But for things like pizza, all you want is as much heat as you can get, right?
What difference does even 50 degrees make at the high end? You're not likely to
get over 900 deg F in the home, so why worry about it?

>I like Larry's solution, however, my country home is open to critters
>building nests in any hole than come in contact with.

Dunno what solution you mean, Dee -- the outdoor grill?

-- Larry