Templestick

[Brianstick]

I bought a 400 degree templestick about a month ago. Templesticks are new to me, I never used one before, but I did know about them. Anyways I was cooking a pizza and thought it would be a good time to test it out. So when the pizza was done I pulled it out and quickly touched the stick to the pan. I was surprised to see no mark made, knowing the oven was set at 425 degrees. Does this mean the pan was not at even 400 degrees? The pizza was in there almost 20 minutes, will someone please explain, thanks.:confused:

[DesertRider33]

The pan may have cooled too much while taking it out of the oven. How was the pizza ?

[daddy]

It means the pan was over 400 degrees.

Try marking something that is cold and then heat it up to 400. The mark will disappear when it hits the temp.

[Tensaiteki]

There are several possibilities for it not making a mark.

First is the possibility that the pizza pan you were using is is a non-stick pan and has a coating of Teflon. The same property of Teflon that keeps the food from sticking could also be the reason the wax from the stick did not adhere enough to the pan to come off the stick and make a mark.

Second is the possibility that just because the oven was set to 425 degrees for some time, the pan did not exceed 400 degrees. The temperature setting on an oven sets the average temperature of the atmosphere inside the oven, not every sing item in the oven. For example, I can guarantee that the pizza was not even close to 400 degrees, in fact it probably didn't get much over 212 degrees if that high. Since the pizza pan has relatively low thermal mass (probably just thin sheet metal) and is in intimate contact with the pizza, it's temperature will not be far from the pizza's at any given time.

Basic physics states that at regular atmospheric pressures (such as those found in the average home oven) water cannot exist as a liquid at more than 212 degrees F (it's boiling point). Since water is a big part of just about every component of the pizza, the pizza as a whole would not be able to get above 212 degrees until essentially all of the water had boiled off, leaving the pizza burned and dry.

Further the proper use for a tempilstick is to apply a mark before heating so that when the mark melts you know when that temperature is reached. They are not only meant to tell you that a certain temperature has been reached but when it happened. Applying the stick after you suspect the temperature has been exceeded is like a doctor only checking for a pulse after he suspects the patient is already dead.

[weldrwomn]

I just have one thing to add - when you make a mark with your temp stick on something over 400 degrees, it will leave a liquidy smear. So if the pizza pan was at or over 400 degrees, your temp stick would have melted when it touched the pan leaving a smear and indicating that the surface was at or over 400 degrees.

The best way I have found to use temp sticks is to have a variety in 25 degree increments so that I can narrow down what the actual temp is within 25 degrees.

[enlpck]

Further the proper use for a tempilstick is to apply a mark before heating so that when the mark melts you know when that temperature is reached. They are not only meant to tell you that a certain temperature has been reached but when it happened. Applying the stick after you suspect the temperature has been exceeded is like a doctor only checking for a pulse after he suspects the patient is already dead.

Only works with the lower temp sticks. Above 500F, the only reliable reading is to touch the stick to the heated part. Many materials won't take a mark cold and reliably melt at temp (scaled cast iron, for example), and other times, you evaporate a cold mark while preheating long before reaching temperature. Best method is to check frequently while heating.

I go through a lot of 500F sticks (and 300F sticks) on heavy parts. Check with the 500 after every bead, and check with the 300 when moving to a new area or after a delay. NBIC procedure #1, been in the book roughly 50 years.

[DesertRider33]

All this talk about pizza is making me hungry!

[Brianstick]

It means the pan was over 400 degrees.

Try marking something that is cold and then heat it up to 400. The mark will disappear when it hits the temp.

I already tried that. The crayon won't make a mark on anything because it is rock hard.

[Nitesky]

LOL - Someone at work put something like a 800F stick in a 250F tube and I wound up with it. Was expanding a 5' dia cast iron gear to fit on a shaft and MAN, was it hot. The stick didn't melt. Finally my companion took a 250F from his toolbox and it burst into flame on contact. The forman had a fit! :cry: