Accessories

Good quality great features
I have earned different tempt products for cooking. This by far is one of the best thought out designs yet. It's construction is solid and of good materials. The functions are intuitive and programmable. It is easy to program without the need to breakout the instruction manual. The transmitter marries easily to the receiver. There are plenty of mode to select how well you want something cooked, but they are easily adjustable to your taste. The talking feature I first thought was gimmick, especially when it gets close to the program temp. it begins to say "almost done." I am finding out how convinient those notices are so I would scramble to fetch what I need to remove the food before it burns. The range is excellent, I haven't lost connection so far. The temp probe cable length is generous, so you can easily place the transmitter on a surface in most kitchen designs.

Great!
I purchased this unit this summer (08) to use with my new Holland grill. The unit works great. I have not had a bad meal with it yet. Have used it about 20 times on Turkey, Chicken, Fish, and Steak. Read other reviews before I purchased it, and was a little concerned about some of them that said they could not get the units to "talk to each other". I have not had any problems. One improvement to recommend though. The timer function should have a quick reset button so you dont have to push multiple buttons to get back to zero. Otherwise, I am completely happy.

It works but it could be much better
I've owned this unit for almost a year and I use it almost every weekend with my smoker(s). It is a nice concept and I like the looks but unfortunately the devil is in the details and there are a number for frustrating details with this thermometer.

First problem has been mentioned by other reviewers--the connection wedges on occasion and you have to reset one or usually both units to get them to talk to each other again. On a long smoke this can happen once, sometimes twice. For 4 hour sessions it often works without a problem. I have 3 OS wireless weather thermometers that have been functioning solidly for 10 years or more so I know is possible for them to design something that is more reliable. Don't think they are interfering with the BBQ unit but they never malfunction.

The most frustrating problem is the interface. It is really unintuitive and difficult to operate. In the default mode you select the meat type and the "doneness." In this mode you can toggle between meats fairly easily but I can never get it to change the done level. Fortunately there is a 2nd mode where you can change modes to a direct temp target and that is pretty straightforward and works well for smoking. As usual with OS products the instruction manual is pretty much useless and its printed in tiny type.

Finally I should mention the talking. Very annoying...especially if something is finishing in the middle of the night and it starts announcing, "almost done" while you're trying to sleep. This starts about 5 degrees before done and just repeats over and over. I can usually get it to shut up but don't really have the time to sit down and figure out how to turn it off for good. They seem to think (from the product description) this is great for getting your attention during a party but that's not my usage pattern and it doesn't really fit a fairly quiet household.

So I have quite a few Oregon Scientific products and I have to say this one does not meet my expectations. I like the exterior design but the interface is awful and the reliability is below par.

good product, but you MUST like elctronic gadgets to use one
This was a gift for my husband and he loves it. He is willing to read the instructional manual and he really likes electronics and technology type toys. I thought about ordering one for my dad, but he doesn't even use a cell phone or set the blinking clock on the VCR - not the type of gift he would use - so good to know the person your shopping for. My husband looks forward to an advanced model with a personal voice recognition program so he can program the talking responses (if they ever go that far!)...Go Flip your Chicken!

Highly Recommend The AW131 BBQ/Oven Thermometer
This is a great choice if you want a serious cooking thermometer. As soon as I received it I tested it against a digital instant-read thermometer in a glass filled with ice cubes and water and then in a pan of boiling water. In both tests it was right on the mark with the instant-read thermometer.

Later in an actual cooking test with a pork roast in the oven it came out with exactly the same reading as the instant-read. Finally, cooking some pork shoulders in an outdoor barbecue pit, it once again was right on the mark with the instant-read.

For me, two additional features that are important are, 1) it warns you when the meat temperature is 5 degrees away from the target temp allowing you to remove the meat at that time and allow the carry over cooking to reach the final temp thereby keeping the meat from over cooking; and 2) you can manually set a target temperature of your own choosing, such as 190F, if you want really tender pork shoulders/butts for pulled pork.

I highly recommend the Oregon Scientific AW131 BBQ/Oven Thermometer. It is accurate and has operated flawlessly for me. Be sure to read the instructions and don't forget those parts of the instructions about resetting both units.