Thermocouple Suggestions?

[McCann]

This is my first post to the home-roasting section of HB. I'm just starting out at home roasting with an iRoast2 and 5 lbs of green beans. I have done a fair bit of reading about home roasting and I'm convinced that I need to carefully monitor the roasting temp with a good temperature probe. Any suggestions on what type of thermocouple/probe I should be using? One designed to measure air temp or liquid temps? For example, here is a link to http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/category.htm?category=PRTP(FlukeProducts) some of Fluke's temperature probes. Any advice or links would be much appreciated.

[cannonfodder]

For what you are doing, a plain old type K thermocouple would work. I have not used the iRoast so I am not sure how you will get it into the bean mass for temperature. You do not need 0.1 accuracy so don't spend a lot on something that will be overkill. For most of my applications, I use a Fluke54II datalogger and type K thermocouples in either bead or shielded probe form. Give eBay a look; you can usually pick up thermocouples on the cheap. If you have TIG welder you could even get the wire and weld your own together.

[Brownie]

Hi McCann,

i put in a thermocouple in my IR2, like Randy Glass - see link. I just made a hole through the top of the IR2.

It works great. The goods thing using it this way is that you are measuring the same place each time.

Have fun...

[seacliff dweller]

This is my first post to the home-roasting section of HB. I'm just starting out at home roasting with an iRoast2 and 5 lbs of green beans. I have done a fair bit of reading about home roasting and I'm convinced that I need to carefully monitor the roasting temp with a good temperature probe. Any suggestions on what type of thermocouple/probe I should be using? One designed to measure air temp or liquid temps? For example, here is a link to http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/category.htm?category=PRTP(FlukeProducts) some of Fluke's temperature probes. Any advice or links would be much appreciated.

recently finished building my own roaster and did some research on thermocouple - posted here at h-b. it seems that the thinner the better for faster response. for practical reasons, the 1/8" s.s. hollow tube works best for the price. you need to have something that can have a range of from ambient to at least 500 degrees f. the second tricky part is the placement of the probe. my homebuilt is a TO/stirrer configuration that can have the probe immersed in the bean, but that will be different with an air roaster.