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By: Bill McGrath
The Oregon Scientific AW131 Talking Thermometer is an attractive single probe remote thermometer that performs as advertised. It has a transmitter that attaches to the probe, but there is no display on it to read temperature at the cooker. The display unit comes with a stand to allow vertical reading. The display language can be set to English, Danish, French, Spanish or German. The detailed instructions are in all these languages except Danish and German.
You can select a meat/doneness combination that follows USDA guidelines or you can select your own target temperature. As the probe temp approaches the setting, you will hear a mellifluous voice announcing that your food is nearly done, and another announcement when the set temperature is reached that the food is done. It will light up and beep, too. If communication with the transmitter is lost, it will show dashes for the probe temperature and beep. Range is claimed to be 330′ (100m).
There is a single timer that will function as either a count-up or count-down timer, depending on whether you set a time. If a time is set, it will count down to zero and beep. If no time is set, it will count up to 23:59:59.
Temperature accuracy was good. Response times are difficult to determine accurately because the transmitter updates the receiver only every 13 seconds, but that is not a problem for this type of unit. The transmitter and receiver will self-power-off if no buttons are pushed for 8 hours to save battery life.
The unit and the probe appear to be well made and are attractively designed. The manufacturer’s contact info is found in the instruction manual, including website, name, address and telephone number. There is no explicitly stated warranty.
We give the AW131 a Silver medal for attractive design, good performance and moderate price.
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Published On: 1/13/2015 Last Modified: 1/28/2021
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When you make rubs at home we recommend you add salt first then the herbs and spices because salt penetrates deep and the other stuff remains on the surface. So thick cuts need more salt. We put salt in these bottled rubs because all commercial rubs have salt and consumers expect it. You can still use these as a dry brine, just sprinkle the rub on well in advance to give the salt time to penetrate. For very thick cuts of meat, we recommend adding a bit more salt. Salt appears first in the ingredients list because the law says the order is by weight, not volume, and salt is a heavy rock.
Sprinkle on one tablespoon per pound of meat two hours or more before cooking if you can. Called “dry brining,” the salt gets wet, ionizes, becomes a brine, and slowly penetrates deep, enhancing flavor and juiciness while building a nice crusty “bark” on the surface. Sprinkle some on at the table too!
Are they hot? No! You can always add hot pepper flakes or Chipotle powder (my fave) in advance or at the table. But we left them mild so you can serve them to kids and Aunt Matilda
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