Lavatools Javelin Pro Review

All of our reviews are done independently by our team of testers and are in no way influenced by advertising or other monetary compensation from manufacturers. Click here to learn more about our unbiased product review process.

By: Bill McGrath, AmazingRibs.com Chief Thermometer Reviewer

The Lavatools Javelin Pro is a full-featured, hand-held, instant-read thermometer with very good accuracy and quick response times. It is available in a number of colors, useful in a commercial setting where cross-contamination of foods is a problem. The display will rotate, depending on the orientation of the device, making it left-hand friendly for you creative types. The plastic housing is impregnated with an anti-microbial agent for food safety.

Opening the probe, folding knife style, turns on the unit. There is a button on the back side of the display that controls the backlight, the max/min display, and the temp hold function. I found it to be a little quirky – sensitive to double-click intervals – but familiarity may render this criticism moot. If this button is held, the thermometer will beep when a stable temperature is reached, and it will hold the reading until the button is uncovered.

There are four micro-switches in the battery compartment that allow you to select Fahrenheit or Celsius, turn the auto-sleep function on or off, turn the stabilization feature on or off, and set the resolution to 1º or 0.1º. The user’s sheet leave it up to you to figure out which switch is which. The user’s sheet also describes how to check the unit’s accuracy, but there is no ability to calibrate it.

After ten minutes of inactivity, the unit will shut itself down. Picking it up and waving it will turn it back on. Waving it around will also turn on the backlight, although it takes a brisk shake. There is a magnet on the back to allow fastening the unit to a metal surface when not in use. It is IP65, meaning it is dust tight and resistant to splashes.

The owner’s sheet gives chef-recommended meat temperatures instead of the overly cautious USDA numbers. It also gives candy temperatures for different hardnesses, as well as recommendations for proofing yeast, softening butter and rennet activation.

The unit is warranted for three years. Unfortunately, the manufacturer does not provide any contact information with the unit, either on the packaging or in the user’s sheet. This is a no-no in my book. If you have a problem, who you gonna call? You’ll have to visit their website to get that info.

Build is good. It’s a tightly-built thermometer with a slightly fussy control button. Accuracy is very good, and so is response time. The unit is aggressively priced. All in all, a good unit at a good price. Gold Medal!

Haven't found what you want?
Click the buttons below to search our complete database of reviews:

Product Information:

Thermometer Function:

Hand Held/Instant Read
Item Price :

49.99
*Price Subject To Change
Where to buy (buying from this supplier supports this website):

Amazon
Probe:

Diameter: 0.133" (3.4mm), tip: 0.065" (1.6mm), length: 4.44", (113mm)
Battery Type:

2xCR2032 (supplied)
Battery Life:

4000 hrs (Mfgr.)
Min & Max Temp:

-40 to 482°F (-40 to 250°C)
Display Precision:

0.1º or 1º, user-settable
Actual Temp at 32 Degrees:

31.5
Actual Temp at 130 Degrees:

129.2
Actual Temp at 225 Degrees:

224.9
Actual Temp at 325 Degrees:

323.2
Speed from 32 to 212 Degrees:

2
Speed from 32 to 212 Degrees:

3
Numbers Display Size:

0.69" (17mm)
Weight:

2.85 oz. (81g)
C/F Switch:

Built in CF switch
Backlight:

Built in Backlight
Color Options:

Red, Green, Blue, Gray, Black
Included:

Thermometer, instructions
Alarms:

Beeps on temp stabilization

Manufacturer:

How To Buy The Best Instant Read Thermometers

6/23/2024

Published On: 12/11/2017

Bill McGrath, AmazingRibs.com Chief Thermometer Reviewer - Bill McGrath is AmazingRibs.com's Thermometer Maven. He has sophisticated equipment, an electrical engineering degree from Cornell University, and an MBA (almost) from UC Berkeley. Despite being mostly retired, he is still the person responsible for developing and updating all of ExxonMobil's training modules.

High quality websites are expensive to run. If you help us, we’ll pay you back bigtime with an ad-free experience and a lot of freebies!

Millions come to AmazingRibs.com every month for high quality tested recipes, tips on technique, science, mythbusting, product reviews, and inspiration. But it is expensive to run a website with more than 2,000 pages and we don’t have a big corporate partner to subsidize us.

Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. But please don’t think of it as a donation. Members get MANY great benefits. We block all third-party ads, we give members free ebooks, magazines, interviews, webinars, more recipes, a monthly sweepstakes with prizes worth up to $2,000, discounts on products, and best of all a community of like-minded cooks free of flame wars. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive.

Click here to learn more and take a free 30-day trial membership

Post comments and questions below

1) Please try the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help.

2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.

3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.

4) If you are a member of the Pitmaster Club, your comments login is probably different.

5) Posts with links in them may not appear immediately.