Health Inspector Tools

Powerful Tools for the Health Inspector Toolkit: Thermapen® IR and DishTemp®

If you are a health inspector tasked with checking and verifying HACCP and other Food Code compliance in commercial kitchens, you know that your success in the field depends largely on the utility, reliability, and portability of your instrumentation.

Whether you’re auditing small franchises, big conglomerates, medical or correctional food service operations, or food manufacturing or processing plants, you need food safety tools that are…

• Portable
• Accurate
• Calibrated
• Rugged and durable
• Cost-effective
• Simple and easy to read
• Easy to maintain and validate in the field
• Versatile

ThermoWorks products are designed and built with all of these critical dimensions in mind and, in particular, we think any health inspector will find the new Thermapen IR (folding thermocouple penetration probe and infrared thermometer in one) and the DishTemp (plate-simulating dishwasher thermometer) make powerful additions to their field inspection toolkits.

With the measurement of temperature being as critical as it is to all food safety inspections and audits, you need versatile thermometers you can depend on.

Portable
Reducing the size and number of instruments you need to carry with you has obvious appeal. The Thermapen IR combines the unparalleled speed and accuracy the Thermapen Mk4 with a best-in-class infrared thermometer in the same pocket-sized unit. You get two for one.

The DishTemp is shaped like a small plate and rides through dishwashers like the other plates to properly measure the max surface temperature experienced by dishware inside a commercial dishwasher. It is only 5 inches in diameter and single-handedly replaces stacks and stacks of paper dishwasher test strip labels. Use the same DishTemp any time you need to measure the sanitation temperatures of warewashers.

Both instruments fit nicely along with probe wipes, a log book, and a pen into the ThermoWorks zipper storage case. Just grab and go. Literally.

Accurate
No competitor outperforms ThermoWorks when it comes to the speed and accuracy of our thermocouple sensors (used in both the penetration probe and the infrared thermometer).

The Thermapen IR probe is accurate to ±0.7°F (0.4°C) and its infrared thermometer is accurate to ±1.8°F (1.0°C) from 32 to 212°F (0 to 100°C) otherwise ±3.62°F (2.0°C) or 2% of reading, whichever is greater.

The DishTemp is accurate to ±0.9°F (0.5°C) across its full range of 32 to 194°F (0 to 90°C).

Those are accuracy specs that easily exceed the most stringent food code requirements.

Calibrated
As a certified health inspector, you need instruments that come with documentation. Both the DishTemp and the Thermapen IR come with calibration certificates right out of the box. The Thermapen IR even carries a separate cal cert for the infrared thermometer, which demonstrates that the instrument’s accuracy is traceable to national and international standards.

And all ThermoWorks instruments can be re-certified at any time at very affordable rates in the ThermoWorks own calibration lab, which is accredited by the A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation).

Rugged and Durable
Both the Thermapen IR and the DishTemp are made with rugged plastic and come with optional carrying cases and wall brackets for added protection.

The buttons on the Thermapen IR are membrane buttons without any creases or grooves that can become food traps. The Thermapen IR probe folds away neatly for storage and protection without the mess and hassle of probe plugs or cords that are prone both to bacterial growth and breakage. The Thermapen IR probe is made of stainless steel, which is known both for its strength and its non-reactivity to food.

The DishTemp is fully waterproof, made with molded-in seals, and will survive wash after wash after wash.

Cost-effective
The Thermapen IR is a fully-calibrated thermocouple handheld and a precision infrared thermometer in one, all for less than the cost of competitive handheld thermocouple units.

The DishTemp will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year by entirely eliminating the need for costly paper test-strips that you throw away after one use. See our DishTemp Savings Calculator to calculate your own projected savings.

Simple and Easy to Read
Both the Thermapen IR and the DishTemp feature big bold digital displays down to the hundredth of a degree that are easy to read from a distance. The Thermapen IR display auto-rotates 360° based on the orientation of the unit.

Point the infrared sensor of the Thermapen IR and press the Scan button to take and hold a reading for 30 seconds. Press the Mode button to cycle through Max and Min readings, or hold the Mode button down to change the adjustable emissivity or switch from reading Fahrenheit to Celsius. Then, simply swing open the Thermapen IR probe and the display switches to probe temperatures for internal food readings.

While the DishTemp clearly displays the current temperature reading for verification purposes, the maximum temperature experienced during the cycle is displayed in bigger, bolder numbers right on the top of the display so its easy to see.

Easy to Maintain and Validate in the Field
Because they lack multiple buttons and have such sleek design, both the Thermapen IR and DishTemp are easy to clean and maintain. Both are easily validated in the field with either a properly made ice bath test or a boiling water test.

Versatile
With the extended range of the Thermapen IR (-58 to 572°F [-50 to 300°C] for the probe and -58 to 662°F [-50 to 350°C] for the infrared sensor), you won’t need to take any other bi-metal dials, pocket digitals, or probes with you to an audit. The infrared thermometer comes preset to 0.95 emissivity but can easily be adjusted to any emissivity setting between 0.1 and 1.0 by pressing the Mode button.

And with the waterproof DishTemp plate-simulating thermometer in tow, you don’t need to check your stock of dishwasher test strips or worry about shelf-life or expiration dates. The DishTemp is always ready, always accurate.

You simply won’t find more reliable and versatile tools than new Thermapen IR folding thermocouple penetration probe and infrared thermometer in one and the DishTemp plate-simulating dishwasher thermometer from ThermoWorks.

Order below or contact our commercial sales team at 1-800-393-6434 or sales@thermoworks.com and get a quote today.