Great British Baking Show IR Thermometer

The Great British Baking Show Infrared Thermometer is probably some variation of the Etekcity Infrared Thermometer (Amazon Link - UK). The thermometers only show themselves on rare occasion and on this rare occasion I post without knowing the exact make and model of something from the show. But here I go, and let me explain why.

Decent IR thermometers are expensive, like a hundred dollars plus. Cheap ones are roughly 20 dollars. So Etekcity and a plethora of other Chinese companies have knocked off Fluke IR thermometers - copying their color scheme, buttons, functionality, etc. They have come up with a very standard IR thermometer, with the same back plate, handle, battery compartment and electronic innards across all the thermometers. They even all have the same space for a rectangular sticker to change out the label.

Thus here we are. I'm not sure which company produced the IR thermometers on The Great British Baking Show. And I'm not sure the company still even exists. I've looked at it and compared it to roughly 20 of the exact same clones and its 1 of any number of thermometers similar to the Etekcity Infrared Thermometer (Amazon Link - UK).

Now to be fair this is a decent little IR thermometer if you just need to get in the ball park of somethings temperature. It has a laser guide to show what you're measuring, it has a measurement range from -50°C up to 610°C depending on the model (774, 800, or 1080). It has an accuracy of +/- 2%, and runs on 9V batteries. I have one and I have no qualms with it.

Should you get one? Yes. And it depends. Are there better choices? Yes. And it depends. Are they useful? Yes. And it depends. If you're just here to find the thermometer, see the links above and have fun! If you'd like to learn a little about IR thermometers, their uses, and why 'it depends', let's go!

Infrared thermometers are great at taking non-invasive temperature readings. That is you don't have to stick a thermometer into something to get its temperature. There are some wonderful applications for this. Seeing what the temperature of a grill is, or the inside of a pizza oven! Instead of needing a thermometer in there, you simply aim your IR thermometer in there and poof! You have a reading!

It works by focusing the emitted energy (heat) coming off of a surface onto a sensor that then transforms the signal into a temperature reading. Like all things, generally the more money you spend on a sensor the more accurate it is. Some nice handheld Fluke meters are accurate to 1°C or 1% of the total reading. The Etekcity claims to be accurate within 2°C or 2% of the total reading. The range for the Etekcity IR thermometer is -50 to 750°C. Which means, at the top range it can be 14°C (~25°F)

That's a big difference. If you're measuring something and you need to be accurate, like the temperature of your industrial fans, get a nice sensor. Get a Fluke meter. But if you're just using this for baking and finding the temperature of your ovens, the Etekcity is going to be just fine.

Lets look at an example. If you have a pizza oven and you want it to be roughly 400°C or 750°F. The Etekcity IR thermometer may read 392 to 408°C or 735 to 765°F. At this temperature you're cooking your pizza for a few minutes, rotating it, and you have your eye on it! You're not wandering away. And being within a few degrees is absolutely fine.

On the Great British Baking Show I saw it being used to get the temperature of chocolate that was tempering. Here you want to be very accurate! So being off a few degrees is probably not the best idea. The IR thermometer is probably not the right tool. Instead an immersion cooking thermometer would have been much more accurate and a better choice!

Also the IR thermometers can be affected by the emissivity and reflectivity of an object. That is shiny things will reflect the heat from their surroundings, so instead of measuring 100°C on a steaming tea kettle it could measure 45°C reflecting the surrounding environment. The same goes for bread and cake tins. They're not going to let you know if the cake is done! You're still going to need to test the cake itself with an internal thermometer or a toothpick test.

Out of all the low priced IR thermometers clones floating around out there I personally would suggest the Etekcity Infrared Thermometer (Amazon Link - UK). I got one for measuring the air vents in my house and have found multiple uses for it. Yes that includes a pizza oven! ♥. The IR thermometer lets me know when its time to bake and I'm cooking at roughly 750°F. It is super simple to use and I've had 0 qualms with it.

If you're someone who wants something a bit more quality, a better accuracy, and higher range you can't go wrong with a Fluke 62 Max+ Infrared Thermometer. They run roughly $120 on sale. The slightly lesser model the Fluke 62 Max Industrial Infrared Thermometer goes for roughly $100.

Either way if you're using these for the right applications you're going to be a happy baker!