# Has anyone ever used a Fluke DMM as a meat thermometer?



## mattyj1907 (Jun 6, 2012)

I have a Fluke 87 multimeter and was wondering if I can use it as a meat thermometer.  I found temperature probe accessories online, but dont know if the chords can stand up to the heat.  Any advice would be appreciated.


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## alblancher (Jun 6, 2012)

I don't know the temp rating of the probe but I am willing to bet you spent a lot of money on the Fluke and I'm not sure I would want to put it near the heat, grease, possible rain etc when I can buy a thermo for under  30 bucks?


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## daveomak (Jun 6, 2012)

matty, evening and welcome to the forum.....  I think the connectors will not survive the heat... unless you can get a shielded ss probe w/a long lead and have the connectors outside the smoker chamber..... then you would be OK....

Dave


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## s2k9k (Jun 6, 2012)

alblancher said:


> I don't know the temp rating of the probe but I am willing to bet you spent a lot of money on the Fluke and I'm not sure I would want to put it near the heat, grease, possible rain etc when I can buy a thermo for under  30 bucks?










  I know mine stays in my toolbox, that's why I bought a Mav.


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## fpnmf (Jun 6, 2012)

S2K9K said:


> I know mine stays in my toolbox, that's why I bought a Mav.


Same here...I don't think the plastic would be happy in my smoking/cooking tools.


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## mattyj1907 (Jun 7, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback. I just thought it would be cool to try out. I traded my job as a mechanic for a desk job. Now I have all the cool tools, but nothing to use them on.


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## sigmo (Jun 7, 2012)

Is this the probe you've got?  Fluke's site says this is what comes with an 87 meter:

http://www.fluke.com/fluke/usen/accessories/temperature/80bk-a.htm?PID=55348

If so, the cable and probe should be just fine for your smoker.  The Fluke site says the probe is good up to 260°C, which is a lot hotter than you should need (500°F).  Just don't expose the cable to anything higher than that.  The meter and connector will be outside of the smoker, presumably.

The limiting factor for a thermocouple is usually the insulation on the cable.  It's hard to tell by the picture, but it looks like that reddish PTFE kind of stuff.  We usually try to keep Teflon at or below 200°C, but I'm not sure what is really being used here.  If Fluke says 260, then I trust them. 

As others have said, you can buy a good remote-probe type thermometer for pretty cheap, and you wouldn't feel as bad losing a $20 thermometer as you would if that nice Fluke meter got damaged.  Further, a thermometer made for meat will have a nice, pointed probe that you can easily jam into meat if you want.  If the probe you've got is the one I linked to, it'll just be some thermocouple wire, welded at the end to form the couple, and insulated with that PTFE stuff.  So it won't be very suitable for poking into meat, and isn't really meant to be sanitized, etc.  Junk can get up inside the insulation over the wires so it wouldn't be legal for food service use if it came down to that.

Here's a typical wired-remote cooking thermometer gadget:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/alarm/oven_temp_timer.html

And if all you need is a meat thermometer, and you don't need the cord-remote probe, I highly recommend these:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt301wa.html

But none of that is nearly as fun as finally finding a good use for that temperature probe that came with the meter, is it?


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## shorte2326 (Jun 7, 2012)

It should work fine. I work on commercial equipment all the time and use mine to check temps in combiovens and deepfryers with no problem. Just keep the meter away from the heat and grease. Thats how I check the accuracy of the equipment controll probes. I also have a flat surface (griddles) probe it works great.


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## shoneyboy (Jun 7, 2012)

I'd have more of a concerned over if it is food grade....or not...You are going to stick a plastic probe in your food ???


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## shorte2326 (Jun 7, 2012)

My probes are specifically for food either food grade Teflon or stainless steel and Teflon. No food contact.


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## mattyj1907 (Jun 8, 2012)

Thank you very much Sigmo, very thorough response.

I do have the felixible thermo couple, but was thinking I would possibly but the metal probe accessory.  I just thought it might be kinda cool to use it for bbqing since it seems to be very accurate and fast.

:( I guess it just makes more sense to use a boring old meat thermometer lol.

thanks again for the feedback everyone.


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## mneeley490 (Jun 8, 2012)

Ok, my daughter who is a metrology tech at Fluke, says you can do this, but you need a 87-V (or 87-5) meter. You would also need the optional metal probe accessory for the end of the thermocouple.

She highly recommeds that both be calibrated by a tech to insure accuracy.


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