Is there a difference between a candy thermometer and a normal cooking thermometer?

Question

Is there a difference between a candy thermometer and a normal cooking thermometer?

Answer 1

Yes , there are 3 places of difference: range, scale and the way it's use.
RANGE (lowest to highest temperature):
○ A candy and deep-fry thermometer is designed to measure temperatures as low as 40°F (about 4.4°C) and as high as 400°F (about 204.4°C).
○ A cooking or meat thermometer is designed to measure temperatures as low as 0°F (about -17.7°C) and as high as 350°F (about 176.6°C).
SCALE:
○ A candy and deep-fry thermometer tend to be huge, because sugar and water boils quickly, normally with a minimum increment of 1 degree
○ A cooking or meat thermometer tend to be smaller, normally with a minimum increment of 2 degrees, because the change in temperature is slower than liquids.
USE:
○ A candy and deep-fry thermometer is partially submerged into the liquid, and the temperature is monitored during the cooking process. Normally it has a clip that securely holds the thermometer to the pot. Some Candy thermometers could have soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack, caramel and deep fry marks on the scale.
○ A cooking thermometer, is used to measure internal temperature to make sure your meat/poultry is cooked thoroughly. Some thermometers should be inserted in the at the beginning of the cooking process and left in, while others should be inserted near the end of the process. Meat thermometers will often have "rare," "medium rare," "medium," "medium well" and "well done" marks on the scale.

Answer 2

Sugar Thermometer

Answer 3

With a regular instant thermometer you have a probe that is used to push into the food (usually meat) to give a quick temperature, then the probe is pulled from the food. Candy thermometers are generally designed to be kept in the food (in this case candy) so they will usually clip to the side of the pan for a constant reading. The fry thermometer is probably pretty close to a candy thermometer so that may be worth a try, and it will also come in handy when cooking homemade potato chips in a dutch oven (yum!).

Answer 4

Candy thermometers register temperatures from 100 - 400 degrees F. Normal cooking thermometers register 0 - 220 degrees F.

You can't really use a normal one when making candy, because you generally have to cook the sugar to a much higher temp than it will register. The candy one won't be of much use when checking if your meat is cooked, because its scale isn't sensitive enough.

Answer 5

I belive that candy thermometers can take a stronger heat, but I may be wrong...