As I have never had a candy thermometer, I was expecting this one to be not much bigger than the photograph, so the actual size (2" by 12") was a bit of a surprise, but after studying the unit, it is quite logical and the design makes excellent sense. I selected the Taylor Classic Candy and Deep-Fry Analog Thermometer, because it is analog, which is fancy way of explaining that it uses technology of the 19th century or earlier. No batteries; no computer chips; no wires; no probes, and so forth. In other words, once you use it for a while and by doing so "get to know it", it will continue to work the same way day after day, week after week, and year after year. Ideally, it is calibrated accurately at the factory, but if you took a course in Physics or Meteorology and stayed awake, then the general concept of "calibrating" becomes a bit nonsensical with respect to this particular thermometer, which also is highly dependent on the altitude of your kitchen, as well as ambient weather conditions at the time, because for the most part stuff like this is "calibrated" either (a) at the factory using factory conditions or (b) at the factory based on being at an altitude of 0 feet (or "sea level") at standard atmospheric pressure and a certain temperature, which is fine if you either (a) live in the same town as the factory or (b) live on the beach under a coconut tree. However, if you are in a city at a higher altitude like Denver ("The Mile High City"), then you know that water boils at a lower temperature than 212 degrees Fahrenheit and that baking cakes and making Italian Meringue frosting requires vast skill in the finer aspects of organic chemistry, as well typically as an entirely different set of ingredient quantities (for example, less baking powder and one fewer egg or whatever). In other words, everything is relative, and "everything" includes the pots, pans, stove (coal, electric, natural gas, propane, wood), and lots of other stuff, which unless you are one of the people who "just knows" how to cook and bake everything perfectly the first time with no practicing, then the reality for you is that you need to do the recipe over and over until you discover exactly how to make it work perfectly every time, which for roast duck took me two years of roasting at least one duck each week, which was great and made it easier to discover the secret to stellar roast turkey in just one year, which to be specific is to sprinkle approximately one (1) tablespoon of fenugreek on the turkey, along with salt, pepper, onion powder, and about the same amount of powdered sage, even though nobody in their right mind ever would think of using fenugreek as a spice for traditional roast turkey, but I tried it, and it works. Back to the candy thermometer, there is a very nice sliding clip to attach the thermometer to the vertical side of a pot, and the bulb is approximately 1/2" from the metal base of the thermometer, so you want to select a pot that is the correct size for there to be at least approximately 5/8" to 3/4" of liquid, where for example if you are making the candy syrup for Italian Meringue and are using 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of water, then use a small diameter pot, so that the saturated sugar solution will be sufficiently high for the candy thermometer to work correctly, which will be a pot with a diameter of approximately 6 inches or perhaps a bit smaller, and the sugar syrup bubbles, so it works, or if not then make twice as much. Sugar is not so expensive, and the important thing is to get the sugar syrup just right, where ideally if you slowly drip it from a teaspoon back into the pan, at the end it will form tiny balls and there will be spider-web strings of sugar syrup like cotton candy or whatever. Light Italian Meringue is a mess, and the only way to get it right is to use the correct number of egg whites and to have thicker sugar syrup, as well as not to whip it too long after you add the sugar syrup, at least if you are at a low altitude, where you want to add the sugar syrup and then whip it perhaps a minute and then stop while it makes nice peaks and holds them, because if you whip it for 5 to 20 minutes, it will be like Elmer's Glue, so if you are at a low altitude (200 feet above sea level or lower), then the rules are thicker sugar syrup and avoid over-whipping. You can add Cream of Tartar or a little bit of lemon juice to the egg whites, but that is cheating. It tastes best if you do it the hard way, which is sugar, water, egg whites, and a tiny bit of vanilla extract, where the egg whites of four extra large eggs works nicely with 1 and 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. You might need to do it 10 to 25 times to get it right, but once you get it right and can repeat it reliably it is well worth the effort, and it is vastly important to use fresh egg whites. Summarizing, the Taylor Classic Candy and Deep-Fry Analog Thermometer is well made and bigger than it looks (2" wide and 12" long"). It uses "old school" technology, which is excellent and reliable, and when you use the correct size pots and pans, it is a professional grade cooking thermometer, for sure.
