I just got this today and have only used it to check the temperature of my oven, but it confirmed what I had expected: the temperature of my oven is off and unbalanced. I had suspected this because what I baked or warmed up took much longer than the recipes said was needed for baking, but this nifty dual laser temperature gun -- it is a gun so don't point it at anyone, especially the eyes, it will blind you or others quickly and permanently -- works very easily. One can not only check the temperature easily by a simply point, squeeze, release, and read the measurement, but the device has a memory of the minimum and maximum temperature readings, so you can target different spots of the oven and assess where it is hottest, coldest, or most consistent. It also allows you to see how far the temperature has dropped after you've opened your oven to check what's inside. Advice: don't open your oven often to check what is inside or the temperature will drop. I still have to wait to see if this device holds up well over time or will fall apart, but from initial impression, it seems like a really nice temperature to read SURFACE temperature (e.g. the temperature of the inside of an oven (but not meat or fish temperature; for internal temperature of food one must always use a food thermometer with a probe that sticks into the food). the temperature of oil you are using to fry chicken, etc. (so that the temperature doesn't overheat and burn your food because the oil is too hot, and/or, the oil gets hotter than that specific oil is designed for and hence becomes carcinogenic or transforms into a trans fat oil even though it was originally a non-trans fat oil. Aside: oils that have exceeded their hot point that they were designed for develop hydrogenated molecules, thereby converting the previous non-trans-fat oil into trans fat. If you burn even past this point, the oil not only has become trans fat but also becomes carcinogenic. there are other uses for this SURFACE/EXTERNAL HEAT food thermometer, but remember, you'll need a different thermometer to read the INSIDE/INTERNAL HEAT temperature of food (meat, fish, desserts, etc.). Now I can adjust my oven so that what I bake in the oven is actually the precise temperature the recipe says it should be. for example, my oven is about 30-40 degrees colder than what the temperature says it is, so if I wish to cook at 350 degrees, I now know, thanks to this surface temperature thermometer after taking several readings of the oven temperature that I should set my oven to 380 degrees in order for my oven to bake at the actual 350 degrees recommended by the recipe. To draw an analogy from flying planes, in flying there is TRUE air speed (how fast the plane is actually flying) versus AIR SPEED (as it appears on your speed dial (which is affected by tail winds, head winds, altitude, how heavy the plane is loaded, etc.). In cooking, their is similarly OVEN TEMPERATURE (as the heat dial indicates) versus TRUE OVEN TEMPERATURE (what this easy-to-use device provides you if you use it as instructed). And do read (and keep) the instruction booklet that comes with the device; it tells you what 16 different parts of your ThermoPro food gun does. It does come with batteries and even has a battery gauge that visually shows you the energy status of the battery.
