General Tools PT2020G-220 Analog Soil and Composting Dial Thermometer, Long Stem 20 Inch Probe, 0 to 220 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 to 104 degrees Celsius) Range

I use this product to check the temperature in my compost, it is very effective. I recommend it

after seeing a lot of problems in the reviews with the cheaper ones, I decided to pay a bit more and get this one. very happy with it so far. does not fog up. seems to be very accurate. does not have the handy color sections though.I treat mine very carefully, always bringing it inside when I'm done and always pushing it into the compost by the stem and not pushing down on the face. just being careful because i want this one to last.

Graciad

I purchased this thermometer over a year ago for my vermicompost bin (worm box), hence the long stem. I have since also used it for other purposes such as sticking in the outlet vents to test the output temperature of AC systems. I am overall pleased with the unit. The dial is easy to read and the accuracy appears to be pretty close. A few times I have compared it to various other thermometers and the reading was either the same or within a degree or two. And even then - I'm not sure which thermometer was off. I have worked with high precision gauges and thermometers in the military but as you would expect they were much more expensive units..I saw a comment here about slow reading. Yes and no. It is not one of those 8 second fever thermometers but the response seems pretty typical for the type of thermometer it is. As you would expect, the needle changes the fastest when the differential temperature is bigger. So for example when I was testing the AC units the reading got "mostly there" in well under a minute. Then after I let it sit for another minute or so it might creep down another degree or two. I'm not even positive that wasn't the AC getting colder. But for uses like compost you should be fine. Just stick it in and wait a minute or so.

Works great and accurate.