ItaliaForno Infrared Laser Thermometer

Description

The ItaliaForno infrared thermometer is the laser sighted surface thermometer ItaliaForno sells alongside its five ovens, and it does the one thing the dial on the front of the oven cannot: it reads the temperature of the floor the pizza lands on rather than the air above it. Point it, pull the trigger, read the number. It measures from -58°F to 752°F with a 12 to 1 spot ratio, a laser pointer, a backlit display, data hold and auto power off, runs on two AAA batteries that come in the pack, and costs $49.95.

The number to understand before you buy is 752°F, because it is the top of the range and ItaliaForno's ovens go past it. The ovens reach 1,000°F and ItaliaForno's recommended cooking ceiling is 850°F, so on a floor that has been soaking heat for a Neapolitan pizza at 800°F and up, this thermometer shows an over range reading rather than a number. Where it earns its place is everything below that line: watching the preheat climb, confirming a New York style floor at 600 to 650°F, checking a roasting oven at 450, reading a griddle, a stone or a cast iron pan. For a floor above 752°F you need a higher range gun, and we carry one; that is covered further down.

This page covers what the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer is, how to read an oven floor with it and why the spot ratio and emissivity matter, what its range covers on each ItaliaForno oven, what to do above 752°F, batteries and care, how it compares with the oven's own dial and a higher range gun, and buying it from Crustify. The spec table follows the description.

What the ItaliaForno Infrared Thermometer Is

It is a pistol grip infrared thermometer in orange and black: a lens in the nose, a trigger, a backlit LCD on the back of the head, and two buttons under the display for the laser and the backlight and the °C to °F switch. Pull the trigger and it reads the surface it is pointed at in under a second, holds the last reading on the screen when you let go, and switches itself off after a few seconds idle to save the batteries. The laser is a pointer, not the measuring beam; it marks the middle of the spot the lens is reading so you know what you measured.

The ItaliaForno infrared thermometer measures from -50 to 400°C, which ItaliaForno publishes as -58 to 752°F, with a stated accuracy of ±1.5°C or ±1.5 percent of the reading, whichever is larger. At a 700°F floor that is about ±10°F, which is tighter than anyone can cook to. The emissivity is fixed at 0.95, which suits refractory tile, cordierite stone, cast iron, a seasoned steel griddle and most cookware; it is not right for bright polished stainless, and the section on reading the floor explains why that matters for the oven's chimney and door.

In the pack: the thermometer, two AAA batteries fitted or bagged, and the feature list printed on the card. There is no printed manual to speak of and ItaliaForno publishes none, so the spec table on this page is the document.

How to Read a Pizza Oven Floor With It

The 12 to 1 spot ratio is the number that decides how you use the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer. It means the lens reads a circle one twelfth as wide as the distance to the surface: from 12 inches away it averages a 1 inch spot, from 24 inches a 2 inch spot, from 36 inches a 3 inch spot. On a 15.7 inch compact floor or the Famiglia's, reading through the door from about two feet gives a 2 inch patch, which is small enough to tell the front of the floor from the back. On the Grande Pro Duo's 31.5 inch floor the back corners are a longer reach and a wider spot; step closer to the mouth or read from the side of the door.

Read the tile, not the flame and not the dome. The burner side of every ItaliaForno oven is hotter than the door side, and the floor under the flame runs ahead of the floor by the mouth, so take two or three readings across the tile and cook to the coolest one. Aim at bare tile, not at a patch of flour or a pizza; flour reads cool and a pizza reads its own surface. After a pizza comes off, the spot it sat on will read a hundred degrees or more below the tile beside it, and that is the number that tells you how long to wait before the next launch.

Two things the fixed emissivity does. Refractory tile, stone, cast iron and dull steel all sit near 0.95, so the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer reads them true. Bright stainless does not; it reflects, and an infrared thermometer pointed at the polished chimney or the door frame reads low and unreliable. The floor is what you care about and the floor reads correctly. If you want the dome temperature, the dial in the oven's face is the tool for that, and it is measuring air, which is why the two never agree.

What 752°F Covers on Each ItaliaForno Oven

Every ItaliaForno oven preheats 30 to 50 minutes on gas with the door on, and the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer is the honest way to watch that happen: the dial climbs fast because it reads air, while the tile takes its time, and the gap between the two is the reason a first pizza launched on the dial's say so comes out pale underneath. Read the floor at ten minute intervals and launch when it says so, not the dial.

Below 752°F is most of the cooking. A New York style pizza wants a floor around 600 to 650°F and four to five minutes; bread goes in at 500 with steam; a chicken roasts at 450 with the door on; vegetables and a sheet pan at 400 in the last hour of heat. On every one of those the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer gives you a number, and on the compacts and the Famiglia running at their everyday setting that is where the floor sits most of the night.

Above 752°F is Neapolitan territory, and there the screen shows over range rather than a figure. A floor at 800 to 850°F cooks a pizza in about 90 seconds, and the thermometer will tell you that you are past 752 but not by how much. For a lot of owners that is enough: over range means launch, and the coolest reading across the tile is what you watch for. For an owner who wants the actual number at 850°F, the next section is for you.

Above 752°F: The Higher Range Gun

We carry the HPC Fire FDP infrared thermometer gun for the ovens that run hot, and it is the tool for reading a Neapolitan floor by the degree. It costs more than this one, and it reads what this one cannot.

The honest split is this. If you cook mostly at New York style and roasting temperatures, or you are happy to treat over range as the launch signal, the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer at $49.95 is the right buy and the price of a pizza night out. If you bought a Grande Pro Duo to run it at 850°F on wood and gas together and you want to know when the floor has recovered to 800 between pizzas, buy the higher range gun instead of this one, not as well as it. We would rather sell you one thermometer that reads your oven than two.

Batteries, Laser and Care

Two AAA batteries live in the grip behind a sliding cover, and the auto power off keeps a set going through a season of pizza nights; carry a spare pair in the drawer with the oven's igniter battery, since the two run out on the same schedule. Switch the backlight off in daylight and the laser off when you do not need the mark and the batteries last longer still.

The laser is a pointer and the usual rule applies: never at anyone's eyes, and not at a mirror or a polished surface that can bounce it back. Keep the lens in the nose clean with a dry cloth or a lens tissue; smoke and flour haze it and a hazed lens reads low. Do not leave the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer on the oven's side table in the sun or on the middle shelf of the cart under a hot oven; it is a plastic bodied instrument rated to read 752°F, not to sit in it, and heat soaking the body throws the reading off until it cools.

Which Thermometer

Every ItaliaForno oven has a dial thermometer in its face, the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer reads the floor, and the higher range gun reads the floor past 752°F. They measure different things and the table sorts them.

The short version: the dial tells you the oven is hot, the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer tells you whether the floor is ready up to 752°F, and the higher range gun tells you the number above that. If you are not sure which you need, contact us and say what you cook.

What to Order With It

The ItaliaForno infrared thermometer goes on the same order as the oven, where it ships free on the same order as an oven and lands in the same delivery: the Allegro, Bambino or Fornello with the compact oven cart, the Famiglia, or the Grande Pro Duo with its Grande Pro Duo cart. It is the one accessory that fits all five, and it lives on the cart's middle shelf beside the peel.

Everything else that lives with an outdoor pizza oven is in our pizza oven accessories collection, and the full ItaliaForno range, five ovens, two carts and this thermometer, is on our ItaliaForno brand page. ItaliaForno's own listing for it is here, at the same price.

Buying the ItaliaForno Infrared Thermometer From Crustify

Crustify is an authorized ItaliaForno dealer, and the thermometer ships from ItaliaForno's warehouse near Houston, Texas, usually within 7 business days. Ordered with an oven it rides in the oven's delivery at no charge. Ordered on its own it ships at the rate shown at checkout. ItaliaForno shows it in low stock as we write this; if it is out when you order, we will tell you the same day rather than let it sit on backorder.

An unused thermometer in its pack can be returned within 14 days, return shipping paid by the buyer. It is excluded from every Crustify coupon code because ItaliaForno sets a strict MSRP, which is also why our price and theirs match to the cent. Questions go straight to the owner by chat or email and are usually answered the same day; the pizza oven buying guide covers the rest of what goes into owning an outdoor oven.

Reads the floor, not the air, up to 752°F. Ships free on the same order as an oven, and it is the one ItaliaForno accessory that fits all five.

Best way to buy: add this to your pizza oven order. Orders over $750 ship free.

KEY FEATURES

• ItaliaForno infrared laser thermometer, model THERM: a pistol grip surface thermometer for reading the oven floor rather than the air
• Range -58°F to 752°F (-50 to 400°C); reads over range on a floor hotter than that, which is Neapolitan territory
• Accuracy ±1.5°C or ±1.5 percent of the reading, whichever is larger; about ±10°F at 700°F
• 12 to 1 distance to spot ratio: a 1 inch spot from 12 inches, a 2 inch spot from 24
• Fixed 0.95 emissivity, right for refractory tile, stone, cast iron and dull steel; not for polished stainless
• Laser pointer marks the center of the spot, switchable on and off
• Backlit LCD, switchable, with data hold on the last reading and auto power off
• °C and °F selectable on the button under the display
• Two AAA batteries included
• Fits every ItaliaForno oven and every other oven, grill, griddle and pan on the property
• Ships free on the same order as an oven; rate at checkout on its own; strict MSRP, no coupons

SPECIFICATIONS

INSTALLATION GUIDE & USER MANUAL

Documents. ItaliaForno does not publish a manual for the thermometer and none ships beyond the feature card in the pack, so this section is the guide. The oven manuals and assembly guides are on each oven's page.

Setup. Slide the battery cover off the grip, fit the two AAA batteries the right way round, and close it. Press the unit button under the display to switch between °C and °F; press the laser and backlight buttons to switch each on or off. Pull the trigger once to wake it.

Reading the floor. Stand at the oven mouth, hold the thermometer 18 to 24 inches from the tile, point the laser at bare tile, pull and hold the trigger until the number settles, then release; the reading holds on the screen. Take three readings, burner side, middle and door side, and cook to the coolest. Read after each pizza on the spot it sat on before launching the next.

What over range means. Above 752°F the display shows an over range indication rather than a temperature. That is normal and it means the floor is at Neapolitan temperature; it is not a fault.

Care. Wipe the lens with a dry cloth or lens tissue when it hazes. Keep the thermometer out of the sun and off the hot oven between readings; a heat soaked body reads wrong until it cools. Never point the laser at eyes or at a mirror bright surface. Replace both batteries together when the display dims.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Coverage. ItaliaForno stands behind the thermometer against defects in materials and workmanship for the original purchaser. ItaliaForno's published two year term is written for its ovens; we will confirm the thermometer's term in writing on request before you rely on it.

Exclusions. A cracked lens or body from a drop, heat damage from leaving the unit on or in a hot oven, battery leakage, and readings taken on surfaces outside its range or its emissivity are not defects.

Claims. Contact us first with photos and your order number and we handle the claim with ItaliaForno on your behalf. Shipping damage is separate from the warranty: report it to us within 24 hours of delivery.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - FAQ'S

Your Questions Answered Before You Buy

The questions we get most often about the ItaliaForno infrared thermometer, answered straight. If yours is not here, chat or email goes to the owner and you will usually hear back the same day.