My old one died, just stopped working.  I've been looking for a new one, but from reading the reviews they all seem to have problems!  The glass shatters, the numbers flake off, it gets stuck at 220 degrees, it doesn't stay calibrated...  Does anyone have a good workhorse thermometer that is accurate and reasonably durable? 

I made a coffee crunch cake the other day and had to guess at the sugar temp with a bowl of water.

I don't think there's a decent thermometer on the market. I just buy the $8 Taylor Candy thermometer. Usually get a year or two out of them. 

My favorite go to thermometer for all else is a Comark Waterproof Digital thermometer.  It's held up very well.  

@Norcalhiker  From reading the reviews I'm afraid you might be right about there not being a decent thermometer on the market!  I'll look into the Comark, thanks!  Anyone else have a recommendation?

I agree with Norcalhiker, I go through thermometers faster than toilet paper, it seems.  (Okay, overdramatization but you get the point.  The Taylor thermometers seem to be the most economical way to go.  Although, I will say I have never had a thermometer stay calibrated.  I have always been taught to calibrate my thermometer every time I use it to make sure I know for sure what the temperature is going to be.  It is kinda a pain but worth saving the money on ingredients when I mess up a batch of candy.

Thermapen is great, but pricey. I use it for candy making as well and have never had a problem. 

I'm using an old fashioned no name candy thermometer.  Always have one in stock. But since this thread is on...I recently bought a digital timer (magnetic) with an attachable thermometer  (up to 250c) that will even  beep once the desired temperature is reached at IKEA for like 10$. Just got home from our holiday and haven't had the chance to use it. Does anyone have it at home? If so, i would like to hear your feedback.

Wow, thanks for all the feedback!  I guess I'll just get the cheaper ones two at a time...

I use one of these:

http://store.idevicesinc.com/kitchen-thermometer-1/

You our can get a candy probe for it and it works great. I love being able to interface it with my phone so that I can check the temp from another room in case I have to step away for a second or two.

Robert

julia we get our ikea next year so -- good to know --

pastry bag lady -- i just use whatever little one that didn't depart when the kids needed one -- in fact there's a picture of it in my extensive gallery on here  

I have one from Williams Sonoma and while the reviews are not too high for it on line, it does seem to do what I need a thermometer to do. I make lot of boiled fudge so I need one that can read accurately by the degree instead of 5 degree increments like some of the cheaper thermometers out there do.  Here is a link to it.  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/digital-oil-and-candy-thermometer/  The only real challenge with it is to make sure you tilt down the metal cover plate when you are using it.  It acts as a steam shield so you are able to read the digital display. 

I got this one to replace what I thought was a decent thermometer. I think it was called true temp or something like that.  After a few uses, the numbers just came right off of the metal surface.  Not good.  It was one of those big flat metal ones with the numbers printed on the metal surface and a small, thin glass thermometer held in the center of the metal strip.  I also contemplated one of those new glass "thermometer" shaped ones but they are only marked in 5 degree increments and seem to be poorly made so who knows if they will read correctly?