Having the temp probe hanging in the bag while adding grains and stirring didn’t work too well. Checking the temp at the end of the mash by shoving the probe down with a bare hand and arm did not work at all. Even for just a couple of seconds it was way too hot.
This idea worked well. Electrical tape seemed to have a neutral flavor so not too worried.
That’s a mother of an invention. No wait, that would be neccesity. In any case a cool improvisation. 
I have a 15" long temperature probe in my mash hooked up to a PID on my electric brewing system. I have a hole in the cover of my cooler MLT that I feed it through. I also like your invention!
Creative solution for a problem that doesn’t probably exist. As long as the general temperature is anywhere from about 148-160 F, you’re good. I think Denny might agree, maybe.
I like to know though. When a beer seems a little off I can go back to my notes to check each step. I’ll also use my notes to tweak part of the brew process to possibly make the beer a little better the next time.
I can understand your point. While I don’t know if it really matters too much, I do indeed measure my mash temp for every batch as well. I just use a regular stick thermometer, measure in 4-5 different places in the mash, and take the average. It works.
I used to check my gravity while vorlaufing… Sneezles61
I had a Tee on the output… thats where I would thread a Blichmann thermometer… so, whilst drawing wort out, I could monitor my temp… I would vorlauf during most of the mash…
