Visited an old forge in Colonial Williamsburg, saw a trick with quenching oil

Went down there last month on a family trip, not expecting much from the demo. But the smith there showed me something about keeping your quench oil at the right temp. He had a metal rod he kept dipping in to check, and said if it's too cold you get hard spots, too hot and you lose the edge. I always just used whatever was in the bucket. Now I'm thinking about getting a thermometer for my little setup. Has anyone else ever bothered with this or am I overthinking it?

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grace_allen23d ago

You ever test your oil temp, or just guess by feel like me?