In article ,
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Wed, 30 May 2012 11:06:43 -0700, John Robertson
wrote:

I meant to seal the device in a bag and then put in boiling (@ sea
level) or ice water for calibration. Sorry that I wasn't clear enough,
my bad!

Boiling Water in a Plastic Bag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zFo3vQAIeM

Boiling water in a paper cup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGseQk_r9EI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFL2B_14sLc

As long as the water keeps the plastic bag and paper cup temperature
below the plastic melt or paper ignition points, there's no problem.

Quiz: What's the difference in water temperature between a slow boil
and a fast rolling boil?
Answer: None.
Moral: It doesn't pay to bring the tea kettle to a violent rolling
boil because the tea will not get any hotter than 100C (at STP).

But it can (depending on the local barometric pressure) be enough lower
to mess up an otherwise good calibration run ...

Isaac