Thanks! This is the exact kind of info I was hoping for. I thought it would be uncommon to expose the sensor directly, I just had no idea what to call the logical solution (thermowell).
What do they call those ICs? Anything in particular? Also, what kind of signal do you get from these thermocouples? (it would be a good exercise to design a circuit instead of using the ICs, I'm still just (re)learning electrical theory)