A system was developed to identify characteristics of quenchants. It consists of computerized hardware,temperature acquisition software as well as changeable probes of steels. The feature of the ability to use probes made of any metallic material enables evaluation of hardening power of quenchants. Three thermal couples located on the same cross-section plane in the middle of probe's length give cooling curves that present cooling behavior at different depths from the surface of probe. Microstructure and hardness of the quenched probes on the same plane in the middle of probe's length from surface to center was investigated to estimate hardening effect. A number of quenchants were tested by this characterization system with several thermal probes of typical steels. Experimental data were stored in QuenDB quenchant database, which was designed for quenchants identification and hardness distribution storage.