Thermometer Buying Guide

"When you take your temperature, take it orally. That's because the other way, hurts more painfully." Based on a parody by Alan Sherman, to the tune of the old folk song Aura Lee

A radio host once interviewed me and asked "What is the single most important advice you can give a barbecue cook?" My answer, without hesitation, was "Get one good thermometer for your cooker and another for your meat."

Most grills and smokers come with bi-metal thermometers, and they're crap. They can be off as much as 50°F. You cannot trust them.

Cooking without thermometers is like driving at night without headlights. Spend the money for a good thermometer. Right now! It will pay for itself by saving your meat and your face.

Without a good thermometer there's a good chance you'll be making lame excuses for overcooked meat, undercooked meat, or, worst of all, apologies at bedside in the hospital as your guests recover from food-borne illness.

Here's what the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says: "The color of cooked meat and poultry is not always a sure sign of its degree of doneness. Only by using a food thermometer can one accurately determine that a meat has reached a safe temperature. Turkey, fresh pork, ground beef or veal can remain pink even after cooking to temperatures of 160°F and higher. The meat of smoked turkey is always pink."

Dispelling some myths

I don't care what the TV chef said, you absolutely positively cannot tell anything about the temp of a cooker is by holding your hand over it and counting until you have to pull your hand away. Each of us reacts differently to heat, and the heat 1" above the grate can be significantly different than 6" above. Maybe an old pro who cooks 100 steaks a night can do this, but most backyard cooks cannot.

You may have also heard that you can tell the doneness of a steak by poking it and comparing the bounciness of the meat to the tip of your nose or the flesh between your thumb and forefinger. As if everyone's hand has the same firmness and bounciness. As if each cut of steak has the same firmness and bounciness. Maybe an old pro who cooks 100 steaks a night can do this, but most backyard cooks cannot.

About those pop-up thermometers found in turkeys. They have a material in the tip that melts at a determined temp and releases a spring that pops the stem up. Although they can be accurate, they can also stick, they read only one part of the turkey, and they are usually set too high. Pop-ups are why your turkey tastes like cardboard. Throw them out.

You need two thermometers:

You need an oven thermometer

Can you imagine cooking in your kitchen if your oven did not have a thermometer? Then why do you try to cook outdoors without a good oven thermometer? If you hope to be king of the grill, you've got to got to got to know what the oven temp really is. Click here for a complete list of all oven thermometers available on Amazon.com

A meat thermometer

The difference between a medium rare and well-done steak is only a few degrees. The diff between moist tender fish and dry is even less. The best way to deliver to the table properly cooked meat and protect against food poisoning is to take its temp. Some cooks can tell by look and feel. But that comes with years of experience and even then it is just not as reliable as a good thermometer. If you hate apologizing for overcooked meat or having to take bloody chicken off your guests' plates and sticking it in the microwave, then you've got to have a good meat thermometer. Click here for a complete list of all meat thermometers available on Amazon.com.

Checklist

Here is a checklist of things to look for when you go shopping for a good thermometer:

Accuracy. Bad data is worse than no data, so it's important to know where the reading is coming from. For a food thermometer, you want the sensitive part of the meat thermometer to be small and in the tip of the probe. The temp just below the surface can be a lot different than the temp in the center of a chicken breast. For an oven thermometer, you want the temperature reading from right next to where the food is being cooked. A thermometer in the dome of your grill will not tell you the temp that the meat is experiencing 6" below on the grate just over the coals. It can be a lot hotter down there.

Speed to read. How long does it take to get a good reading? This is important for "instant read" thermometers, none of which are really instant. When you open the lid on your cooker to stick the meat you are letting out valuable heat and humidity. You want a thermometer that gives you a quick read. Five seconds or less would be nice. The best work in two seconds.

Instant or continuous? Some probes are for pricking the meat and then must be removed. Some can be left in the meat and will provide continuous readouts throughout the cook. The ideal is one that can do both.

Range. If you're going to spend money on a thermometer, it would be nice if it could read the temperature of the meat, the oven, in your freezer, or in an ice bath, and in boiling oil.

Length of the probe. Meat thermometers need to be able to get the temp in the middle of big roasts such as hams and pork shoulders.

Thickness of the probe. A thin probe is easier to insert into the meat and leaves a smaller wound that seals faster. You don't need a gusher of valuable fluids following the probe out.

Adjustable. Some thermometers can be balibrated (see the info on calibration elsewhere of this page).

Water resistant and easy to clean. You don't need barbecue sauce and soapy water in the inner works.

Ease of use. Is it easy to read? If it has lots of buttons and settings, can you remember how to use them?

Price. There are some decent units for under $20 and others can cost almost $200 with attachments.

Sturdy. You want it to last. How's the warranty? And if it breaks, can I order parts? Will the manufacturer repair it promptly and for a reasonable price?

Timer. Although not necessary, some digital thermometers also have timers with alarms. Very handy.

Thermocouples: The best instant read and all-purpose thermometers

Thermocouples are the best food thermometers because they're fast. Some thermocouples can read accurately in fewer than two seconds, faster than any other sensor. They're thin: They have two thin wires in the probe, so the tip can be very small and thin. The sensitive area is very close to the tip so you know just what you're reading and they can be used to check the temp in several locations easily. They're accurate: They're margin of error is less than 1%. Some can be calibrated. You can get thermocouples that are great for instant metering, or others that can be left deep inside a roast like a pork shoulder or a ham for hours.

ThermoWorks MTC Mini Handheld Thermocouple is my personal fave. There is a small splash resistant handheld meter, and more than a dozen plug-in probes. The meter is accurate to within 1°F from 83°F to 1999°F (-64°C to 1400°C)!

I have three probes for my MTC, the Fast Response Meat Probe (left) is hypodermic thin and it can be used for burgers and steaks and reads in only two seconds! Max temp 482°F (250°C).

The Smoke House Penetration Probe (right) can be left in the meat and the braided stainless cord is heavy duty and will not fray. It functions up to 662°F (350°C).

The High Temp Alligator Clip Oven Probe can be dangled into a smoker or grill, or you can clip it to the metal of a grid or griddle to measure it. Max temp is 950°F (510°C).

The meter is relatively cheap at about $45, but the probes are expensive, $30 to $60. Available from ThermoWorks. Now if they only had a remote readout unit like the Maverick (below).

ThermoWorks ThermaPen. This is the thermometer you see all the cooks on TV using. I highly recommend it for anyone serious about cooking meat properly. It reads in three seconds, is extremely accurate, has large easy-to-see numbers, and a long thin probe for getting into the center of a steak, a chicken breast, or even a large hunk of meat like a ham. The probe is thin so it will not open a gusher when you pull it out. It is on a pivot so it can reach into awkward places. The heat sensor is extremely small, so you know you are reading just where you put it and not a lot of the meat around it. For this last reason, it is the only probe I use for ribs. It is water resistent, reads from 58°F to 572°F (-50°C to 300°C), and switches between F and C.

Another nice thing about the ThermaPen is that the company stands behind it. Mine (an older model) began to malfunction after eight years. Probably had nothing to do with the fact that I had dropped it half a dozen times. I called them, gave no indication that I was a writer, described my problem, and rather than hit me up for a nice repair bill, they told me how to fix it. It sells for about $96. Click here for current pricing and direct ordering of the Thermoworks ThermaPen from Amazon.com.

ThermoWorks Super-Fast Pocket Thermometer RT600. This is a very good inexpensive product. It has a thin tip with a tiny thermocouple and it gives an accurate reading in just six seconds. It is small, lightweight, clips in your shirt pocket, waterproof, dishwasher safe, has a range of -40 to 302F (-40 to 150C). The waterproof part really got my attention. More than once I have dropped a thermometer in a pot of custard or bowl chocolate, and then I lick it off and throw it away. Not this one. The ThermoWorks Superfast Waterproof Pocket Thermometer RT600 is available from Amazon. Best of all, it is only about $20!

Thermistors: Good for continuous readings for large roasts and oven thermometers

Thermistors are digital thermometers with a small resistor in the tip. They are not as quick as thermocouples and they tend to be thicker. Some have a probe on a wire that allows you to insert it into the meat and get the readout from outside the oven so you can monitor the meat temp continuously. Before you buy, make sure it can go higher than 350°F so you can use it for reading the oven. The very popular Weber digital thermometer is meant for inserting into meat only and barely goes above 200°F. Not good for reading the oven temp.

Maverick ET-73 RediChek Remote Wireless Smoker Thermometer. This cool tool is a digital thermometer and timer combo. There are two probes and cables (I call them each a probe on a rope), one to insert into the meat, and another to leave in your smoker. Both probes plug into a sender module that transmits temperatures to a receiver that you can take into the living room with you and place on the couch next to the beer and chips. That's right, with the Maverick ET-73 you can monitor your smoker and your meat while you watch the game. You can also set the timer to remind you when to start the side dishes or wake you up if the game is really boring. If you can afford only one thermometer, this is the one since it is really two thermometers in one.

Keep in mind that it is designed for smokers, and the oven probe cannot go higher than 410°F.

Maverick has good tech support. When my receiver began to malfunction, they told me the problem sounded like a bad backlight and told me to ship it back for a replacement. No question about when I bought it. I had a probe cable fray and start acting funny. I ordered a replacement. They sent me two for the price of one.

Taylor Commercial Waterproof Digital Thermometer, at right, can fit in your shirt pocket and will hardly dent your rear pocket. For discount pricing and direct ordering from Amazon.com, click here.

CDN Proaccurate. This stainless steel unit is said to be dishwasher safe, but I am reluctant to test that claim. Reads quickly and comes in a protective sheath. Recommended by Cook's Illustrated. For discount pricing and direct ordering from Amazon.com, click here.

Thermostats

Rock's Stoker is incredible hi-tech solution. It has a thermostatically controlled blower that regulates the airflow to the charcoal combustion chamber and thus controls the temp extremely accurately. It can be connected to a wireless router and you can even control it with your web browser. You still have to make sure your grill doesn't run out of fuel, but thermostats are where it's at, Jack.

Bi-metal coils: OK oven indicators, poor meat thermometers

Bi-metal coils should be called heat indicators, not thermometers. These dial-and-needle readouts use two strips of metal bonded together and rolled into a coil. Each metal expands at a different rate and this provides the reading on a dial. They are OK oven thermometers, but they are slow and not very precise, so I don't recommend them. Definitely not for meat. Most thermometers built into grills and smokers are bi-metal, but they are often low quality. I recommend you use a digital or at the very least replace the cheap bi-metal that came with your grill with a better bi-metal model that is more accurate, one that can be calibrated. Remember to mount it near the cooking surface, not high above it. One brand I see on a lot of high end smokers is the Tel-Tru, shown at right, with a wingnut, a range from 150 to 700°F, 1.75" dial, and a 2.13" stem.

Some bi-metal thermometers are rated as oven-safe and can be left in the meat during cooking, but the sensitive area may be one inch or long, so they are useful only for meat thicker than 4", such as pork shoulders. They also can conduct heat into the meat so they can be used to speed cooking. Unfortunately the dial sometimes fills with smoke or water when being cleaned.

Here's a tip: If you notice condensation under the glass of a bi-metal thermometer, a common problem for those thermometers stuck into your grill, put it in a zipper bag with a couple of cups of rice or dried pasta and seal it up. In about a week they grain will have absorbed the moisture and your thermometer will work fine.

Other thermometers: Not recommended

Liquid filled. These old-fashioned devices (shown at right) cannot read a small area and are best for thick meats. They are not very accurate.

This page was revised 5/2/2010

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