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A digital thermometer is the most important tool in a cook’s arsenal. Thermometers save lives and money. They are the only reliable way to determine if food is safe and if you are cooking too hot or cold. In early Consumer Reports tested more than 300 chickens and found that 90% contained pathogenic bacteria and half of them had antibiotic resistant strains. They said, “It’s vital that you check using a meat thermometer.” 

You cannot tell when chicken is safe by looking at the color of the juices. The difference between a medium rare and well-done steak is pretty narrow. The difference between moist tender turkey and a dry chalky bird is just a few degrees. Two pork chops sitting side by side can cook at different rates.

A perfectly cooked steak can quickly become shoe leather if the internal temperature isn’t monitored. Poking with your finger or cutting the meat to determine doneness is just plain guessing. A filet mignon is much softer than a sirloin. The color of meat is vastly different under sunlight, incandescent, fluorescent, or LED light. And it changes when exposed to oxygen. And don’t worry, poking it with a thermometer will not dry it out!

Thermometers are more sophisticated than they used to be. Hand-held instant-reads have gotten much faster and more accurate, and some thermometers come with apps that run on wireless devices such as a cell . The biggest changes have been in the in-food/in-oven products.

Initially, a cabled thermometer would just read out the current temperature. Today’s units have programmable alarms that alert the user when the temperature reaches a set level. Many have separate receivers and transmitters that allow you to monitor temperatures from a distance.

The more sophisticated units connect with the internet via Wi-Fi and allow you to view the cooking progress from anywhere you have internet access. Modern thermostatic controllers (similar to the devices that keep a steady temperature in your basic home oven) now allow you to change the cooking profile from an app that runs on both Apple and Android devices.

Wireless connectivity has revolutionized the way outdoor cooking can be done. Bimetal dial thermometers are a technology more than 100 years old. They are slow and not nearly as precise as digital. Liquid thermometers can be very accurate, but they are also slow. They are best for refrigerators and freezers.

How To Pick Thermometers

1) Read Up On The Different Types

You can’t trust that round bi-metal temperature gauge that comes in the lid of most grills and smokers. It can be off my more than 30 degrees! To find out what kind of thermometer you need, bone up on thermometer basics.

Click here to learn how thermometers work, how to use them, why some are better than others, and how we test them

2) Use Our Searchable Database

Bill McGrath, our electrical engineer and thermometer expert has tested more than 200, rated and reviewed them, and built a searchable database located on this page. There is nothing like it in the world, and it’s easy to use. Just check the search boxes and you’re off. You can check our ratings on a thermometer you are considering, or search for top rated products by thermometer type.

Click here to search our database of more than 200 rated and reviewed thermometers

Bill uses precision equipment and real world scenarios to test and evaluate based on (1) accuracy, (2) speed, (3) features, (4) construction quality, and (5) value. Suppliers are never charged to have products reviewed and the website purchases almost all the products it tests. Here he explains some of how he does it:

3) Use Our Platinum Medals

Once a year, McGrath selects the best of the best and names our Platinum Medal winners. Each of these devices received a Gold Medal during our initial review and has now earned our highest accolade, a Platinum Medal. To see the absolute cream of the crop, click the link below.

I was never what most people would consider a "fancy" chef, but I was a very exacting one. Between the diners I first cooked in and culinary school, I learned many ways to judge the degrees of meat and poultry, but each left room for interpretation. If you leave such things open-ended, expect the results to vary with the person cooking. By the time I opened my first restaurant, instant-read thermometer technology had progressed. They were already useful in spot-checking chicken on the grill, but now they had the responsiveness and accuracy that allowed me to use them to temp every burger, steak, or piece of fish coming out of the kitchen.

This simple innovation upped my exacting-ness because there was zero room to interpret results — I could scientifically prove a steak was medium rare within seconds. I could cook by numbers, using a digital thermometer for pre-roasting meat and poultry and monitoring braises and an instant-read version for made-to-order dishes. These tools bolstered my reputation but also saved me money by minimizing plates sent back for over or under-doneness.

In civilian life, I use instant-read thermometers on my backyard grill, on the stove, and in the refrigerator (really). To help guide you to the one for your needs, we brought several of the best instant-read thermometers into our test kitchen. 

Our Favorite Instant-Read Thermometer

The ThermoWorks ThermaPen ONE is still our favorite instant-read thermometer for its speed, accuracy, ease of use, and construction.

Pros

• This is a fast and accurate thermometer that’s tough enough for professional settings

Cons

• Some find the LCD’s backlighting too dim.

The ThermaPen ONE has aced several rounds of testing for its responsiveness and accuracy, making it one of our favorite meat thermometers and, if you ask us, the very best instant-read thermometer. It's comfortable to hold and has a large, backlit display that’s easy to read, as it rotates depending on how you position its body. In our most recent tests, we got consistent results over and over, with one degree of variance from our controls — ThermoWorks claims accuracy within one-half degree, and rounding numbers kept it within that threshold. It also reported its results in two seconds or less.

I have a ThermaPen ONE in my home kitchen and have used these thermometers professionally in my restaurant kitchens. I like them for their speed and accuracy and because they’re built to take a beating without affecting their performance.

The ThermaPen comes to life when you extend the probe and sleeps when you fold it back into the body, and as such, they have extensive battery life. I’ve never had to replace the single AAA battery in any of the ThermaPens I’ve bought. The backlighting isn’t a substitute for grill lights or a well-lit area, and making it brighter would come at the expense of battery life, though some might find it a little too dim. The ThermaPen ONE is by far the most expensive model we’ve listed here, but its accuracy, speed, efficiency, and longevity make it worth the price.

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Pros

• The ThermoPop is a simple, easy-to-use, fast, and accurate thermometer with a rotating display.

Cons

• This is a one-dimensional thermometer with no bells or whistles.

The ThermoPop 2 is a different design from many of the models I’ve tested. Most have a folding probe, but the ThermoPop is rigid and comes with a hard plastic sheath that you can put in your pocket like a pen. The 4-inch probe ends in a teardrop-shaped head with a backlit LCD and an on-off switch. The temperature display rotates 360° in 90° increments, allowing you to hold it in either hand, vertically or horizontally, and still have a clear view.

The display registers to the nearest one-tenth of a degree and was within three-tenths of a degree of the control temperature at its most accurate. The most the ThermoPop varied from our control was by 4°F in the roasted chicken test. It’s a good thermometer for those who need accuracy and speed for roasting, grilling, or smoking, or those who need precise liquid temperature measurement at a mid-range price.

Pros

• The Alpha Grillers thermometer provides great value in speed and accuracy for the price.

Cons

• The body’s front side contains all the information, controls, and functionality, but it’s almost too much in one place.

The Alpha Grillers thermometer's accuracy and response time surprised me. The smallest variance from the control temperature was two-tenths of a degree, the largest was about 2.5°F, and the average response time in the water tests was around five seconds. 

The thermometer’s front side is busier than I like, but everything you need is there. A third of the front contains a meat temperature chart, and the LCD temperature display occupies the middle third. The final portion of the front includes switches to turn the backlighting on and off, a calibration button, and a hold button that freezes the current temperature and reports the minimum and maximum temperatures of any time you’ve pressed hold during your cooking session. 

The case is waterproof, made of hard plastic, and is strong enough to survive a few falls, should you drop it. I’d recommend this thermometer to anyone who wants a fast, accurate thermometer but doesn’t want to commit to a more expensive model. It provides considerable value for the price.

How We Tested Instant-Read Thermometers

Over the past few years, we’ve tested over two dozen instant-read thermometers in our testing lab and home kitchens. As new models and brands come on the market, we create test groups to see how they stand against our historical winners. We originally tested 22 models from brands including ThermoWorks, ThermoPro, Taylor, Cuisinart, OXO, Weber, Maverick, BBQ Dragon, Venigo, Saunorch, and Kizen. Since then, we’ve brought back our top-rated instant-reads and added brands like Dash and Typhur to the lineup.

In our most recent tests, I tested five newer models against the ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE, our previous Best Overall winner: one instant-read from ThermoWorks, Alpha Grillers, and Lavatools, and two from ThermoPro. I put the thermometers through the same four tests to arrive at our ratings. In all of the tests, I looked for accuracy and speed, but I also considered user-friendliness: how comfortable it was to hold, whether the probe was long enough to keep my hands from the heat, and the quality of the display. 

• Ice water test: This is an often-used test for calibrating thermometers. I filled a measuring cup with one quart of ice and added water to fill the spaces between the cubes. As a control, I tested the ice water’s temperature with a ThermaPen ONE (again, our reigning Best Overall) to establish a baseline. I then started a stopwatch and tested the temperature and how long it took for the temperature display to stabilize. I then compared the registered and control temperatures to judge the thermometer’s accuracy.
• Boiling water test: At the opposite end of the spectrum from ice, there’s boiling water. I performed this test in the same fashion as the ice water test, recording the response time and the registered temperature and comparing the reading to the control temperature. 
• Sous vide test: It was time to test somewhere in the middle after testing water temperatures at two different ends of its liquid state. I set an immersion circulator (the precise heating part of sous vide cooking) to 135°F and again tested it to set a control. It’s worth noting that while the immersion circulator is accurate, it can fluctuate +/- 0.5°F. I recorded the speed and accuracy of the temperature readings for each thermometer again.
• Roasted chicken test: As most users won’t be checking various states of water, it was time to get down to something more practical: how accurate were these thermometers when cooking meat? I roasted some chicken thighs using the probes of a MEATER Pro XL to determine doneness and a baseline. Then, I tested each thermometer against the reading from the MEATER. Meat is denser than water, so it took longer for the chicken’s temperature to register, usually in the 10-12 second range.

Other Instant-Read Thermometers We Tested

Strong Contenders

ThermoPro Ultra Fast Thermocouple Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer ($24 at Amazon)
This thermometer is a close runner-up to our Best Value winner. It has an oblong case with magnets for mounting on the back, but those magnets perfectly aligned with my first and third fingers, and it felt a little wonky to hold in my hand. The case is hard plastic, but it feels thin and brittle, so take care not to drop it. The display is old-school red digital on a black background which is easy to read. It was within 1.5°F of my control temperatures in all the tests, with an average response time of four seconds. Overall, it’s a good thermometer that’s accurate and fast. Holding it felt odd, and I worry about the case’s longevity.

ThermoPro Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer ($12 at Amazon)
This ThermoPro offering has a waterproof case and magnetic back for storage, or, feasibly, sticking to the side of a pot for hands-free temperature monitoring over time. Compared to many of the other models I tested, it has a small, backlit LCD that registers to the nearest one-tenth degree. It’s accurate and registered within one degree Fahrenheit of the control temperature in every test. It wasn’t as fast, though, with an average response time of nine seconds across the testing. The plastic case seems semi-durable, but might not survive someone stepping on it.

Dash Meat Thermometer ($40 at Amazon)
The Dash delivers speed and accuracy at a fraction of the price of our favorite, albeit with some design sacrifices. This thermometer registered within 1°F to 2°F of accuracy in our freezing and boiling water tests with even better accuracy in our cooking tests, which reflects a more normal usage. It had a three- to five-second response time, which puts it slightly behind the Thermapen ONE. The price, however, is hard to beat.

OXO Good Grips Thermocouple Thermometer ($60 at Amazon)
The Oxo Good Grips instant-read thermometer measured within 1°F of accuracy and took between three and five seconds to react. It's a basic model with an easy-to-read display that also accommodates left-handed folks. It lacks features, though you can switch between measuring in whole numbers (rounding up or down) or decimals (to the 10th of a degree). While it comes at a lower price than the Thermapen ONE, we chose the Thermapen ONE as our Best Overall because it reacts quicker and the construction feels a bit more durable. 

What Didn’t Make the List

Of the many instant-read thermometers we’ve tested, some inevitably fall in the middle. The Lavatools Javelin PRO Duo Digital Instant Read Thermometer ($43 at Amazon) was a prime example of this. Sometimes, it was dead-on if we rounded; other times, it varied up to 4°F. Plus, others were more accurate, registered faster, and cost less. We also found that, with the exceptions above, most inexpensive thermometers weren’t worth recommending. 

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the different types of instant-read thermometers?

  There are two main types of instant-read thermometers: digital and dial, and each works in markedly different ways. Digital thermometers work in two stages. The first stage creates an analog electrical current generated by the measured object's temperature. That current passes through an analog-to-digital converter, feeding those results to a device that performs computations that result in the numbers on the digital display. 

  
  Most dial thermometers use a spring made of two disparate metals, typically copper, steel, or brass. One metal is more sensitive to heat, and the other is more sensitive to cold. When you insert the thermometer’s probe into whatever you measure, one of the two metals will react and either expand or contract, depending on whether the object is hotter or colder than the thermometer’s starting point. That expansion moves the dial on the display, reflecting the object’s temperature.
  

• How accurate is an instant-read thermometer?

  Digital instant-read thermometer manufacturers frequently list their products’ accuracy within a specific temperature range. Our three favorite thermometers register within one-half to one degree of accuracy for most cases the average cook will encounter.

• How fast is an instant-read thermometer?

  Depending on the brand and model, our favorite instant-read thermometers register within one to three seconds.

• Can you use an instant-read thermometer for making candy?

  You can, but I need to add a really big asterisk to this statement. There are a couple of reasons why an instant-read thermometer isn’t the best tool for candy-making. First, you’ll have to hold the thermometer steady the entire time, measuring the same spot during the process. Most candy thermometers have a device that attaches them to the pan to free up your hand and keep them stationary. The second is the tip of an instant-read is more needle-like, designed to penetrate food to measure the internal temperature, and they are great for that purpose. The tip of a candy thermometer has a slightly different shape and registers temperature changes at a higher range more effectively.

• Can an instant-read thermometer be left in the oven?

  Instant read thermometers aren't meant to be left in the oven, as the material may melt at high temperatures. Other wireless thermometers are, however, designed to be left in the oven or grill. These have heat-resistant probes, typically attached to a base unit with a cord, and the base unit connects wirelessly to either a remote screen or an app on your .

Our Expertise

Greg Baker is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and food writer with four decades of experience in the food industry. His written work appears in Food & Wine, Food Republic, and other publications. In addition to writing over 30 articles on grilling and barbecuing, he’s tested wireless thermometers, cutting boards, wood-burning and gas pizza ovens, a kamado grill, and more. He tested six instant-read thermometers to update this article with our most recent recommendations.

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