A Handy Guide to the Very Best Thermometers, Based On Our Tests

An accurate kitchen thermometer can mean the difference between a perfectly cooked dish and an overcooked or undercooked disappointment. A well-seasoned chef might be able to tell when a piece of meat has reached its optimal cooking temperature just by poking it, but the rest of us should rely on a kitchen thermometer for guaranteed food safety. I’ve been cooking professionally for over a decade, and I still wouldn't trust myself to know exactly when a turkey has reached 165°F or a cheesecake is at 150°F. 

All of that said, there are a variety of thermometers available—including instant-read and leave-in probe models. How do you know which one is best for whatever task is at hand? Here’s a quick rundown to help you figure out which thermometer to reach for, whether you need to check your oven temperature, monitor slow-cooked ribs, or make caramel.

The Winners, at a Glance

• The Best Instant-Read Thermometer: Thermapen ONE
• The Best Leave-In Probe Thermometer: Thermoworks ChefAlarm
• The Best Oven Thermometer: Rubbermaid Stainless Steel Monitoring Thermometer
• The Best Meat Thermometer: Thermoworks ThermoPop 2
• The Best Candy Thermometer: Polder Classic Combination Meat Thermometer and Timer
• The Best Grilling Thermometer: FireBoard FBX2 Leave-In Probe Thermometer for Grilling
• The Best Infrared Thermometer: Thermoworks Hi-Temp Industrial IR w/Circle Laser

Instant-Read Thermometers

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE

$119 at Amazon View on Thermoworks View on Kingarthurbaking.com

Best for: Quick readings of cooked foods and cooking liquids

Pros: Fast, accurate readings, versatile

Cons: Not the best choice for monitoring temperatures over time

If you have only one thermometer in your kitchen, it should be an instant-read thermometer; they’re probably the most versatile thermometers on this list. You can use it to read the temperature of small cuts of meat—like chicken breast, fish, or steak—and larger pieces, like pork butt, beef tenderloin, or even a whole chicken. You can use an instant-read thermometer to take the temperature of poaching liquid, check the internal temperature of bread or cheesecake, and even quickly check the temperature of oil when deep frying, although a thermometer for monitoring over time might be better for this (more on that below).

A good instant-read thermometer should be fast (the Thermapen ONE registers temperature between two and three seconds) and accurate. Look for a model with a heat-resistant handle and clear display. Remember, you want to take temperature readings quickly, not fiddle with your thermometer. We like models that feature backlit displays for easily reading temperatures in dark cavernous ovens and grills. Lastly, make sure whatever model you choose has a long probe. You don’t want your hand to get too close to hot food or liquid.

Leave-In Probe Thermometers

ThermoWorks ChefAlarm

View on Thermoworks

Best for: Monitoring the internal temperature of foods while they cook, deep frying, and candy-making, can set alarms for high or low temperatures, can double as an oven thermometer

Pros: Can monitor the temperature of food while it cooks without opening the oven, pot, or grill

Cons: Slower readings than an instant-read thermometer

Leave-in probe thermometers are designed to remain inside your food while cooking. A pointy metal probe is attached to a heat-resistant cable that plugs into a base station with a digital display. Once the probe is in whatever you’re cooking, you can snake the cable out the door of the oven or the closed lid of the grill, allowing you to monitor the internal temperature of your food while it cooks. Our winning model from Thermoworks has a magnetic base that can rest flat or stick to an oven. Its screen tilts up at a 45-degree angle for easy viewing, and it comes with a pot clip for attaching to the sides of cookware.

Leave-in probe thermometers are great for projects that require reaching or maintaining a target temperature, like slow-roasting meats, deep frying, and candy-making. You can set high and low temperature alerts to prevent under- or over-cooking and even leave the probe in your meat after removing it from the heat to monitor its temperature as it rests. Some leave-in probe thermometers rely on a Bluetooth or wifi connection to transmit that data, but they are pretty pricey and we had mixed results with the ones we tested (if you do opt for one of these, though, we highly recommend the ThermoWorks Smoke).

Oven Thermometers

Rubbermaid Stainless Steel Instant Read Oven Thermometer

$16 at Amazon View on Walmart

Best for: Reading the temperature inside your oven

Pros: Can double check the temperature your oven is actually reaching, small enough to move around inside the oven to check for hot and cold spots, inexpensive

Cons: Analog models do not return instant results and dials can be harder to read to the degree, digital models need to be set up every time you want to use them

The sad truth is that unless your oven is brand new (lucky you!), your oven dial is probably not telling you the truth. Ovens also have hot and cold spots that can impede food from cooking evenly. The only way to know if your oven is reaching a set temperature is to check it with an oven thermometer. While technically you could wave an instant-read thermometer inside your oven to get a reading, just opening your oven can drop the temperature up to 50 degrees, and do you really want to stick your hand in a hot oven?

Inexpensive analog thermometers, usually made of stainless steel, have large dial displays and do a great job of checking your oven’s temperature. Some models of leave-in probe thermometers come with attachments that allow them to do double duty as an oven thermometer by clipping the probe to a grate in the oven and reading the temperature of the air. While an analog model can live in your oven all the time (most have a hook on top to hang it from an oven grate), a digital probe thermometer needs to be set up every time you’re looking to check your oven’s temp. “I have an oven thermometer that lives in my oven for general readings, and I set up a ChefAlarm when I want to know specifics,” says senior editor Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm.

Meat Thermometers

Thermoworks ThermoPop 2

$47 at Amazon View on Thermoworks

Best for: Monitoring the internal temperature of meats while they cook

Pros: Fast, accurate, helps you avoid over- or under-cooking

Cons: Analog meat thermometers deliver temperature readouts more slowly than a digital instant-read thermometer, require you to open the oven or grill to read temperatures, and don't have many other uses

A few of the thermometers on this list could technically fall into the category of “meat thermometers.” Instant-read thermometers, leave-in probe thermometers, and grilling thermometers can all be used to measure the internal temperature of meats. Analog meat thermometers have a similar design to instant-read thermometers with a long, pointy metal probe designed to pierce meat. We find them to be too slow and inaccurate, which is why we have never reviewed them (nor do we recommend them). Instead, we recommend opting for one of our favorite instant-read or leave-in probe thermometers—or you could read all about the thermometers that are technically meat thermometers here. 

Candy Thermometers

Polder Digital In-Oven Thermometer

$25 $23 at Amazon View on Polder.com

Best for: Candy-making, deep-frying, jam-making

Pros: Designed to clip to the side of a pot, can have markings for relevant candy-making temperatures

Cons: If you're buying a dedicated candy-making thermometer, it's not good for much else

Candy-making and deep frying require specific high temperatures to achieve the right results. While many instant-read thermometers (including our winner and budget pick) can track ranges high enough for candy-making, getting your hand close enough to read those temperatures is a risky proposition. Dedicated candy thermometers are designed to clip to the side of a pot, allowing you to safely monitor the temperature of hot sugar or oil.

Many candy thermometers print target temperatures for different stages of candy-making (soft-ball stage, hard-ball stage, caramel, etc) as well as bonus temperatures for things like making jam and bottling fruit on the display, as a convenient reference. Candy thermometers come in both analog and digital models and are usually pretty affordable. You can use a leave-in probe thermometer for candy-making (like the ChefAlarm), provided it has a high enough temperature range, a probe that can clip securely to the side of a pot, and a long enough cable to keep the base safely away from the stove and spatters.

Grilling Thermometers

FireBoard FBX2 Leave-In Probe Thermometer for Grilling

View on Fireboard.com View on Atbbq.com

Best for: Slow cooks over long periods of time in a grill or smoker

Pros: Features designed specifically for grilling and smoking, like multiple probes for meat and grill or smoker internal temperature

Cons: Specific use, can be expensive

An instant-read thermometer will work well if you’re grilling things like chicken pieces, salmon, burgers, or steaks for a weekend cookout. However, if you’re into barbecuing pork butts, briskets, and ribs you will benefit from a leave-in model that can monitor the internal temperature of your food and your grill or smoker consistently over a longer period—without needing to lift the lid. While our winning leave-in probe thermometer can handle the internal temperatures of your grill, if you’re looking for something specifically designed for grilling, we recommend a dedicated model, like the FireBoard. It has ports for up to six probes, over 70-inch long cables, and display readouts on the base as well as your smartphone via Bluetooth or a WiFi connection.

Infrared Thermometers

Thermoworks Hi-Temp Industrial IR w/Circle Laser (IR-IND)

View on Thermoworks

Best for: Measuring the temperature of cooking surfaces like outdoor ovens, skillets, or griddles

Pros: Fast, contactless, and can measure temperatures from up to a few feet away

Cons: Can be pricey, best for measuring general or average temperatures (not exact points), cannot be used to measure internal temperatures of foods

Infrared thermometers are indispensable tools for measuring the temperature of cooking surfaces. All you have to do is point the thermometer at, say, the bottom of an outdoor pizza oven or cast iron griddle and press the trigger to determine if it's ready for your 'za or pancake batter (no guessing required). There are a few key things to know about using infrared thermometers, though. They can't "see" through glass or plastic to take internal temperatures of containers (much less meat), and aren't good for temping grill grates because the thermometer will measure past them to the bottom of the grill. Many of them have laser dots to indicate the point where they are temping, but in reality, the measurement area can be much broader than shown, depending on the distance and angle at which the thermometer is held. Relatedly, the temperature displayed by the infrared thermometer should be treated as relative to the general temperature across the surface rather than precise, because it can be influenced by skewed target areas, particles in the air, and the surface material. When using an infrared thermometer, we recommend taking a few measurements and using the average as your reference.

Our favorite infrared thermometer is the Thermoworks Hi-Temp Industrial IR. It has a circular laser indicator that provides a more accurate visualization of its measurement area, plus it has a high temperature threshold (up to 1400°F) and was supremely accurate under our testing conditions. It's pricey, though; for a budget-friendly pick, we like the Wintact Infrared Thermometer.

FAQs

How do you calibrate a kitchen thermometer?

You can test the accuracy of your thermometer by filling a bowl with ice water (use the smallest ice you can find, like crushed ice). When inserted, the thermometer should read 32°F. If not it may need to be re-calibrated. While analog dial thermometers can usually be re-calibrated by hand with a pair of pliers, instant-read and other digital thermometers are more involved. Some models like the Thermapen One give you the option to change the internal temperature reading up or down to match a known temperature (like boiling water or ice water) by opening the unit and making those adjustments manually. Other models require you to send your thermometer back to the company to get it re-calibrated. Check your product manual to see if there are instructions for re-calibrating. If not, check the warranty to see if repairs are covered. Alternatively, call customer service for their recommendation on the best way to re-calibrate and repair your thermometer.

What’s the best thermometer for meat?

It depends on what kind of meat you’re cooking and how you’re cooking it. Smaller cuts like steaks, chicken pieces, and fish cooked on the stovetop or grill can be checked with an instant-read thermometer. A leave-in probe thermometer is better suited for larger cuts like roasts, whole chickens or turkeys, or briskets that are cooked in an oven, grill, or smoker with a closed door or lid.

Can I use a kitchen thermometer to take my temperature?

While technically you can use an instant-read thermometer to take your body temperature, we do not recommend it. While instant-read thermometers have temperature reading ranges well within normal and fever ranges, they are not designed for that purpose and may not return accurate results. The metal probe is pointy and designed to pierce meat—not something you want to put in your mouth. If you think you may have a fever, it’s better to reach for a medical thermometer.

Why We're the Experts

• Andrea Rivera Wawrzyn is a food writer and recipe developer.
• She is a former editor at America's Test Kitchen, and previously worked as a writer and performer at Mystery Recipes, a podcast about cooking for kids and families.
• For this guide, we used data gathered from our rigorously tested thermometer reviews to help you determine which thermometer(s) are essential for your kitchen.