Buzz
After years of covering “food hacks,” there’s one trick I wish would vanish from the internet: the old “Check how done your steak is by touching parts of your palm” method. It’s terrible. Thermometers are readily available, and using one is the easiest, safest way to ensure your meat is cooked properly.
If you’re serious about cooking (or even if you just want to improve your skills), you absolutely need a thermometer, and it should be digital. Analog dial thermometers are slow and unreliable, and you can’t afford to guess when cooking something potentially dangerous like chicken.
You can’t accurately determine the internal temperature of a chicken breast or a thick ribeye just by looking at it (or even by feeling it with your fingers). A thermometer gives you the exact reading, allowing you to pull your food off the heat when it’s just right—without overcooking or undercooking it. It keeps you safe from foodborne illnesses, ensuring your food is perfectly cooked and not dried out. I’ve already explained how crucial thermometers are, but just to recap, they’re a must for cooking the following:
Perfectly cooked steaks, chicken, and more: Say goodbye to the stress of overcooking that perfectly marbled ribeye or drying out a roast chicken—you’ll always have precise control over the internal temperature of your favorite meats.
Tempering chocolate: Tempering chocolate isn’t as simple as just melting it in a bowl. It’s a detailed process involving heating and cooling at specific temperatures. While you can do it without a thermometer, it’s far easier with one.
Checking ice cream bases: Unless you’re cooking your base sous-vide, it can be tricky to know if your custard has reached the correct temperature. A reliable thermometer ensures you’re making ice cream, not scrambled eggs.
Bake better goods: A thermometer helps you know when your breads, cakes, and other baked goods are perfectly done, and it ensures your water reaches the ideal temperature for your yeast, rather than relying on a guess or finger test.
Making candy: A good thermometer is essential for creating perfect candies—from marshmallows to lollipops—without having to deal with the confusion of hard and soft balls.
Honestly, it’s totally worth it just for cooking meat. There’s nothing worse than overcooked meat.
How to choose the right thermometer for your kitchen
If you cook meat, you absolutely need an instant-read digital probe thermometer. If you make candy or do a lot of deep frying, you might want a thermometer that clips to the side of your pot so you don’t have to hold it while stirring boiling sugar. Look for a thermometer that responds quickly, is fairly waterproof, easy to read, and—most importantly—accurate.
Top budget thermometers for home cooks
You don’t need to break the bank on your first thermometer. Here are some of my top picks for under $50.
The top all-purpose instant-read thermometer: ThermoWorks ThermoPop
There’s one thermometer that consistently earns praise from food experts and publications as “the best,” the ThermoWorks ThermoPro. While this thermometer costs around $100, its more affordable sibling, the ThermoPop, is available for just $35.
This compact, colorful thermometer delivers “ultra-fast readings on a large, backlit 1 ¼-inch, auto-rotating screen,” and features “exceptional accuracy to ±1°F (±0.5°C).” Powered by a long-lasting lithium battery, it offers a lifespan of about 4,000 hours. It’s also waterproof, so it can withstand steam or survive a drop into a simmering pot of sauce. Using it is simple; just insert it into your food, wait a couple of seconds, and read the temperature off the dial with confidence.
The top thermometer for smoking and roasting: ThermoWorks Dot Simple Alarm Thermometer
This thermometer is perfect for those who are forgetful, a bit too controlling, or want to experiment with smoking meats. It's designed to stay in your food for long, slow cooking times. While it may not be as fast as the ThermoPop, that's not an issue—it doesn’t need to be. It’s the thermometer you’ll want when preparing your Thanksgiving turkey. Simply insert the probe, set the desired temperature (using the two buttons on the device), and place your food in the oven. The display can attach to your oven thanks to the magnet inside.
The Dot is built for commercial kitchens, offering splash-proof durability. It features a 4-1/2-inch probe that measures temperatures up to 572°F and a cable that can withstand temperatures as high as 700°F. If you ever wish to upgrade, you can easily swap the probe for a more advanced version.
Top clip-on digital thermometer: ThermoPro TP510 Waterproof Digital Candy Thermometer
This thermometer is ideal for candy makers and deep-fryers. With its eight-inch probe and a large, clear digital display, it gives precise readings to a tenth of a degree. It can clip onto pots filled with boiling sugar or hot oil. Its broad temperature range from 57℉ to 572℉ ensures it’s safe for high-heat cooking.
Best Bluetooth-enabled thermometer: ThermoPro Wireless Meat Thermometer
While not everyone may need one, I can assure you that having a Bluetooth-enabled thermometer makes things much simpler. It’s become my go-to device on Thanksgiving—checking the temperature of my turkey with my phone eases my worries and keeps me on the move (essential when hosting Turkey Day).
This thermometer features dual probes, allowing you to monitor two items simultaneously, such as the turkey breast and thigh, or even the temperature of your first pork shoulder and the true heat of your grill (don’t trust those dials on the Weber Kettle). With a Bluetooth range of 650 feet, it can track temperatures up to 572°F, boasting an accuracy of ±1.8°F. Additionally, you can set alarms to notify you when your food reaches its target temperature, or even five, 10, or 15 degrees before that, ensuring you never ruin a costly cut of meat or poultry.
