Take the Guesswork Out of Grilling and Roasting with These Three Instant-Read Thermometers. (2024)

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.

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 the body.In our most recent tests, we got consistent results over and over, with one degree of variance from our controls, which, given ThermoWorks’ claim of accuracy within one-half degree, falls within that threshold when rounding numbers. 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 not only for their speed and accuracy but also because they’re built to take a beating without affecting their performance.

The ThermaPen comes to life when you extend the probe and sleep 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 add up to make it worth the price.

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How to Use an Instant-Read Thermometer

What do you use an instant-read thermometer for?

Use an instant-read thermometer whenever you need a quick, accurate snapshot of the current temperature of food. Most people understand their utility for grilling or roasting meats, but you can also use them in sauce-making where you need to know the temperature, like when tempering custard, or for scalding milk in cheese-making.

Most people think of using a thermometer to test how hot something is, but you can also use an instant-read thermometer to measure if something is cold enough, like whether your ice cream base is ready to spin. There’s also a place for instant-read thermometers in food safety, checking if the food you’ve set out on a buffet is outside of the microbial danger zone, or if the braised meat you just labored over (and which is always better when you let it cool in the cooking liquid overnight) is cool enough to safely store.

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How far do you insert an instant-read thermometer?

Upon examining the five instant-read thermometers in my kitchen (I test cooking products for a living, OK?), all share a common trait. Their probes have a thinner, needle-like tip to make insertion easier that broadens about an inch from the end. Ideally, you should insert the thermometer’s probe far enough to cover that narrow end that houses the sensor. Expanding a little from that, you should insert the probe until the tip is in the middle of the food, provided the piece of food you’re testing is a uniform thickness. Because nature doesn’t often create uniform food, take a chicken thigh, for example, you should forgo the center as a target and insert the probe into the thickest part of the food, away from any bones, which are fantastic heat conductors and will give you an inaccurate reading.

How We Tested Instant-Read Thermometers

Over the past few years, we've tested more than two dozen instant-read thermometers in both our testing lab and homes to measure two key points: their accuracy and their response time. We originally tested 22 models from brands including ThermoWorks, ThermoPro, Taylor, Cuisinart, OXO, Weber, Maverick, BBQ Dragon, Venigo, Saunorch, and Kizen. In our most recent round of tests, we brought back our top-rated instant-reads and added brands like Dash and Typhur to the lineup for the following tests.

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Sous vide test: We set up an immersion circulator (the heat-control portion of sous vide cooking) to bring a water bath to 134°F. We then tested each thermometer's response time and temperature, repeating the test three times. In these tests, we noted any temperature variation from the immersion circulator and any deviations in the instant-read reports. We then averaged the instant-read temperatures and response times.

Boiling water test: To test higher temperature thresholds, we performed the same tests as the sous vide portion, using water at a full, rolling boil. Again, we recorded and averaged the response times and temperature readings.

Ice water test: To test accuracy at freezing temperatures, we filled plastic containers with ice then water, waiting two minutes for the water to chill. We submerged the thermometers then recorded the response times and temperatures, then we put the thermometers in warm water until their temperatures came up to at least 68°F. We repeated these steps four times to get an average final temperature.

Grilling test: With this test, we sought to put the thermometers through a more practical application. We inserted wired thermometers into pork loin to let us know when the meat reached 135°F; when the meat reached its target temperature, the wired models alerted us and we inserted the instant-reads. We judged them on how easy they were to insert into the meat without completely it from the grill and how easy they were to read in outdoor light.

Other Instant-Read Thermometers We Recommend

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.

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One of the top performers in our meat thermometer tests, 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.

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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 phone.

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 testedwireless thermometers,cutting boards, wood-burning and gaspizza ovens, akamado grill, and more.

Take the Guesswork Out of Grilling and Roasting with These Three Instant-Read Thermometers. (2024)

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