You don’t have to dive too deep into Bon Appétit recipes until you’ll find one asking you to cook something to a particular temperature (165° for chicken thighs or 130° for medium-rare steak). Frankly, many recipes that don’t call for specific temperatures probably should. Taking your food’s internal temperature is, without question, the most reliable way to ensure you don’t overcook or undercook your meal—and nonnegotiable if you have any BBQ aspirations at all. Enter the meat thermometer.
Our top picks
- Best instant-read meat thermometer: Thermapen One
- Best budget meat thermometer: Thermoworks Sizzle
- Best leave-in meat thermometer: ThermoWorks RFX
- Best budget leave-in thermometer: Typhur Sync One Pro
New in this update: I tested ChefsTemp’s grill-targeted instant-read thermometer as well as a cheap option from TempPro, plus the MeatºIt 3 and the new Typhur Sync One Pro leave-in thermometers. I also added context to help you decide what kind of thermometer will actually work best for you.
What kind of meat thermometer do I need?
In these reviews, we tested two different kinds of meat thermometers: instant-read probe thermometers and wireless leave-in thermometers. Both come in handy, but if you’re going to get only one, an instant-read thermometer will be much more versatile. Here are the differences and benefits of each:
This style of thermometer—often with a fold-out probe— is a common and, I’d say, indispensable kitchen tool that should be in every home cook’s drawer (or, like mine, magnetically stuck to the fridge). Instant-reads are designed for quick temperature checks while food is cooking or after you take it off the heat. I say “quick” for two reasons: (1) the best ones will register a temperature measurement within one second, and (2) their cases and probes are not designed to withstand long exposure to heat like, say, a deep-fry or candy thermometer or a leave-in thermometer (more on the latter below). But the benefits of these thermometers are vast, as their ability to measure accurate temperatures typically ranges from freezing to the mid-to-high hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit. They allow you to quickly check the temperature of different parts of the meat, like the breast and thigh of a roast chicken, which often cook at different rates, and everything from loaves of sourdough bread to tempered chocolate and custard will benefit from precise temperature checks (the kinds of checks a leave-in thermometer isn’t built for). If you’re not already using one almost every day, you will.
You’ll find many of these spike thermometers targeted toward the grilling and smoking crowd. Leave-in thermometers are essentially metal spikes containing a rechargeable battery and temperature sensors. They’re meant to be stuck into your protein while it’s still raw, then remain in place for the duration of the cook. Typically, they come equipped with alarms to let you know when your cook has hit the temperature you’re aiming for. If you’re grilling steaks, that could be minutes. If you’re smoking brisket, that could be half a day. More advanced models employ multiple sensors along the length of the probe, not just the tip, so you can get a more accurate (sometimes algorithmically averaged) idea of how far away the middle of your meat is from “done” compared to the outer part, and they often include a separate sensor to measure ambient temperature inside the grill, smoker, or oven, too.
They transmit signal either to your phone or to a wireless base (or both) using Bluetooth or WiFi, and app-enabled models may use preset programs to help you cook specific proteins — including when to pull the meat off the heat to finish carryover cooking.
Best instant-read meat thermometer: ThermoWorks Thermapen One
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Fast read
- Automatically rotating display and backlight
Cons:
- A little pricey
Specs
- Probe length: 4.25"
- Temperature range: -58.0°F–572.0°F
- Features: Automatic on-off, automatic rotating display and backlight
- Warranty: 5 years
Instant-read thermometers do not come faster or easier to use than the ThermoWorks Thermapen One.
What we love: The two most important features of an instant-read thermometer are its accuracy and its speed, and the Thermapen One excels with both. It took one second to produce an accurate reading in our water boiling test and two seconds in our freezing water test. The focus on speed might seem excessive, but remember, whenever you go to check temperature, you’re opening the oven or grill and the longer it’s open the more the temperature inside will drop.
Besides its quick read capability, the Thermapen has a few other nice features. It turns on automatically when opened, goes to sleep if not used (you can set the sleep function to kick in anywhere between 10 seconds and three minutes), has an LCD display that rotates so you can read the thermometer easily at whatever angle you’re holding it. And while the battery life is not an issue (we used one for over a year without changing the battery), the Thermapen One has an easier to open battery compartment than the original Thermapen and uses a AAA battery instead of two of those annoying to find circular batteries.
What we’d leave: This is the ideal instant-read food thermometer in our opinion. The only downside is price—it retails for over $100. However, it’s frequently on sale for less.
Best budget meat thermometer: Thermoworks Sizzle
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Super fast read for the price
- Has backlight
- 270° probe
Cons:
- Backlight button isn't as slick as an auto light
Specs
- Probe length: 4.5"
- Temperature range: -58.0°F–572.0°F
- Features: Backlight button, automatic on-off, adjustable sleep timer
- Warranty: 2 years
What we love: Thermoworks is well-represented among our favorite Thermometers, currently taking three of the four spots in this story because the company just keeps finding new niches to fill with their excellent products. If you like everything you’ve read about the Thermapen One but are put off by the normal $100+ price tag, Thermoworks heard you and came out with the Sizzle. It has the same features as the Thermapen One, just slightly downgraded, which is what we’d expect for something that costs half as much. It can read temperatures to the tenth of a degree in two seconds. That’s about a second slower than the Thermapen One (are you really going to miss that second?). And it promises to read temps within .9℉, whereas the Thermapen One promises to be within .5℉.
The one place it has a little more functionality than the Thermapen is in its probe, which rotates 270° to the One’s 180°. It also has a backlight to work in the dark that can stay on for a full minute, a magnetic back, and a sleep timer that’s adjustable between 30 seconds and two minutes.
What we’d leave: This one is is worth it, but even at $59 (the price at the time of writing), this thermometer is still more than double the cost of plenty of other instant read thermometers. It’s a more precise instrument and you will pay for that.
As far as the design tradeoffs you have to make choosing the Sizzle instead of the One, the backlight button on the front of the thermometer is a little obtrusive. It's also not entirely necessary because the light still turns on automatically.
Best leave-in meat thermometer: ThermoWorks RFX
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Never drops signal
- Wi-Fi connection allows long-distance use
- Separate air probe for accurate ambient temp reading
Cons:
- No external display available
Specs
- Probe length: 4.75"
- Temperature range: 14°F–1000°F ambient
- Features: Companion app, cloud capability, separate air probe
- Warranty: 1 year for probe, 2 years for gateway
This wireless meat thermometer had the most reliable signal of any tested, and it comes from the makers of our longtime favorite instant-read thermometer.
What we love: One of the most frustrating parts about using wireless probe thermometers is that they drop their signal, often right when you need to check on progress. The RFX is the first thermometer I’m aware of that uses a radio frequency for its transmission instead of the much more common Bluetooth or occasional Wi-Fi. That means testers got a clear signal from the backyard into the house with no dropouts. The radio transmitter also comes with built-in magnets to stick to the side of a grill or oven, which makes it easy to keep it right where you need it.
ThermoWorks also solved another longstanding problem in the thermometer space: ambient temperature measurement. Lots of leave-in thermometers now have ambient temperature sensors on the exposed end of the probe to let you know if your oven or smoker is getting too hot or cold. The problem is, as moisture evaporates from, say, the brisket you stuck a probe in, the surrounding air will cool it down. That can cause the sensor to read lower than it should, leaving you second-guessing the actual temperature inside your oven or smoker. ThermoWorks provides a separate ambient temperature probe that connects to the radio transmitter. You can place it away from the meat to get a read on the chamber's true temperature.
Finally, there are a number of nice extras, like high and low temperature alerts for both the cook and the ambient probes, a real-time graph of the temperature so you can see if a project is progressing as you’d expect it to, and a Wi-Fi connection that lets you monitor a cook away from home.
What we’d leave: The only way to use the RFX is with the ThermoWorks app. The app works well, but an always-on external display would be nice so you don’t need to take your phone out (and run down its battery) every time you want to check progress. The RFX also doesn’t work well as an instant-read thermometer; it took four or five seconds longer than what we’d ideally like to see in our boiling water and ice bath tests. Perhaps that shouldn’t be a huge surprise from ThermoWorks though, because they make a number of specific thermometers for specific tasks. If you need instant-read capabilities you can just use one of their Thermapens.
Good to know: When I used the RFX the default transmission setting (how often it sends information to the cloud) was 15 seconds. That runs down the battery incredibly quickly. If you plan to do cooks longer than 90 minutes, you need to change that setting to transmit every 60 seconds.
Best budget leave-in thermometer: Typhur Sync One Pro
Pros and cons
Pros
- 6 sensors (5 on probe, one ambient)
- Compact base station/storage
- Display on base station
Cons
- Limited 24 hour runtime
- Lower ambient temperature tolerance
Specs
Probe length: 5.08”
Temperature range: 32ºF-221ºF internal 32ºF-752ºF ambient
Features: App (an option to cook without an app), radio signal connectivity, dedicated base station/WiFi gateway with LCD screen
Warranty: 18 months
Typhur already made both instant-read and leave-in thermometers I liked, but in 2026 they upped their game with the Sync One Pro. This single probe model offers a lot of versatility, complex data gathering, and some useful presets. Plus, it’s got a pretty affordable price tag.
What we love: Typhur packs a lot of tech into this well-thought-out thermometer. The probe, which is waterproof and dishwasher-safe, has five sensors that measure inside a protein and an external ambient sensor. You can set manual target temperatures from the base, which means you don’t need to use the app if you don’t want to, and it has alarms to alert you when food is ready to remove from the heat. The base also acts as a WiFi bridge to your phone, allowing for remote monitoring, more detailed graphing of your cook progress, precise readings of each of the six sensors’ temperatures, and presets for various proteins and doneness. Of the affordable leave-ins I was comparing in this latest testing update, it gave me the most consistent and accurate readings as well as predictions of doneness.
The probe charges from the base and slides in to store securely, and I liked that the whole thing could find space in a kitchen drawer as one compact unit. Like the Thermoworks RFX, Typhur’s Sync One Pro operates on a sub-1Ghz radio signal, offering you additional range (up to 700 feet from inside a closed grill, or 3,000 feet out in the open) and consistent connection.
What we’d leave: The probe is a bit long, and about two inches of it is not supposed to go inside the meat, meaning it sticks out significantly (and isn’t all that useful on anything slimmer than a ribeye). This could be an issue in tight spaces like small grills or countertop ovens where something like a spatchcocked chicken will need every inch of real estate. The batteries for both the base unit and probe, which charge via USB-C, are rated to last 24 hours on a full charge. This is more than fine for many uses, and I liked that a measly two minute charge of the probe could give it two hours of battery life, but one day of cooking is a little wimpy for long-haul smokers. Typhur makes another Sync One thermometer virtually identical to the Pro, and it can last up to 50 hours, but it lacks the radio signal option, relying on the less energy intensive Bluetooth.
Good to know: Any “smart” feature is app-reliant. If you know your meats and what temp you like them, then this is an easy-to-use interface for quick setup and cook functionality. If you need some handholding through the process, you’ll need to fire up the app as there are no preset functions on the base station screen itself. The temperature range on this probe should be sufficient for most uses, though the ambient sensor threshold is 752ºF. If you’re just finishing a steak in a pizza oven you probably don’t need a probe in it anymore, but you will need to make sure to remove the Typhur probe before putting it in.
Regarding pricing, while it retails for $120, as of this writing I’ve seen it on sale for as little as $75, as Typhur products frequently go on sale.
How we tested meat thermometers
To find the best meat thermometers, we put a range of leave-in and instant-read models through hands-on testing both in the kitchen and on a grill and smoker. We evaluated accuracy, response time, ease of use, and additional features to determine which tools were the most reliable, intuitive, and helpful for optimal cooking performance. Here’s how we tested:
Boiling water and ice water tests
To test accuracy, we used each thermometer to measure boiling water heated with an electric kettle equipped with a thermostat and then into a bowl of ice water to see how close they came to hitting 212°F and 32°F.
Response time
We also noted how long it took the thermometers to reach their final reading. While the difference between a one-second and two-second response time isn’t all that relevant, if a thermometer takes too long to register a reading it can be uncomfortable to use over a hot grill or oven.
Ease of use
For instant-read thermometers we used them repeatedly to check the internal temperature of chicken breasts baked in the oven and burgers on the grill to get a sense of how comfortable and easy they were to use in real life.
Consistency and features
For leave-in digital meat thermometers, we used them to monitor doneness when roasting spatchcocked chickens, checking to see how consistent their signal was and utilizing any special features like predicted finish times or ambient temperature sensors.
What makes a good meat thermometer
Accuracy
A thermometer is a measuring device—that’s it. If it can’t give an accurate reading, it’s of no use to anyone.
Speed
This is for any thermometer claiming instant-read capabilities. You should be able to get in and get out of a piece of meat quickly. It can be both uncomfortable to hold your hand over a heat source, and it can mess up the temperature inside your oven or grill if it takes too long.
Number of sensors
Makers of leave-in thermometers have started adding multiple sensors along their probes, which make it easy to see if part of what you’re cooking is getting done too quickly (and probably drying out).
Features
Some thermometers come with alarms, some use predictive algorithms to tell you when your meal will be ready, others connect to WiFi so you can check a long cook if you need to step out of the house.
More Instant-read thermometers we liked
This is a fast, accurate, and easy-to-use meat thermometer. It has a pivoting display and backlight so you can read it in a variety of positions and conditions. It turns on when the probe swings out (and can pivot 270º for left-handed or right-handed use) and turns off when it’s put back into place. It’s solidly built, nothing feels too lightweight or cheap, and it’s waterproof. Other pluses: Recalibration, if necessary, is easy, and it uses two AAA batteries, which are easier to replace than button batteries. The handle end of the thermometer is rather bulky to hold onto, though that might be because this device comes from a grilling company and is more suited for use while wearing grill gloves. The magnetic back works, though not always in a vertical placement. I tried sticking it on my oven and refrigerator, and while the magnets engaged, it was too heavy to stay in place and slid down. But if you want something beefy for cooking, well, beef, then it’s a good option.
During our tests, the Kizen proved to be a powerful thermometer for the money. It did take four seconds to read during the water boiling test, but it has a number of other nice features that make it user friendly. A button turns on a backlight for use in dark settings, another toggles between Fahrenheit and Celsius. The display automatically turns on when you unfold it and a magnet lets you stick it on to the door of your range or fridge so it’s easy to keep track of.
It does take four times as long as the Thermapen to provide a reading, but that is the kind of compromise you should expect to make if you’re spending under $20. The sleep function also takes 10 minutes to turn on and isn’t adjustable.
It was hard to notice any difference in read time for the Instaprobe compared to the Thermapen One, and its rotating, bright OLED display is easy to read no matter the angle of insertion. A magnet on the back makes it easy to stick on the stove, so it’s always ready to use. Ultimately, the choice of the Thermapen was a subjective one; I thought the wider base was easier to hold and use compared to the slimmer, sleeker Instaprobe. This is still a terrific instant-read thermometer.
For around half the price of the Thermapen One or the Typhur Instaprobe, the Javelin offers many of the same features, including an automatically rotating display and sleep function. The backlight requires pressing a touchpad, and it wasn’t quite as fast to read, but this is still a good, less expensive instant-read.
More leave-in thermometers we liked
This may be the most technologically advanced thermometer tested, which makes sense. Combustion’s founder, Chris Young, had previous stints at ChefSteps (where he developed the Joule sous vide circulator) and Modernist Cuisine. It has eight sensors running through the probe and you can isolate any one of them to see what is happening with a particular part of a cook. It uses that data in a proprietary algorithm to estimate how much cooking time is left. It’s not perfect for particularly long cooks (it struggled to deal with a brisket stall in our tests), but for shorter- or medium-length cooks, like roasting a whole chicken, it proved quite accurate.
It also works as an instant-read, registering readings in our boiling and freezing water tests in about two seconds. It also has a wide temperature range—the entire upper half of the probe can withstand temperatures up to 900°F, making this versatile enough to use when deep frying or in a pizza oven.
The two issues testers had were signal loss when using the version of the Combustion without the WiFi extender and loss of battery life after a couple years of regular use, though the latter is not terribly uncommon with electronics like this. You will just need to make sure to charge the probe before each use.
The Typhur Sync has a lot going for it. It comes with either two or four meat probes to handle multiple cooks at once, reads quickly, and didn’t have issues dropping its signal. The five sensors in the probes provide a robust picture of temperature changes and the base offers a clear display as well as a (very loud) alarm when a cook is done. If you don’t want to use the base, which is quite large, the Typhur app is straightforward and easy to navigate. There is a prediction feature, though it wasn’t as accurate as the Combustion prediction when I cooked chicken.
Of the three Meater thermometers tested, the Pro series was by far the most user-friendly It read quickly and accurately during the water tests, and the improved high heat capabilities (up to 1000°F) allows use in searing cooking temperatures like a pizza oven or an open fire. It also didn’t drop signal the way the original Meater Plus did. I tested the single probe Meater Pro, but would also recommend the Meater Pro Duo with an extra probe.
This wireless thermometer is more basic than the RFX or the Combustion (but it is much less expensive). It doesn’t have a separate display and only has a single sensor at the tip of the thermometer. Its charging case doubles as a Bluetooth booster, supposedly extending its range up to 500 feet; however, I found getting that kind of range outdoors required optimal conditions. The companion app is simple but useful, with temperature readings for both what you’re cooking and the ambient temperature as well as the ability to set high and low temperature alerts.
Thermometers we don’t recommend
Not every thermometer earned a spot in our recommendations. Some were outclassed by newer models, others had usability issues, and a few just didn’t offer enough value for the price.
This compact little leave-in thermometer strives for simplicity. A few positives are its small size, dishwasher-safe probe, and AAA battery-powered charging base, plus a snap-on/off hook that helps you pull the stubby probe from deep inside a chicken. Where this diminutive guy fell short was in connectivity. It uses Bluetooth and only connects to your phone. My signal dropped with a chicken in the oven and my phone on the second floor of my house, as well as just a few yards outside the back door. It also gave me some predictive trouble, as it told me to remove a steak well before a competing thermometer did and, sure enough, it never reached my desired temperature from carryover, so I had to stick the meat back under the heat.
The original Meater has simply been outclassed by the newer model. Testers found the Bluetooth signal on this thermometer dropped occasionally, and, because it can only withstand a maximum temperature of 572°F, it isn’t as versatile as the newer Pro models.
The “Block” part of the Meater Block is an interface that is supposed to let you both monitor and set target temperatures. The interface was a little small and slow to respond to the point that the app is preferable to use.
The probe on the Chef IQ is quite short, making insertion easy, but it still packs four sensors (three on the probe and an ambient sensor). It doesn’t come with a display, but has an app that, in addition to providing real time temperature updates no matter where you are, offers recipes with step-by-step instructions and an Instacart integration to order ingredients. But all of that felt a little fussy for something that should just have one job.
Yes, it’s inexpensive, but the ThermoWorks Thermopop offers much less than the Thermapen One. The Thermopop took five seconds to produce an accurate reading of 212°F in the water boiling; if you are looking for a budget thermometer, the Kizen offers much more for less money.
This thermometer has the capability of reading surface temperature using an infrared thermometer, but, even after reading the instructions, we found it confusing to use.
They say you get what you pay for, and this under-$10 thermometer is a good example of that. It feels light and plasticky, and the probe wiggles around when open. Speaking of, opening the thermometer requires pushing a button that springs the probe which then…does not turn on the thermometer; that’s a separate button. Closing it requires figuring out this weird slide/pivot system to click it back into place which then…does not turn off the thermometer. On top of all that, it was also slow, taking multiple seconds to settle on a final temperature in the boiling water and ice water tests. This will work in a pinch, but otherwise it almost feels disposable.
