While you can take a lot of liberties in cooking or grilling, temperature is not one of them. Heating your food to the proper internal temperature will ensure the perfect bite -- not to mention food safety. Whether you're trying to grill up some burgers for a family cookout or smoke a brisket for 15 hours, temperature matters. And we found the best meat thermometers that instantly measure temperature, have great battery life and are user-friendly.
Our Picks
What's the best meat thermometer?
Throughout our testing, the Meater Pro came out on top. It's accurate, like all the probes on this list, but the added benefit of the 1,000-degree maximum temperature makes it the most well-rounded probe overall.
We've probed the top meat thermometers on the market to ensure you can grill, smoke, roast, bake or however else you want to cook your meat to perfection every time.
Best meat thermometers
Pros
- Capable of being deep fried
- Excellent connection
- A single AAA battery to charge
Cons
- Bamboo case can get grimy quickly
The first time I saw the Meater 2 Plus, now called the Meater Pro, I knew I had to use it. Whether it's a rack of ribs or a spatchcock chicken, I do a lot of cooking in the backyard, but it takes a long time to cook. You really want to cook slowly and evenly on a grill to keep the juices in.
The Meater Pro lets me put the temperature probe into the meat, close the grill lid and maintain a connection to my phone. Not only is the connection tremendous, but if you tell the app what meat you're cooking, it can work out the resting time, too, giving you a perfect piece of meat every time. The update to the Meater Pro means it can be much closer to the heat, and you can even deep fry a turkey.
Read more about it here: Our Meater 2 Plus hands-on
Pros
- Instant heat reading
- Auto shut off to conserve battery
Cons
- No app connection
I've used digital meat probes plenty of times, but often, when I need to use them, the battery is dead. When it works, the display is hard to read and takes around 5-10 seconds to get an accurate temp reading. The ThermoPro Lightning solves those issues and more.
Right from the top, the ThermoPro Lightning takes accurate readings of ±0.5°F in one second. This means your grill or oven lid is open for less time, reducing heat loss. It also means that you can make better decisions about when your food will be ready based on reliable readings.
As for solving the battery issue, the ThermoPro Lightning automatically shuts off after 90 seconds if you don't fold the probe closed. When you are using the probe, the large LED screen rotates based on how you're holding the probe to ensure you can always read the read-out without issues, even if you're left-handed. This instant-read meat probe is a must-have for any cook.
Pros
- Great display
- Good looking
- Accurate
Cons
- A little pricey
The Typhur Sync has been one of my go-to probes for a while now. I like how solid the case is and how easy the LED display is to read. While the app works fine, and having it connected to the phone is great, the display makes it perfect for those quick steak and chicken cooks on a griddle rather than a slow roast. I especially like the flared base of the probe, too. It makes it much easier to pull out when your hands are greasy.
The Typhur Sync is a little pricey, but the dual probe setup and vivid display make it a great purchase if you cook meat every day.
Pros
- Base is a wifi booster
- LED on the base
- Quick labeling of meat
Cons
- Max temperature is a little low
ThermoPro's Twin TempSpike gets a whole lot right for a great price. The retail price of $180 isn't cheap, but it is regularly on sale and packs some really great features into the dual probe package.
For starters, making the probe handle different colors (black and white) to coincide with the charger, booster, and LED readout on the base makes a big difference when using the probes. It allows you to quickly know which portion of the meat or piece of meat you are checking without needing to do specific labeling yourself. When you pair to the app, you can change the labels for your cook if you choose.
As for that base, not only does it keep your probes charged up and ready for use, but it also acts as a booster to extend the wireless range of the probes to 500 feet. The LED readout on the booster helps you to keep tabs on your cook when you don't want to use your phone, and the backlight means you can use it for late-night cookouts. The phone app lets you get notifications, check temps and choose from recommended meat profiles to get the best results.
I do wish the maximum internal temp was a bit higher. It is limited to 212°F, which is usually more than enough. When cooking things like a brisket where you're going to aim for closer to 225°F, the extra headroom would be helpful.
Meat thermometer FAQs
Ensuring you cook your meat to the proper temps for tenderness, juiciness, and safety is as important as how you season your meat.
How far do wireless meat thermometer reach?
How accurate are wireless meat thermometers?
Are wired or wireless meat thermometers better?
How we test meat thermometers
The most important part of any thermometer testing is accuracy. We weight this criteria most heavily when compiling entries to the best list, and it is the most scientific of the tests. We use a medical-grade thermometer as our baseline for accuracy and test the meat probe variance to that temperature.
Ice water testing
Testing the accuracy of a thermometer usually involves a cup, some ice cubes, and water. Due to the nature of water it can be a liquid and a solid at 32F (0C) so we can reliably get it to be that temperature. By filling a tall glass with ice cubes and adding water — chilled water so the ice doesn't melt — you can bring that water down to 32F.
We then insert both the medical-grade probe and the meat probe we are testing and stir it until the medical grade thermometer reads 32F. When that happens we record the temperature reading of the meat probe we are testing to see what, if any, variance there is.
Why don't we use heat?
You would think that using heat would make more sense. After all, these are probes for grilling meat, so high heat is more important, right? Unfortunately, heat is dependent on many factors, such as altitude and pressure, that we can't always control. The freezing point of water is always the same, though, wherever you are, so we can ensure accuracy independent of location.
