Our search for the best digital meat thermometer was fueled by a certain urgency. As you probably know, timing is super important in cooking and baking.
“Is dinner ready, yet?” We hear that line a lot in our home.
Our kids, when they’re hungry, will sit and cajole until the meat comes out of the oven.
The trouble is that because we have kids, we’re not going to take any chances with when “it’s done” and you don’t have to either if you use a meat thermometer.
The good news is that we don’t have to take chances.
You can’t tell if meat is cooked by touching it (and you risk burning your fingers if you do), nor can you really tell by slicing into it or even hacking it up.
You need to know whether it’s reached a safe temperature or not and that’s why every house needs a meat thermometer.
We’ve been taking some time this month to review a bunch of digital meat thermometers and to work out which one is the best meat thermometer.
We’re going to share our answer with you but first let’s take a close look at why you need one.
Why You Need The Best Digital Meat Thermometer
Want to know something scary. The CDC reckons that nearly 50 million Americans will get some form of food borne illness this year.
Want to avoid getting sick from your food? Then you need to ensure it’s cooked through.
A Quick Temperature Guide
- Beef: Should reach 145 degrees minimum throughout to be considered cooked medium-well
- Pork: Should reach 145 degrees minimum throughout to be considered cooked
- Chicken: Should reach 165 degrees minimum throughout to be considered cooked
Why It’s A Bad Idea To Trust Yourself To Check If Meat Is Cooked
We know, experienced chefs are always convinced that they’re quite capable of deciding whether meat is cooked and we know, experience chefs often get it wrong.
Ever watched Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen?Those are the best trainee chefs in the nation and their food is sent back constantly for being undercooked.
Why?
- Lighting varies. A glance at the meat under the wrong light and you can completely misread how well done it is.
- Protein changes color and then changes back. Yes, cut open some proteins they look cooked because they react to the air, look again 5 minutes later and they’re blood red again.
When Do You Use The Best Meat Thermometer?
You use a meat thermometer whenever you cook meat. This includes when you grill it, when you fry it, when you roast it and when you BBQ among countless other methods of cooking. It’s quite simple – always use one.
To get the best reading – don’t take the meat off the heat. Insert the thermometer into the center of the thickest part of the meat.
You should also use it on things like stuffing (which gets contaminated with meat juices) gravy, casseroles, etc. We like to use ours on egg dishes too which ought to be cooked to 160 degrees throughout to ensure they’re salmonella free.
The Best Digital Meat Thermometers Of 2019 | The ThermoWorks ThermoPop
Delightfully named, the Thermopop works extremely well and it’s very fast to use. It takes about 3 seconds to go from insertion to final temperature and that’s very quick.
You can get faster digital meat thermometers but only if you want to pay through the nose for it.
It’s the first rotating display pocket thermometer. Press a button and the display rotates in 90 degree increments. You can hold the Thermopop in either hand and even read it updside down.
Some other nice features are the splash-proof design, the big backlit digits on the display and the ability to switch from celsius to fahrenheit.
With standard lithium batteries you can expect the Thermopop to function for up to 5000 hours.
Plus, the Thermopop comes in 9 eye-catching colors. Have fun with it!
The thin probe is long enough to hit the center of any meat possible (unless you’re cooking an elephant maybe) and yet it lets very little meat juice out.
We liked it a lot and we’re positive that you will too.
Honorable Mentions For The Best Digital Meat Thermometer Of 2019
If you don’t like The ThermoWorks ThermoPop then we have two more recommendations for you!
First Runner Up | Lavatools PT12 Digital Ultra Fast Meat Thermometer
A little cheaper, a little shorter and a little slower than the ThermoWorks ThermoPop, the Lavatools meat thermometer is still an excellent buy.
The large display makes it very easy to read.
Our only concern is that it may be too short to reach the center of really thick cuts of meat. However, not all families cook giant slabs of meat, do they?
You can check the latest data on the Lavatools PT12 Digital Ultra Fast Meat Thermometer on Amazon.
Second Runner Up | Habor 022 Meat Thermometer
The cheapest selection on offer. It’s not as fast as the other thermometers, the smaller display is not ideal if you have any eyesight problems, it’s not very easy to read, but at this price it’s an excellent buy.
We were particularly pleased to note that the readings we got from it were exactly the same as our top performing picks. This is serious value for money.
You can check the latest data on the Habor 022 Meat Thermometer on Amazon.
Searching for kitchen tools or gadgets for your home? Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to the 50+ Best Kitchen Gadgets for 2020.
