A digital food thermometer is a handy kitchen tool. It allows you to check the internal temperature of the meat. When you monitor the temperatures of meat, you can pull it from the oven a few minutes before reaching the peak temperature. That can ensure that you serve juicy, tender, and safe meat.

Besides ensuring safety, a meat thermometer allows one to avoid guesswork. Armed with it, you can avoid touching, observing, or smelling your meat to know if it has cooked well. In the rest of this article, we will reveal two types of digital thermometers and their functions. Also, we will discuss the features to look for when selecting the best cooking thermometer.

Digital Food Thermometer: Two Options You Can Pick

When looking for digital meat thermometers, you will encounter two choices. We will discuss each of these below:

Digital Instant Read Thermometers 

The best instant read meat thermometer is so fast and accurate. It is best to use it when you want to check on the doneness of your meat. It generates a temp reading within seconds. An instant read meat thermometer uses thermocouple technology. It has a sensor at the tip of the stem for measuring the temperature. Then it displays it on a screen.

Although they are very quick, digital instant read thermometers are not leave-in gadgets. If you leave them in the oven, they may succumb to high heat. To measure the temperature, lift the grill lid and gauge the internal temperature of the meat. Alternatively, remove your steak from the oven, measure temperature, and return it. An instant read thermometer uses a battery.

When not in use, it turns off by default to save battery charge and prolong its life. These thermometers produce temperature readings in Celcius or Fahrenheit. They have rotating displays too, which makes viewing easier and fun.

Digital Probe Thermometer

The next option you have is a digital probe thermometer. It is an electronic meat thermometer that most people like to use. It has a long probe that you insert in the thickest part of any meat you are cooking. It is oven-safe, meaning that you can leave it attached throughout the cooking time. A digital probe thermometer uses a heat-resistant cord for sending temperature alerts to a digital monitor.

You hold the monitor in your hand or place it somewhere safe. Some digital probe thermometers are wireless. That means their cordless probes send instant alerts to an app you have installed on your smartphone. You do not have to hold the thermometer as it reads temperatures. Instead, read the screen periodically to see how the temps are changing.

If you want to do another task as you cook meat, set an alarm. Your remote thermometer will sound when the meat reaches your target temperature. A digital food thermometer that uses a probe works best in all situations. Whether you are cooking big or small cuts of meat, it is the best. Also, a probe thermometer can measure temperature accurately when you decide to go against your meat recipe by picking larger or smaller cuts of meat.

Finally, a probe thermometer will ensure that you cook thick steaks, briskets, and tenderloins properly. Thick meats cook faster on the outside and slower on the inside. With a probe food thermometer, you can relax. It will also help you cook other types of food like an expert.

A Digital Food Thermometer Buying Guide

A BBQ thermometer is a necessary kitchen appliance for people who cook meat often. It ensures that you cook to a safe minimum temperature and doneness. A digital thermometer is a versatile tool you can use to measure the temperature of your ingredients when baking or grilling. It is such an essential appliance to have. When selecting it, pay attention to the features. The best features to have on your thermometer are:

• Monitor or display – Usually, almost all food thermometers use a tiny digital screen to display temperature readings in a few seconds. As hinted earlier, instant read thermometers are a complete item with a screen on the same tool. Digital probe thermometers may have a cord attaching the probe to a screen that rests outside the grill. The corded devices are great. But, their cords can wear down over time. Probes can also be cordless, meaning that they can transmit signals wirelessly to a phone via Bluetooth.

• Tool for measuring temperature – A probe smoker thermometer has a long and sharp probe with a tip for gauging food temperatures. Once you insert the probe into the meat, you can leave it in there. Another type of instant read thermometer uses infrared radiation to sense the temperature of the meat. It does not need to touch the meat at all. The laser pointer directs the user on where they are pointing the thermometer. The surface-only infrared thermometers are not ideal for checking internal temperatures of thick cuts of meat or chicken breasts. Do not use an infrared device with polished kitchen pots to avoid interfering with the infrared light radiation process.

• What you cook more – If your family loves grilled meat, you may be planning to cook it often. It is best to choose the best food thermometer for meat. It reads temperatures from 140 to 220°F (60 to 104°C). The best way to use a meat thermometer is to insert it in the middle of the fattest area of the meat. That is how to have the most accurate internal temperature readings. If you love to cook thin cuts of meat, some instant read thermometers offer a shorter probe. Do you deep-fry food and candy often? Get a thermometer that can handle high temperatures of between 100 to 600° F (38 to 316°C). They can clip onto the side of a deep pot and display the temperature with a mercury line.

• How and where you like to cook – Do you love to cook on the grill? The best gadget is a grill thermometer. Again, you can select a thermometer that can withstand oven heat or one that does not. However, most grill thermometers look like a small dial device that rests in the grill to track its temperature. Since you want a modern food thermometer, avoid the dial one.

• Is it oven-safe? – A thermometer is oven-safe if it can stay inside the oven as the meat cooks. As a baking enthusiast, you need an oven-safe thermometer. Also, an oven-safe thermometer is ideal when your oven does not display its cooking temperatures or if it does it inaccurately.

• Easy to program – We are now in the digital age when most people like advanced electronic gadgets. Your best meat thermometer should be easy to program. It should have an automatic shut-off feature, for instance, to shut itself down when not in use. This feature can help prolong the battery life. Also, it should feature temperature control settings with a minimum and a maximum setting. An alarm, a timer, and other add-on features can make a single food thermometer more resourceful.

• How does it transmit signals? – A digital food thermometer may have a cord, or it may be cordless. If you want to keep a distance from your cooker when cooking, choose a wireless kitchen thermometer. It consists of probe wires that connect it to a monitor that transmits temp readings to a receiver. Some of these have Bluetooth technology and send temperature readings to a phone. So you need to activate the Bluetooth function on the thermometer and the phone.

Final Thoughts

You can take advantage of modern digital food thermometer functions if you pick your gadget carefully. Depending on what you cook regularly, where you place your cooker, and your cooking method, there is an appropriate thermometer for you. Focus on our buying guide when selecting a smoker thermometer with modern features.