Charcoal chops, shoe-leather steak and chicken that ‘definitely needs another ten minutes’… when I’m in the middle of cooking a complicated meal it’s easy to mess up the main event, and boy have I
made some expensive mistakes.
But that’s all Gaviscon under the bridge since I tested the best meat thermometers, which tell me exactly when any joint of meat or fish dish is perfect.
No more worries that my Christmas bird is going put everyone in A&E by Boxing Day, these are so easy to use and prove that thinking ‘temperature, not time’ is the best way to get great results.
We all know that timing is everything in the kitchen, and getting everything ready to go all at once can get any chef in a flap. Since I’ve used these gadgets and learned to rest meat properly when it
comes out of the oven, I don’t have that last-minute panic as the meat is cooked just the way a chef would and is waiting to be served, rather than yanked from the oven last-minute.
I’ve picked up so many tips from the booklets that came with these new kitchen toys. Now I realise that meat continues to cook when it’s removed from the oven, that I should always bring it to room
temperature before cooking and to test the thickest part of the meat.
Thanks to these nifty helpers, I’ll never get a roasting from the family for my sub-par Sunday lunch again.
ProCook Instant Read Digital Thermometer
Instant Read Digital Thermometer from ProCook, £12 – buy here
This meat thermometer comes with clear instructions, and it’s so straightforward you will be monitoring your meat with minimum effort, with the battery already in place.
There are two rubber buttons on the back of the brushed steel probe, on/off and C/F to choose between Celsius and Fahrenheit readings.
A glowing red backlight makes the LCD display easy to see
and I found the readings very accurate.
A long, spiked probe meant it was a cinch to get temperatures from even larger joints for the family roast so this would be a winner for monitoring a monster Christmas turkey.
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Terrailon Thermo Chef Measuring Fork Digital Meat Thermometer
Terrailon Thermo Chef Measuring Fork Digital Meat Thermometer from Lakeland, £15.99 – buy here
Press the ‘meat’ button on the main handle to scroll through the choice of pre-programmes for beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken and turkey (or ‘no selection’ if you want a simple temperature read-out.)
Then choose your perfect temperature by scrolling through choices via the ‘taste’ button – well done, medium, medium rare or rare. You know you’ve hit the right spot when you use the prongs and hear a beep that shows your dish is perfect.
By far the largest thermometer I tried, you’re certainly not going to lose this in a busy kitchen but wish I could say the same about the small protective coverings for the prongs which could be
easily lost in the chaos of Christmas dinner prep.
It may rival that spud masher as a drawer blocker, so pop it in a cupboard instead.
Meater +
Meater +, £98.99 from Lakeland– buy here
This is a bigger-budget gadget that foodies froth over, making it a cool gift for the carnivore chef in your life.
Linked via the Meater phone app, the probe stays in the meat or fish as it cooks and sends a signal to your handset with a cooking time countdown, an alert to remove from the heat and optimum
resting time.
The results are impressive, with some bigger joints taking less time to come to the perfect temperature than my well-worn recipe books may have suggested. Once I trusted in the process the Meater proved itself every time, with moist chicken, tender steak and succulent Sunday joints.
Working up to 10 metres away with Bluetooth, or 50 with Wi-Fi, I didn’t have problems with connection and got every alert as planned. I loved the way I could search for a specific joint of meat and my desired level of cooking, and I could connect to Alexa, see a graph of the completed cook temperatures and even share my cooks online.
You can read my in-depth review of the Meater+ here. One thing’s for sure, this is my new best buddy in the kitchen. As the app says when it’s time to serve it will be ‘happy eating’ all round.
OXO Good Grips Digital Instant Read Thermometer
OXO Good Grips Digital Instant Read Thermometer, £27 from Amazon – buy here
This was one of my favourite thermometers in the line up, but I am sucker for OXO Good Grips’ chunky styling. Just like my favourite potato peeler and garlic press, this monitor was built to last
and easy to use.
The large digital display can be tilted to 90 degrees, which helps when you don’t want to have to pull meat right out of the oven when using it. The display does pop off after a few minutes, though, to
conserve battery power.
There is a shaded area on steel probe, which should be at the centre of the meat. If checking on a whole chicken or turkey, make sure it’s at the thickest part of the breast as well as between the
thigh and body.
The sturdy cover on this model had incredibly useful temperature reminders for beef, lamb, pork – medium rare to well done and readings for fresh or pre-cooked, ham, and both poultry thigh and
breast.
A handy must-have for every kitchen, this was a real chef’s helper.
Judge Meat/Poultry Thermometer
Judge Meat/Poultry Thermometer, £7.49 from Amazon – buy here
You may not get the pinpoint accuracy of digital thermometers with this model, but you’ll also never get it out of the kitchen drawer and realise the batteries are dead.
A traditional dial probe, this thermometer has a wide display with readings to show when everything from fresh turkey to veal and cooked ham are ready to come out of the oven.
The stainless steel probe was slightly shorter than some of the other models I tested, but still did the job with a family sized turkey and large bone-in rib of beef, showing timings for rare, medium and
well-done meat.
This is a bargain kitchen tool that should always be to hand and won’t let you down.
Thermapen ONE
ONE Digital Thermometer, £60 from Amazon – buy here
If you take cooking seriously, this is a wonderfully accurate piece of kit. With a one-second response time, you can get in and out of the oven or barbecue quick-style.
The Thermapen can twist around for easy reading and the backlight automatically comes on when it senses low light, for example. The ONE also has a motion sensor that will automatically switch off to
save battery power if you’ve forgotten to close it after use.
The large digital read out will never be upside down, no matter what angle the probe is at, since it jumps to the correct angle.
With a casing is made from an anti-microbial material for extra hygiene, this model is especially easy to keep clean, as it’s dust and watertight. You could drop this in a basin of water and it would be
useable up to 30 minutes later.
This chunky thermometer opens like a pen knife and would make any chef – amateur or pro – happy on Christmas morning (check out Thermapen’s gift guide for more ideas, including holders and even
probe wipes).
Choose from a range of great colours. I tested a Midnight Blue ONE which was stylish and looked great in my navy kitchen.
This thermometer also comes with a very generous five-year guarantee, so it’s going to be a long-term gadget for the passionate cook.
Polder Programmable In-Oven Thermometer with Ultra Probe
Polder Programmable In-Oven Thermometer with Ultra Probe, £24.99 from Lakeland – buy here
With a silicon cord that’s just over a meter long, this digital thermometer is best kept on the kitchen worktop or use its strong magnet backing to place on stainless steel splashback or cooker hood. The probe stays in the meat as it cooks.
Pre-set with safe temperatures for food set by the US Department of Agriculture, you can choose between one setting for both beef and veal, then lamb, pork and poultry. The open setting means you can also store your own setting for use with a favourite recipe – for me, I tried 145 degrees for salmon steaks which came out just as the family like them.
With a pre-alert beep to warn you it’s almost time to remove your dish, this gadget then gives a ‘ready’ alert, times a three-minute resting period for the meat and also sounds an alarm if you’ve left
something to cook for too long. Failsafe and great quality, it also has a one-year warranty.
Heston Blumenthal Instant Read Meat Thermometer
Heston Blumenthal Instant Read Meat Thermometer, £17.24 from Salter – buy here
Think of yourself as a mad gastronomic genius a la Heston? You’ll need this precision thermometer to make sure your imaginative dishes are cooked to perfection.
This probe is really well designed, with a sleek stainless steel cover that even has a clip like you’d find on a ballpoint pen, so you can pop it on your pinny (or lab coat).
The thermometer sensor is in the very tip of the main spike, which is topped with a large digital read-out which can easily be changed from Fahrenheit to Centigrade. It’s very accurate, with super-fast readings.
Although billed as a meat thermometer, this gadget is also good for testing jams and sugars for sweet-making. There’s a little loop at the end of the cover, to let you slide the probe at right angles over a pan, which makes it much safer when testing boiling sugar, for example.
We love that there’s a fridge magnet included that lists perfect temperatures for different cuts and styles, handy!