The Best Thermometers for Ovens

Best Thermometers: Admetior – T837AH is the finest oven thermometer for precisely monitoring temperatures throughout an oven’s cooking cycles, according to our tests of seven of the highest-rated oven thermometers. The AcuRite – 00620A2, a close runner-up, was likewise impeccably accurate in all of our testing and simple to read through the tempered glass of an oven door.

Best Thermometers: Important aspects to think about

There aren’t many free-standing oven thermometers available, and they all have the same design: a dial face with a diameter of two to three inches, a hook for hanging the thermometer on an oven rack, and a base for supporting it. Several standout characteristics emerged during our investigation and testing.

Accuracy: Without a doubt, this is the most crucial quality you want in an oven thermometer. All of the thermometers we examined, with the exception of two — the Admetior – T837AH and the AcuRite – 00620A2 — were off by 10 to 40 degrees. For instance, in all of our testing, the CDN – DOT2, America’s Test Kitchen’s top recommendation, was consistently 25 degrees colder.

Readability: This might seem like a given, but it’s not. The tempered glass on your oven door must allow you to see the thermometer’s dial so you won’t have to open it while cooking and let the heat inside the oven out.

The font sizes for the marks and digits on each of the thermometers that we evaluated varied. The majority of them were too tiny to read through the door of our test oven. The Admetior – T837AH, the AcuRite, and the Taylor – 5932 all have big numerals and markings, making them the simplest to read. However, AcuRite’s strong typeface gave it a tiny advantage over Admetior and Taylor.

Wide base: Hanging an oven thermometer from an oven rack is essentially worthless if you’ve ever used one. To avoid knocking the thermometer off when adding a casserole or roasting pan, it might be challenging to place it in the center of the oven, which is where the majority of food is baked or roasted.

The majority of oven racks have a grid with 1.5-inch spacing. In order to be sturdy when placed on top of the rack, an oven thermometer has to have a base that is at least 2.25 inches wide. The three models with solid, no-prong bases were outperformed in stability by the four thermometers with two-prong bases, which we evaluated.

How did we test?

We first had to check the calibration of our test oven. The Taylor – 147281 and the ThermoPro – TP21, our two top selections, were used to measure the temperature in our oven as part of our study of digital meat thermometers.

After placing both probes in the middle of the oven, we preheated them to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Even though you shouldn’t actually use an infrared thermometer to verify the temperature of your oven, we tried it out and found that its temperature reading of 352° F matched what our probes picked up.

Our oven’s thermostat remained correct even after we raised the temperature to 450 degrees. We also compared the temperature readings from an infrared thermometer, and they agreed with the values from the probes. We knew we had a calibrated oven because of this. We maintained the probes inside the oven the whole time we were testing it, and we kept an eye on the temperatures as it heated and cooled.

In the middle of the cold oven, we arranged the thermometers in a line. The Rubbermaid – FGTHO550 has to be hung because the base is just 1.5 inches wide. We measured the temperatures of each thermometer when the oven was heated to 250°, 350°, and 450°. We ran these experiments seven times over the period of three days, letting the oven cool between runs.

1. Admetior – T837AH: Best Overall

Best Thermometers: In all of our testing, the Admetior – T837AH consistently displayed the correct oven temperature as the winner. The Admetior has a stainless-steel frame with a distinctive design and a 2.1-inch face. (It also has a 1.7-inch base, which we believe to be inadequate.) The Admetior has a square design with curving edges on a 2.75-inch, two-pronged base, unlike all the other oven thermometers we examined, which are all rounded. The Admetior’s unique shape also improved its stability and balance on the oven rack.

The numerals and marks of the Admetior are quite legible and regularly spaced. It was simple to read because it didn’t include the distracting colors or extraneous cooking phrases (such as “bake,” “roast,” etc.) of other thermometers. The other thermometers we examined featured an inner circle with temperatures in Celsius, but they were unreasonably tiny and impossible to read through an oven’s glass. We appreciated that this thermometer solely displayed temperatures in Fahrenheit.

2. AcuRite – 00620A2: Second place

Best Thermometers: The AcuRite – 00620A2 was just as accurate as the Admetior, so we were surprised that it didn’t have as many positive reviews on Amazon as the other thermometers we examined. Due to its large, prominent temperature numbers, which, like the Admetior, are exclusively in Fahrenheit, the AcuRite was also the simplest to read. (Excuse me, rest of the world!)

Cooking terminology does take up a portion of the AcuRite’s 2.1-inch display, and the degree indications that are positioned in between the temperature numbers are little and closely spaced. With some squinting on our side, we could still see them through the oven glass.

3. Taylor – 5932

Best Thermometers: The Taylor – 5932 was one of our biggest oven thermometers, with a 3-inch dial face. Its two-pronged, 3-inch base ensured that the thermometer would remain upright even when knocked. The huge numbers and degree markers on this Taylor model are what most customers choose to purchase. Although we would have appreciated it if temperatures were of a strong type, the Taylor was still simple to see even with two inner rings for Celsius temperature and suggested heating zones for warming, baking, and roasting.

The Taylor had inconsistent accuracy. When the temperature was greater, however, it was 25 degrees lower than the real temperature. At lower temperatures, it was only wrong by a few degrees.

4. Winco – TMT-OV3

Best Thermometers: Another large-face oven thermometer is the Winco. It features a 3-inch face and a similar design to the Taylor but is more challenging to read. Up to 300° F, temperature numbers and degree markers are huge and black; between 305° and 500° F, the numerals are light red and vanish behind the oven door glass. Additionally, degrees in Celsius are shown in black until 140° and then in red until 150°.

A confused jumble of instructions in black and red for handling hot food and lowering temperatures is also crowded onto the huge clock face. The Winco provided us with erratic readings throughout our testing, with variations of 5 to 50 degrees.

5. Cooper-Adkins – 24HP-01-1

Best Thermometers: The Cooper-Atkins – 234HP-01-1 is somewhat bigger than the AcuRite, but the borders of the temperature digits are partially hidden by the stainless-steel casing, which covers up.25 inches of its face. The only thing we can say about this thermometer is that it has a sturdy 2.5-inch base, so it kept steady on the oven rack. One of the poorest performers, the Cooper-Atkins never once displayed the right temperature.

6. CDN – DOT2

Best Thermometers: It’s time for America’s Test Kitchen to reevaluate its top selection for the most accurate oven thermometer, the CDN-DOT2. We concur with ATK’s assessment that the CDN – DOT2’s large, legible temperature numbers make it simple to see and that its broad base keeps it from toppling. But we hardly agree on anything else. Since there are no specific degree markers, we have to make a best-guess estimate of the temperature: There was no way to tell if it was 352 or 354 degrees. Inaccurate readings from the CDN-DOT2 ranged from 12-28 degrees colder.

7. Rubbermaid – FGTHO550

Best Thermometers: On Amazon, the Rubbermaid – FGTHO550 is incorrectly referred to be an “instant read.” This assertion was put to the test, and it was found to be untrue: the least accurate thermometer was a normal oven thermometer. Compared to most other thermometers, Rubbermaid’s stainless-steel housing seems more sturdy and long-lasting; nonetheless, the thermometer’s base is too thin, causing it to fall between the oven rack’s grid. The font size of the temperature numbers in both Fahrenheit and Celsius is the same, which we found to be difficult to read at a glance.

Only once did the Rubbermaid provide a correct temperature measurement; in the other six tests, it varied by much to 40 degrees.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Oven thermometers—can they be left in the oven?

Measuring the temperature of meat shouldn’t be done with a thermometer that isn’t made to stay inside an oven while it’s on (or any other food item). A medical thermometer, for instance, is designed to measure a person’s body temperature. Never place it inside an oven.

Where is the oven’s hotter area?

The sides, bottom, and top of your oven are its hotter areas. The air gets hotter the closer you approach those metal barriers. Therefore, anything baked on the outside of the oven will bake and brown quicker than anything prepared in the middle.

Which meat thermometer may be used inside the oven?

Thermometer for Meat in the Oven

Before roasting or grilling, a meat thermometer suitable for ovens is inserted into any size or cut of meat (whole turkeys, roasts, chicken breasts, you name it!). While roasting in the oven or grilling, this kind of thermometer may stay within the meat.

What degree of doneness should meat have?

When preparing meat or eggs at home, keep in mind these three crucial temperatures: Eggs and all ground meats must be cooked to a temperature of 160°F, whereas fresh meat steaks, chops, and roasts must be cooked to a temperature of 145°F. Check temperatures using a thermometer.