How to Use a Meat Thermometer (Where to Put It, and When)

A thermometer is the single most useful tool a griller can own, because it replaces guessing with a number. The USDA is blunt about why guessing fails: color is not a reliable sign of doneness, and a hamburger cooked to 160°F, as measured with a food thermometer, is safe regardless of its color. But a thermometer only gives the right number if the tip is in the right place.

The one rule: the center of the thickest part

The USDA’s instruction is to place the thermometer in the thickest part of the food, away from bone, fat or gristle. Bone, fat and gristle heat differently from the muscle around them, so a reading taken against them misleads. The thickest part is the last place to cook through, so that is the reading that matters.

Which kind of thermometer, and what to look for

The USDA compares several types, and the differences that matter at the grill are speed and whether it stays in the meat.

For most grilling, a fast digital instant-read. Steaks, burgers, chops and chicken cook in minutes, and a reading in a few seconds means the lid is open for a few seconds. Look for a thin probe, a fold-away design, and waterproofing so it can be rinsed.

For smoking and roasts, a leave-in probe as well. On a long cook a probe that stays in the meat — wired to a base or fully wireless — tells you the temperature without opening the lid at all. The USDA’s smoking guidance is that an oven-safe thermometer can stay in the meat during smoking, with an instant-read used once the meat comes out.

Skip the pop-up timer as your only check. The USDA says checking with a conventional food thermometer is always recommended.

Where to put it, cut by cut

The full list of safe temperatures is on our grilling temperature chart, and the cut-specific guides — steak, burgers and chicken breast — put the thermometer to work.

How to take a reading, step by step

1. Check near the end. The USDA says to use the thermometer near the end of the estimated cooking time, checking before the food is expected to be done.
2. Go in from the right direction. Top-down into the thickest part of a thick cut; through the side for anything thin.
3. Wait for the number to settle. A digital instant-read settles in seconds; a dial takes much longer.
4. Compare it with the safe minimum. If it is short, give it a few more minutes and check again in the same spot.
5. Rest where required. Steaks, chops and roasts of beef, pork, veal and lamb get at least 3 minutes of rest at 145°F, per the USDA.
6. Clean it. The USDA says to wash thermometers with hot, soapy water or according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and notes most should not be immersed in water — which is why a waterproof one is worth having.

How to check a thermometer is accurate

The USDA’s ice-water test is the easy one: immerse the stem at least 2 inches in a glass of ice water, wait at least 30 seconds, and it should read 32°F. The boiling-water test should read 212°F at sea level, though the USDA notes boiling water’s temperature varies at high altitude. If a thermometer reads off and cannot be adjusted, replace it — a thermometer you cannot trust is worse than none, because you will believe it.

The mistakes that give a wrong number

Touching bone. It gives a misleading reading. Going too deep or too shallow. Either misses the center. Checking once, in one place, on a big cut. The USDA says to check large roasts in several places and whole poultry in three. Trusting color. The USDA’s point exactly.

Not sure between a fast instant-read and a wireless probe? Our instant-read vs wireless comparison settles it, and if a MEATER is on the list, MEATER Plus vs Pro explains the difference between the models.