Oven – How to know if the meat thermometer is ovenproof

equipmentoventemperaturethermometer

Ever since a supposedly "ovenproof" thermometer shattered glass on my turkey Thanksgiving 2006 I have been afraid of these things. Is it generally safe to use them? Any maximum temperature I should be worried about?

Best Answer

I'd suggest a digital probe thermometer AND an instant read digital thermometer like the OXO (which is pretty cheap) or the Thermapen (which isn't). A leave-in probe lets you monitor the general progress of the food, giving you a good way to gauge how much cooking time remains without having to open the oven and slow down the process. The instant read variety is great for checking the internal temperature of all sorts of food that you might not normally measure -- steaks on the grill, mashed potatoes, stocks and soups (to make sure that they're cooling quickly enough), bread (to check for doneness)...

Both leave-in and instant read are extremely useful, and neither of them will expose your turkey to the risk of glass shards.