I don’t really consider a probe thermometer in the first tier of kitchen instruments, like I do a sharp knife and a sturdy pan. It’s a nicety, something you acquire when you want to add a little more precision to your cooking — you don’t need one when you’re roasting a chicken, but it sure does eliminate the guess work.
The basics of a probe thermometer are these: a metal probe, about six inches long or so, gets inserted into a piece of meat that you then put in your oven or on your grill to cook. A wire several feet in length connects to a device with a readout that tells you the temperature. Usually you can set an alarm to go off when the probe hits a certain point and you don’t have to worry about over or under cooking dinner. Once you start cooking according to temperature, instead of time, you’ll never go back.
Simple though this may sound, most probe thermometers are garbage. They run about $10-$15 and aren’t worth a tenth of that. I’ve burned through three or four in the past few years, trashed for being burdened with complexity and underprivileged in functionality. Most simply crap out after a few months, inexplicably.
Having suffered yet another failure, I was recently in my local kitchen supply store resigned to dropping yet another ten spot on yet another soon-to-be-junk thermometer when I spotted the OXO Good Grips Digital Leave-In Meat Thermometer. I honestly don’t own much OXO gear, I’ve never really liked their aesthetic and I think they tend a bit too much towards the gadgetiziation of our kitchens, though I do admire the thought they put into their designs (Company President Alex Lee talked about OXO’s design philosophy at the 2008 Gel conference). I was intrigued because not only was this a $40 thermometer but the shape, long and rectangular with about half the number of buttons, stood out immediately. Despite the expense, I decided this would be my next thermometer.
Where most of the readouts I’ve used are stout and squarish, this one is sleek and long. Turns out there’s a good reason for this as the probe fits right inside the display with the cable wrapping around the outside for a single, compact unit. Brilliant! No more sticking myself on a rogue probe in my gear drawer. The interface is wonderfully simple — a button for temperature, one for a timer, up and down keys, a confirm and reset button. There are controls along the top for flipping between Celsius and Fahrenheit and turning the alarm on or off. The last model I had had twice as many buttons molded in plastic that only worked on every other press and all sorts of bizarre, difficult to explain features and modes.
Setting the temp couldn’t be easier — you can either pick your own or choose based on the type of meat and desired doneness. Happily, the good people at OXO have decided to include both the official USDA doneness temps and chef-suggested ones that will help ensure your food is safe but not overdone. It will mean the difference between a perfect steak and one that more resembles beef jerky. Accuracy seemed to be spot on, I boiled a pot of water and it registered between 211.7° and 212.2°F, a level of fluctuation I consider perfectly acceptable for cooking at home.
My only concern was the silicon coated cable and whether it might melt in the oven; other probes I’ve used sheath their cables in metal. OXO says their cable is fine up to about 475°F, I tested it in my oven at 450°F for half an hour and didn’t have any problems though I’m not sure I’d venture much higher. I do most of my roasting between 350° and 425°F so I’m not so worried.
Considering I’ve probably spent around $50 on probe thermometers through the years, I’m hoping that this investment might be the one that finally pays off.
