ThermoPro TP-17 Digital Meat Thermometer with Dual Probe, Large LCD Backlight & Timer - Perfect for Grilling, Smoking, BBQ, Oven Cooking & Kitchen Use

I didn't know there were thermometers like this when I started searching on Amazon. My old thermometer had broken, and I went to the local grocery store to replace it. But all they had were instant thermometers. Pathetic, in my opinion! So you wrap up meat, stick it in the oven, then what--have to pull it out a bunch of times to...what--stick through your wrappings, puncturing the perfect cover? Try to carefully unwrap them, then wrap the super-hot thing back again (unlike the perfect job you did while it was cold), which also causes a great deal of heat to escape, setting the cooking back? NO! I had to find something to replace my decades-old technology, so I could just glance in the oven and see if it's there yet. As I searched, while prices were reasonable, it seemed a high percentage of people were disgusted with the best-rated thermometers--at least those most similar to my (many decades-old) technology thermometer. Inaccuracy, number markings quickly wearing off, working well for a short time, then failing, etc. Then I came across the ThermoPro TP-17. It wasn't what I was looking for, and I didn't know what to expect. Would wires really fit through the closed oven door with no problem to the seal as it closed? (I discovered this was absolutely no problem—simple and intuitive—you can’t tell the door is affected in the least by the super-thin wire. But NOT for use in microwaves!!!) But people seemed happier with this thermometer than the reviews of others. So I check out the negative reviews (as I also did with the old-style thermometers, like from 50+ years ago), and I find that generally speaking, the concerns are minimal. For example, the reasons for failure are often (if not typically, even when undisclosed) user-caused, such as getting the wire wet. You want to be careful, but even then it's possible to get it wet I suppose...then what? ThermoPro stands behind it! I just registered online. You don’t have to give personal info*--primarily give them the Amazon's purchase #, so they know you really did legitimately buy it. Cut & paste (I don't even remember giving my name*, certainly not my address or phone #, but you DO have to give your EMAIL*), and it's done. Now I have a 3-year warranty and support, including their phone # to get their support! They'll even send a replacement wire for free (if I remember correctly), even though it's your own fault. So I got it, and just out of curiosity, held the probe in my hand to see if it would give something close to my body temperature. It climbed very slowly to about 80°. I didn't know what to think--that didn't seem right. Then I accidentally grabbed the tip of the probe, and the temperature shot quickly up to about 96° (I don't remember exactly). So I put it on my neck and closed my chin on it--98° almost immediately (it doesn't measure tenths of degrees, of course--totally unnecessary for cooking). Amazing! Unlike the old technology thermometers, no calibration is ever necessary. (For that matter, when you calibrate the old ones, you are lucky to get reasonably close to the right temperature, but you can work with it.) ThermoPro is spot-on, all the time, never needing calibration. The probe tends to be resistant to temperature affect, because if that weren't the case, it would register the temperature of the oven instead of the meat at the tip of the probe, because much of the probe nearly always sticks out (unless you have a HUGE piece of meat). But it gets FAR more amazing. Very easily (at least for me--I didn't have to read anything to figure this out within seconds just goofing around with it), you can set the thermometer to go off by either timer or temperature. Of course there are plenty of sources you already have for timers--your oven, your microwave, your cell phone, etc., but by TEMPERATURE? I stuck it in the meat, popped it in the oven, then could EASILY watch the temperature of the meat rise--big super-easy-to-read, lighted, numbers. Walk out of the room, start doing whatever you want--get lost on your PC totally forgetting about time, cooking, etc., and BEEP BEEP...the meat just hit the precise temp you wanted! You can adjust your target temperature up, down, or whatever while it's in the oven, and even after it goes off! For instance, set it a few degrees below your actual target, so that you can leisurely walk into the room and watch it pop that perfect number...then move that target up, if you wish. After that, most meat recipes call for the meat to rest out of the oven. Well, in the cool room (i.e. room temperature in the 70's, rather than the oven 200-400°), the center-meat temperature continues to rise (for a good while with a moderately large, covered piece). Just leave the thermometer in it, unmoved, and you can let it get to whatever you desire as perfect. Getting too hot? Cut it open quick--let the center cool. I understand the technology--no more complicated than many watches today, in terms of technology. I just didn't know anyone was doing it. But on the other hand, I really don't know how the probes and especially wires carry the temperature of the probe tips without fouling up the readings due to the probe and wires being openly exposed to the very hot oven area. (It can take extremely hot temperatures--I don't remember what, because it doesn't apply to me--like 500+°.) I HIGHLY recommend this thermometer. It can really perfect your cooking experience with almost no learning curve (at least to my way of thinking). However, remember to keep the wires dry! (No problem for me. But don't be careless about it.)*UPDATE: When registering, while they ask very little, they DO ask for your email. Since registering about 5 days ago, I’ve received an average of an email EVERY DAY. I just changed my Microsoft Outlook to always take anything from them and put it in a ThermoPro folder, so I’ll never be bothered again unless I need something (such as support) from them, in which I can just check that folder. Perhaps it’s nice, informative stuff, but I don’t want it. It does lower my opinion of them—they should have at least offered an “opt out” during registration. I never click emails’ “unsubscribe” feature—you never know what that could trigger. I just put them in their own “sandbox”, never to bother me again.My charcoal grill did not come with a temperature gauge but there were times when I wanted to know both the temperature under the dome and the meat. With two probes, this works perfectly for that application. It comes with a little stand so you can rest one of the probes on the grate while the other is in the meat. The display is very easy to read. I can't say for sure that the temperature is accurate, of course - unless I had another thermometer to compare it to - but the two probes are very consistent, and the ambient temperature was accurate - so I feel confident in the temperature accuracy. Great for the backyard chef that wants that perfect steak!Now my tenderloins are perfect every time. Awesome!I have no complaints about this product. It’s easy to set the desired temperature, and I love having the option to use two probes for different items. My husband and I have used this for items on the grill, in the oven, and on the stovetop. It works great in all applications.I like this thermometer. But there are some things the user needs to know. First this unit has a number of preprogrammed settings for meat eaters. Which is great, I guess, if you are a big meat eater. In my home, we eat lots of vegetables and grains with just a bit of meat, and mostly fish at that. But I love using this thermometer for baking breads. The interior of a loaf of bread needs to get to 195 to 200 deg F in order to be done. The designers could have added a picture of a loaf of bread and a corresponding programmed temperature of 195 deg F to the unit and that would have been a welcome addition to the numerous carnivore programs.Second, the unit comes with a clip (for holding the second temperature probe) that you can use to measure the temperature of your oven using the second probe. Nice touch. But your oven’s temperature control system has a dead band associated with it. So if you set the temperature of your oven to say 450 deg F, the control system will heat it to 460 (for example), then turn off the heat and let it gradually cool to 440 ( for example) and then switch the heat back on, assuming in this case a 20 deg wide dead band. The thermostat in you home works basically the same way, but the dead band is much narrower.I was pleased to learn that the digital thermometer built into my oven and this unit largely agree. And since this unit reads the temperatures nearly instantaneously, you can see your oven’s control system allowing the temperature swings noted above. Anyway, you will want to set the alarm temperature for the probe used to measure the oven’s temperature to something above the highest temperature noted above, or the alarms will drive you nuts.Third, I wish that two alarm temperatures could be associated with a single probe. Why? Well as noted above, I use this digital thermometer for bread making. To be more precise, I bake the bread within a cast iron Dutch oven inside my stove’s oven. The bread starts out with the lid on the Dutch oven, but that lid should be removed when the internal temperature of the loaf is about 175 - 180 deg F and then the bread stays in the uncovered Dutch oven continuing to bake until it’s internal temperature reaches 195 deg F. That allows the bread to brown nicely with a wonderful crust. Not a big deal not having a second alarm temperature, but it would be a nice addition. Just knowing that my bread has reached an internal temperature of 195 deg F is a huge improvement over trying to rely solely on baking times, since as you change the flours used in your breads, both rising times and baking times can change rather dramatically.Fourth, I haven’t used the built in timers. My kitchen is located close to my living room where I have an Apple HomePod. I use Siri to set timers, and Siri easily handles multiple timers should I have one loaf in the oven and a second loaf rising.The long and the short it is that this thermometer seems to be quite accurate and it is a very welcome addition to my bread making technique. And the price is right.More expensive units will communicate with a smart phone. Maybe that’s important to you. But I didn’t see the need and opted against paying more for that added, but for me, unnecessary functionality.Simple to use. Alarm is great, set it. I can see it out my window, never burned anything againI bought this for my smoker and I love it. I can probe both racks of ribs at the same time and set an alarm to notify me when they reach the temperature I want. Super simple to use!Seems to be very close to temperature +-Honestly, I thought it would be better. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, so that's what you'd expect. However, in my experience with it so far, it's been somewhat unreliable in its readings. I've been using it for poultry, as I haven't got a barbecue to be grilling steaks just yet. I insert it in the thickest part of the chicken if it's boneless, and if it's not, I'll try to insert it in the thickest part as far away from the bone as possible. With regards to my readings, it's been saying the chicken is not yet cooked when in fact, it's overcooked. It's also been reading the chicken at 165F while it's still raw on the inside. I'll test it some more, preferably with boneless chicken to be as accurate as possible, and I'll try to remember to update this in the future.I like the item, and it is obviously well designed and well built. The ThermoPro organization, on the other hand, needs to learn a thing (or three) about customer service. I received my unit over a week ago. I opened it up, and saw that by registering my device, I go from a 1 year warranty to a 3 year warranty. Seems like a no-brainer, wouldn't you say?? So I go to register using the native web app on my mobile device. I enter all my info, but for some reason, the "submit" button remained grayed out, so I couldn't actually submit. No problem - probably just an issue with the native (Samsung) web browser. or so I thought... I then went through the entire process again, this time using Chrome. SAME ISSUE! Since then, I have been trying to reach their customer service lead (mark frawley via their zendesk portal) to A) report the bug on their web form and B) to register my product. Despite numerous attempts to reach them, across a few different channels, I have not received any response. So either their feature around "register to get a 3 year warranty" is a scam, OR their customer service group is incredibly unresponsive (in which case, good luck ever trying to get a warranty repair or replacement). Too bad such a nice device is tainted by such sub-par service. I expect better from a North American company. If I wanted cheap garbage and poor service, I would have bought from a different online platform that rhymes with Alley Eckspress.Not happy right now! I opened my temperature thermometer for the first time after buying. I put it next to my microwave on top of my oven it scratched my stainless steel appliance. I also put it next to my oven that also got scratched!!!! Didn't noticed till later in the day when I looked.Why would you guys use the hard type magnet for this type of stuff that people usually stick next to their oven me oven microwave?This thing works amazing. Readings are very quick and accurate, having four probes is an awesome luxury when you're e.g. cooking several steaks at once, BBQing, etc. or cooking a bird where you need breast and thigh readings at the same time.Also this thing seems to run forever on one battery. I don't actually turn it off anymore. It just stays permanently turned on while stuck to my range hood via the magnets and I just grab the probe and use it whenever I want. I measure my coffee I took out of the microwave, I throw a probe into a pot I've put on the boil to beep at me when the pot is just about to boil. I stick a probe into my microwaved leftovers to see if there's a cold spot. There are tons of uses for it besides sticking it into a steak or a bird.I only really ever use one probe at a time for the most part but it's nice to know I have three spares in a drawer. I have presets at 135F (fish/steak), 150F (chicken), 200F (boiling water), etc. and just plug the probe into whichever port makes sense for what I'm doing at the time.I love this thing and I will use this for a long time.