Picked up a $50 infrared thermometer from Harbor Freight, ended up saving my Thanksgiving turkey

Last month I got one of those cheap infrared thermometers (you know, the kind you point at stuff) and figured I'd use it for checking my HVAC vents. But then on Thanksgiving I pointed it at my turkey while it was resting and realized the internal temp was way lower than my probe said - like 15 degrees off. Turns out my old probe thermometer was giving me false readings for months, and I had been undercooking poultry this whole time. Has anyone else caught a broken thermometer this way?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.uma5d ago

Wait I just realized something nobody's talking about. Those cheap infrared thermometers are GREAT for checking if your oven is actually at the right temp too. I pointed mine at my oven walls and got wildly different readings from different spots turns out my oven was running 30 degrees hotter than the dial said. So I've been burning things for years and didnt know. Your probe thermometer failure plus oven calibration issues could be a DOUBLE problem. Check your ovens hotspot with that $50 gun and see how bad it really is.

knight.uma4d ago

omg this is so me lol. i once used an infrared thermometer on my toaster oven and got a reading of 500 degrees on one corner while the dial said 350. i had been making "crispy" cookies for months and just thought i was bad at baking. turns out my oven was part of the problem, but i'm still a little bit bad at baking.

abby_fisher5d ago

Oh man, @knight.uma is totally right about checking oven hotspots! I did exactly that after I found my probe was off (rusted battery compartment, go figure). Pointed the infrared gun at different spots on my oven rack and found a 40 degree difference between the front and back. I started rotating my pans halfway through cooking now and everything comes out way more even. Just make sure you're pointing it at the actual food or a pan, not the oven walls (those reflect all weird).