Sprenzy Shopping Blog

As you prepare for Thanksgiving, make sure your oven temperature settings are calibrated correctly. To test the accuracy of your oven, pick up a Taylor Classic Oven Guide Thermometer. It’s Cook’s Illustrated’s top rated oven thermometer and costs around $15. It has a four inch base, which makes it easy to read and difficult to knock over. And don’t worry about toxic mercury; the Taylor Oven Guide uses blue-dyed alcohol in the thermometer.

I have an old gas-powered oven and noticed it ran hot after over baking an apple crisp. After testing the temperature settings using the Taylor Oven Guide, I discovered my oven is off by 45 degrees on the low end (200 degrees) and 25 degrees off on the high end (500 degrees). I plan on keeping the thermometer in the oven all the time and using it as the official temperature rather than the oven dial.

Where’s the best place to position the thermometer? From Cook’s Illustrated…

“We put this question to Karen S. Yaggie, a marketing representative at Taylor Precision Products, maker of the oven thermometer that won our test (the Taylor Classic Oven Guide). “The best place to get a reading,” Yaggie told us, “is the center–exactly where you place the baking dish for the food that you are preparing.” She emphasized that the thermometer should not be positioned within 6 inches of any oven wall or of the oven ceiling, floor, or door. Our tests showed that ovens do indeed have hot and cold spots. Tests on a gas range, for instance, showed the temperature differential between the bottom and top of the oven to be close to 50 degrees.

We suggest that you place the thermometer at the dead center of the oven–right in the spot where the food will be cooking – as it preheats to get a good reading. When it’s time to put the food in the oven, you can move the thermometer to the side or hang it from a rack such that it hovers over the food. If it ends up sitting fewer than 6 inches away from the interior surface of the oven, remove the thermometer until the food is finished cooking. (We also learned from Taylor that it is safe to keep the thermometer in the oven at any time except when the dial is set to “clean.”)”

If you are looking for a new instant read thermometer, Cook’s Illustrated highly recommends two models…

THERMOWORKS Super-Fast Thermapen
Price: $95.00
Average Response Time: 5 seconds
Comments: Simply the best: fast, accurate, and easy to use. The Thermapen also has the widest temperature range (-58 to 572 degrees).

CDN ProAccurate Quick Tip Digital Cooking Thermometer
Price: $17.95
Average Response Time: 9 seconds
Comments: The CDN Quick Tip was fast and accurate and had every feature we deemed necessary, including a calibration button. Not quite as fast as the mighty Thermapen, but fast enough.

Make sure you don’t overcook your turkey by picking up an oven thermometer and/or instant read thermometer. Happy Thanksgiving!