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Jun 11, 2025

The 4 Best Infrared Thermometers, Tested and Reviewed

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Industrial technology moves into the kitchen to eliminate cooking guesswork. In

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

Industrial technology moves into the kitchen to eliminate cooking guesswork.

In This Article

Food & Wine

More and more, technology is helping home cooks achieve better results. In the non-scientific culinary dark ages, when I started cooking, I used to poke, prod, or insert a skewer and hold it against my skin to see how warm it felt as a means to test meat’s levels of doneness. Testing cooking surface temperatures was equally vague and involved dripping water on them to see how quickly the water evaporated, or the “sizzle test” of dropping a small amount of food on them to evaluate the sound of cooking.

Of course, these methods are all subjective: judging firmness, temperature, or acoustic properties. A thermometer might be a good idea, right? Old-school meat thermometers were large-faced, dial-type, analog beasts designed to leave in while the meat roasted. Their accuracy was short-lived, and then it was back to subjectively rating how many degrees to add or subtract.

The answer came in tools once reserved for industrial environments. Consumer kitchen- and wallet-friendly versions of these tools eliminated guesswork. New meat thermometers, instant-read thermometers, and leave-in wireless grill thermometers allowed for reading ambient cooking temperatures and food temperatures over time, instantly, or somewhere in between. But none of these addressed surface temperature in a way that wasn’t clumsy.

Looking at industrial tools for further inspiration, we brought the infrared thermometer to the kitchen. These thermometers can read deep fryer oil temperatures from a safe distance, pan or grill temperatures, or the exterior temperature of cooking food. But what’s the best infrared thermometer for you? I took four leading infrared thermometers into the kitchen to find out. I tested each with everyday tasks, measuring temperatures for searing, grilling, sauce making, pizza, and bread making.

The ThermoWorks Industrial IR Gun is versatile, accurate, and easy to use.

There was some variation at high temperatures, and the laser was difficult to see in direct sunlight.

ThermoWorks thermometers consistently score high in our meat thermometer tests, and the IR Gun continued that trend. The IR Gun is an excellent mid-range infrared thermometer with customizable features, such as a high/low alarm and adjustable emissivity (which I’ll explain in greater detail later). But I ignored the additional features to perform an apples-to-apples comparison with other models.

This thermometer has a 12:1 distance-to-spot ratio, which will measure a 1-inch spot at 12 inches away or a 1-foot spot at 12 feet. Its accuracy is impressive: The highest variation from our control sample was four-tenths of a degree, and the widest variation when testing a cast iron skillet was 5°F. Grill grates are slightly tricky to get an accurate reading from, as aiming a more sensitive thermometer at the grate might pick up residual burner heat because of the distance-to-spot ratio.

The Thermoworks skewed higher than the other thermometers in the grill testing by about 35 to 40°F, and it’s a safe assumption that it was reading the temperature too broadly. The IR Gun is great for simple tasks, but the added features make it useful for more complex cooking or non-kitchen tasks like. The high/low alarms, response time, and accuracy make it useful in standardizing surface temperatures for recipe development, outdoor cooking, or even testing your HVAC system.

Accuracy : ±2.7°F from 55 to 95°F, the greater of 4°F or ±2% from 32 to 1022°F, ±4°F plus 0.09°F from -76 to 32°F | Temperature Range: -76 to 1022°F | Response Time: 1 second

The 774 is an inexpensive, reasonably accurate, easy-to-use entry-level thermometer.

It’s not quite as accurate as more expensive models and lacks recording features.

Full disclosure here: I own an Etekcity 774 and use it frequently, mainly to test skillets and the slate of my pizza oven. It's a very affordable, fairly accurate thermometer that’s easy to use. It’s an entry-level model and lacks the features of the more sophisticated thermometers I tested, but it offers the same 12:1 distance-to-spot ratio they do.

When testing it against a controlled temperature, I found it had a 1.24°F variance—within its advertised range. It varied a little more at higher temperatures but was within 5°F of the Fluke 568 (our Best Splurge) when testing the pizza stone and about 10°F in the grill testing. It’s got an easy-to-read backlit display and easy point-and-shoot operation.

Accuracy: ±2% at or above 212°F, ±3.6°F at or below 212°F | Temperature Range: -58°–716°F | Response Time: .5 seconds

The Fluke 568 is excellent for precision work like product development or for gadget-oriented people.

Many users will not use the extra features, which makes it quite expensive.

With the Fluke 568, we leave the world of kitchen equipment and enter the realm of industrial and scientific gear. Depending on your needs and level of nerdiness, this could be too much or just enough. The Fluke has a 50:1 distance-to-spot ratio, storage for 99 data points, and an external wired thermocouple probe that enables contact and contactless measurements.

My immersion circulator test showed half a degree of variation from our control, which makes it the most accurate I tested. There was a maximum of 6°F difference between my skillet tests' high and low points, which is close enough to assign to human variation. Other features include USB charging and data transfer, and it utilizes a built-in table of standard materials—a list of known emissivity for certain items, like aluminum foil—for automated adjustment or you can adjust this setting manually.

Accuracy: ±2.0°F + 0.1° F below 32°F, ±1% or ±2.0°F, whichever is greater, above 32°F | Temperature Range: -40°F to 1472°F | Response Time: .5 seconds

The Cusiniart CSG-200 is an easy-to-use dual-purpose thermometer that’s an affordable option for grillers.

This thermometer had the greatest degree of variation, and the side-mounted display was difficult to read while pointing.

The CSG-200 is an instant-read probe thermometer paired with an infrared thermometer. As a lower-priced dual-purpose tool, you can’t expect the world of it, but it did a respectable job, particularly in the higher-temperature tests. It had about seven degrees of variation from our control in the immersion circulator test, making it less reliable than others I tested. It was, however, in line with the high-end Fluke 568 when testing a cast iron skillet. This thermometer seems to be designed with the griller in mind; for those purposes, it’s an affordable and easy-to-use option.

Accuracy: +/-1°F to 932°F | Temperature Range: Up to 923°F | Response Time: 3 seconds

When we balance the price and performance of these thermometers, the ThermoWorks Industrial IR Gun presents the best accuracy and ease of use at an approachable price.

Food & Wine

To test these infrared thermometers, I used them in common scenarios that home users might commonly encounter.

Immersion Circulator: Many people use their infrared thermometers to measure the temperature of fryer oil or when making candy or caramel. In this test, I wanted to measure the temperature of a liquid against a known temperature to see how each thermometer performed and to establish a control point to rate its accuracy. I heated a water bath with an Anova Culinary Precision Cooker to 135°F and took five measurements with each infrared thermometer. I averaged the readings and subtracted that number from the control temperature for an idea of accuracy.

Skillet: There are ways to test if a skillet is hot, including spattering water or rolling oil around in it. But these aren’t particularly accurate means of determining the skillet’s temperature. I heated a cast iron skillet over high heat for 10 minutes to allow the temperature to stabilize. I then took readings as close to the center as possible (I used a flake of burned-on char as a target). Again, I took five readings with each thermometer and averaged them.

Grill: Much like a skillet, determining if your grill grates are hot enough is an inexact science. I heated the center burner of a gas grill for 20 minutes over medium heat, then opened the lid and let the temperature stabilize for another five minutes before taking five readings per thermometer in the same center point of the grates.

Pizza Stone: I heated a pizza stone in the oven for an hour at 450°F and took five readings per thermometer. Recognizing that the stone dissipates heat quickly, I re-heated the stone for 10 minutes between testing each thermometer.

An infrared thermometer is typically most accurate in the middle of its temperature range, with the exactness skewing at extremely high or low temperatures. For this reason, manufacturers list accuracy within ranges, for example, +/- 2.7°F between 55-95° and +/- 4°F between -76-32°. Other considerations depend on what you’re testing. “The reading from bubbling liquids or steam can affect the accuracy,” says chef Bin Lu. Consider your typical use when deciding whether a thermometer is sufficiently accurate at the temperature range in which you’ll most likely use it.

It took me a minute to wrap my head around this concept. Emissivity measures the reflectivity of a material compared to the amount of infrared light it emits on a scale of 0 to 1. An object with an emissivity of 1 absorbs almost all reflected infrared light and only emits its own. The more reflective the object, the less accurate the reading with an infrared thermometer without adjustments. Most organic materials have an emissivity rating of 0.95, the agreed-upon default setting for most infrared thermometers. If you regularly take readings from more reflective material, like copper, steel, or aluminum, you’ll want a wider emissivity range that you can set for your circumstances.

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Most of the thermometers I reviewed measure from well below zero degrees Fahrenheit to over 1,000 degrees. You may never use the upper or lower ends of those ranges, but you could feasibly encounter the need for the high end when open-fire cooking or making pizza in a wood-fired oven. If those two activities appeal to you, look for a thermometer that will accommodate your needs.

The distance-to-spot ratio is an expression of how big a sample size the infrared thermometer takes when measuring temperature. A 12:1 ratio translates to a one-inch sample at 12 inches from the target. The farther you get from the target, the bigger the sample. A 50:1 ratio takes a one-inch sample at 50 inches away. So, at a shorter distance, say 12 inches, it will give you a reading of about a quarter inch of your target surface. The more specificity you need, the greater the ratio you should look for.

This question again comes down to the exactness you need when measuring temperature. A single laser is a guide to the approximate center of the measurement area but doesn’t represent its entirety. A thermometer with dual lasers will show you the outside edges of the measurement, providing a visualization of the sample area. When combined with the distance-to-spot ratio, you can increase or decrease your distance from the target for better specificity.

Food & Wine

Lu uses an infrared thermometer to measure grill temperatures, deep fryers, and in caramel making, among other tasks. “They are also great for checking the temp of cooking surfaces like cast iron pans and saute pans on the stove,” says chef Jeff Carter. The ability to measure from a distance increases safety, as in the case of testing a deep fryer or a grill, but also, in cases like making caramel, the mess factor considerably decreases when you don’t have a candy thermometer sitting in the pot, getting coated and crusted with sugar during the process.

Internal workings aside, the simplest description of the difference between the two is that a probe thermometer’s purpose is to measure the internal temperature of an item. In contrast, the point-and-read infrared thermometer measures the surface temperature of an object. The two could be used in conjunction, with a probe measuring the doneness of a piece of meat and the infrared measuring the cooking surface’s temperature and the meat’s external temperature to help you assess, say, how much Maillard crust will build up on the meat by the time it reaches its final internal temperature.

Each manufacturer lists their thermometer’s accuracy in ranges, for example, +/- 2.7°F between 55-95°F and +/- 4°F between -76-32°F. Consulting the people who use them regularly, Lu and Carter anecdotally report that their thermometers are accurate within a degree or two.

Carter explains what we really need to know: “These thermometers shoot an infrared beam onto an object, which is reflected back into the device to be read by the thermometer,” he says. A deeper explanation for the highly curious and slightly nerdy is that all objects with a temperature emit infrared light. The thermometer focuses the light of the thing it’s aimed at through a lens, which then passes across a thermopile. What’s a thermopile? It’s a collection of thermocouples, two strands of disparate metals that create a voltage when encountering heat at their junction. From the voltage generated by the thermopile, the thermometer performs a series of calculations to translate that voltage reading into a temperature reading.

Most of the thermometers reviewed here have no means of consumer calibration; the manufacturers recommend shipping the thermometers back to them for calibration. For those that do, please closely follow the manufacturer’s directions. There are, however, some ways to verify the thermometer's accuracy.

The first and cheapest method is to use an ice bath. Fill a container with ice, then fill it with water. If any of the ice floats, there’s too much water, so pour some off until the ice sits on the bottom of the container. Then, locate a spot of ice-free water in the container, aim the thermometer directly downward at that spot, and record the temperature. It should read 32°F (0°C). Any serious deviation is an indication that calibration is necessary.

The next option is more scientifically rigid, utilizing an infrared comparator cup (a cup with a black surface for the least reflectivity) and a probe thermometer hole. You heat the cup to a known temperature as verified by the probe and then take a reading with the infrared thermometer, comparing the two results. Manufacturers recommend testing differing temperatures when using the cup to ensure better accuracy.

“Absolutely. They work great for checking oil temps – and are a safer method than many other ways,” Carter says, and Lu agrees. “They are also great for checking the temps of cooking surfaces like cast iron pans and saute pans on the stove,“ Carter says.