How accurate is your Thermapen thermometer?

[goodeatsgal]

I love my Thermapen for its quick measuring of temperature, but I question its accuracy. I tested it in boiling water, and it's accurate within a degree or so. However, when I use it on roast chicken and meats, it seems to run high - I'll take out the meat when it reaches the correct temperature, but when I cut into it, it's still rare. Last weekend, I inserted into the thigh of my roast chicken. I panicked because it showed the temperature at 190! I inserted it into the other thigh, and received a similar reading. However, when I cut into the chicken, I found it was cooked perfectly - moist and not dry, even in the breast.

Have you found that your Thermapen measures too hot? Am I using it incorrectly or inserting it wrong (I make sure not to hit the bone)? It's frustrating that just about every time, I'll think the meat is ready when it's not. When the chefs on the America's Test Kitchen use it, the meat always seems to be perfect. :-)

Thanks for any guidance you may have!

[DebL]

The Thermapen can be recalibrated. Your owner's manual should tell you how, or you can do a search for "Thermapen calibration."

Also, are you resting your meat before cutting into it? The internal temp should continue to rise after you finish cooking it, so that after the rest period it will be the right doneness.

[goodeatsgal]

Do I need to recalibrate it if it's mostly accurate? Using boiling water, I had readings of 210-212.

Yes, I do rest the meat. But the overly high temperature reading I get is not from that point; rather, it's from when I pull the meat out of the oven to take the temperature.

[DebL]

I guess I would recalibrate it and then try again.

Are you testing the meat at just one place, or in a couple of different places? Meat isn't a perfect sphere with exactly the same conductivity in every section, so it will be different temps in different parts. If you get vastly different temps in different parts, you will know that you'll have to kind of "average" them out. And possibly rotate the pan a couple of times to account for hot or cold spots in your oven.