The No. 1 Holiday Dinner Cooking Mistake — and How to Fix It

Whether it’s a turkey, pot roast, or glazed ham, there’s a fine line between perfectly juicy and disappointingly dry. Every holiday season, even the most experienced cooks risk overcooking the main course. As it turns out, burning the bird is the most common holiday cooking mistake, and the culprit isn’t your recipe or your oven — it’s your meat thermometer.

Ninja ProChef Wireless Probe Meat Thermometer

According to Food & Wine Editor Amelia Schwartz, “there is a very small window between a turkey that is raw and a turkey that is overcooked.” With an instant-read thermometer, you risk losing heat by constantly opening the oven and missing that short period when your meat is perfectly cooked through without drying out. According to Val Cantu, Food & Wine’s best new chef of 2017, the fix is surprisingly simple.

A leave-in probe thermometer monitors the internal temperature of food as it cooks, promising delicious results without the guesswork. This wireless meat thermometer from Ninja is so easy to use; we named it the best Bluetooth meat thermometer after considering the wireless range, ability to withstand high temperatures, and user-friendliness. Just insert the probe before cooking, and use the Ninja Pro Connect smartphone app to monitor the internal temperature while it’s in the oven or on the grill.

The probe is waterproof and heat-safe up to 700°F, so it can be used for almost any ingredient and cooking method. The app allows you to input the food type, temperature, and desired doneness level. Food & Wine writer Greg Baker found that it provided accurate readings through several obstacles. While testing, he “walked past three walls, two doors, and approximately 75 feet in total from the base unit before the signal dropped.”

The app displays the estimated completion time and sends alerts when it’s time to flip the meat, according to one shopper: “I can confidently say that this thermometer has significantly simplified my cooking process, reducing the likelihood of over- or undercooking.” Reviewers claim the thermometer is easy to clean, and the compact charging case provides up to 30 hours of continuous use.

This year, don’t fall into the trap of overcooking your holiday meal. Shop the Ninja ProChef Wireless Probe Meat Thermometer at Amazon for less than $100.

Shop More Meat Thermometers at Amazon

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ThermoPro TP17 Leave-In Meat Thermometer

At the time of publishing, the price was $70.