The Thanksgiving Thermometer Set I’ll Be Buying for My Dad, Who Always Overcooks Turkey

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A person poking a meat thermometer into the breast of a fully-cooked Williams Sonoma Willie Bird Turkey
Serious Eats / Nick Simpson

My parents are the best, but I wouldn’t say they’re the best at cooking poultry. Take my dad: On more than one occasion, he’s undercooked chicken and we’ve sliced into it only to reveal a too-pink interior. Even more so, he’ll make a bird that’s been overcooked and far too dry for anyone’s liking. Turkey seems to vex him in particular. (I love you, dad!)

That’s why, ahead of Thanksgiving, I’ll be giving my parents the gift of accuracy in the form of this kit from ThermoWorks. The company makes many of our favorite thermometers, two of which are in this set. 

Thermoworks Thanksgiving Turkey Kit
Thermoworks

Why It’s Great

The Essentials Thanksgiving Turkey Kit includes the Thermapan ONE and ChefAlarm, both of which are longtime Serious Eats favorites. The ONE is the winner of our instant-read thermometer review and features a blisteringly fast response time, a display that rotates, and an automatic backlight that’s helpful for gauging turkey’s temperature in cavernous ovens. The ChefAlarm—our favorite leave-in probe thermometer—has a heat-safe probe you can pop into your bird and  an alarm to alert you when it reaches turkey’s ideal cooking temperature. The ChefAlarm is even magnetic, and I like to stick it to the front of my oven when it’s in use. Of course, both of these thermometers will help you with other Thanksgiving tasks, like baking bread or making caramel for an autumnal cheesecake.

a person using the thermoworks chefalarm
Serious Eats / Will Dickey

The kit also includes two silicone trivets, a spatula, and a basting brush. I own the trivets and love how flexible and heat-resistant they are. I even use them as potholders! As for the other two items, I’ll just consider those bonuses—especially given that this kit’s already about $45 off. 

Why We’re the Experts

  • Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm is the associate commerce editorial director for Serious Eats. She’s been with the site since 2021 and has been testing gear professionally for more than six years. 
  • Riddley helped to review instant-read thermometers. 
  • She loves her parents dearly, even when they poorly cook poultry.

Published by Staff Reporter