If you want an easy hack to elevate your cooking skills, learning how to use a meat thermometer is the best way. No more guesswork—just juicy, dialed-in perfection. Explore this expert guide to learn when to use a meat thermometer on a pellet grill, how to best use it with different meats, and the differences between an instant-read and a leave-in meat thermometer.

Why You Should Use a Wireless Meat Thermometer

Before we get into how to use a meat thermometer, it might be helpful to talk about why we use meat thermometers. One answer is for food safety reasons. You want to be sure that, say, chicken is cooked enough to eliminate any harmful bacteria. But using a thermometer is also about ensuring you get the doneness that you love for meats like beef, lamb, and pork, and fish. While you certainly can use visual and tactile cues to test for doneness, like seeing if juices run clear for chicken and pressing on a steak, those are best learned while cross-checking how these clues correspond to the food’s actual internal temperature.

When it comes to cooking on a pellet grill, there are two types of meat thermometers you can use: instant-read and leave-in.

An instant-read will act like a spot check. These thermometers do not stay in the food during cooking. Instead, you generally use an instant-read toward the end of cooking to check that you have reached your target temp.

True to their name, instant reads provide a fast reading, though that time can range from 1 second for a high-quality thermometer to as much as 10 seconds for an inferior product. One benefit of an instant-read thermometer is that it can get a reading on even small pieces of food, such as thin fish fillets or burgers.

That’s because only the tip of the probe needs to be inserted at most a half inch and usually less, to get a reading. And because you hold it in place, it does not need to be deeply inserted to stay put.

At Traeger, we usually prefer a leave-in meat thermometer.

Our latest wireless meat thermometer, designed for the Traeger Woodridge Grill series, takes it up a notch by integrating Bluetooth and WiFIRE® technology, seamlessly connecting to the Traeger App for real-time temperature tracking.

Now, that might sound high-tech but trust us—it’s actually easier and more convenient than an instant-read thermometer, especially for big cuts like turkey and prime rib. Since all your data feeds straight to your phone, there’s no need to open and close your grill, helping you lock in heat, flavor, and precision. Plus, a Bluetooth meat thermometer give you the freedom to cook from just about anywhere—so you can kick back, relax, and let your Traeger do the heavy lifting. 

How to Use a Meat Thermometer

For the sake of this article, we are going to focus on how to a leave-in thermometer since it will aid in your smoking, grilling, baking, roasting, and braising more. We’ll go into the specifics for the different kinds of meat to use this on, but these are some basic directions to keep in mind:

• Insert in the thickest part – Place the probe’s tip in the center of the thickest section of the meat for the most accurate reading.

• Insert deep enough – Push the probe at least up to the notch on the metal part to support itself and protect its internal components from ambient heat.

• Avoid bones and fat – For large cuts like brisket or pork butt, insert from any angle, making sure to avoid bone or large pockets of fat, which can throw off the reading.

• For smaller cuts (steak, chicken breast):

• Hold the probe parallel to your work surface.

• Insert it into the center of the thickest part.

• If the cut tapers, insert at the widest point and angle it to prevent poking through the other side.

• Ensure the probe has enough meat around it for support.

For smoked turkey, insert the leave-in meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, making sure to avoid bone. If using an instant-read thermometer to double-check doneness, also check the thickest part of the thigh, near the drumstick, without touching the bone. 

For wings and stuffing (if your turkey is stuffed), use an instant-read thermometer. This is especially important for stuffing, as it must reach 165°F internally for food safety, according to USDA guidelines. 

Turkey internal temperatures:  

• White meat and stuffing: 165°F 
• Dark meat (thighs and drumsticks): 175-180°F for optimal tenderness. 

This will ensure you have the best smoked turkey recipe for your Thanksgiving feast.  

You can check out our other expert guides about how long to cook a turkey on a pellet grill, how to spatchcock a turkey, how to master turkey injection, and the best pellets for smoking a turkey for more inspiration.   

Whether you’re cooking a whole chicken, thighs, breast meat, or wings, you’ll need to make sure to insert the probe into the thickest part of the chicken breast, avoiding the bone. Like turkey, you’ll need to bring the temp up to 165°F. Since white meat dries out easily, you can remove the bird from heat at around 160°F and let carryover cooking bring it up to temp.

For thighs and drumsticks, you’ll have to use an instant read as they are too small for something like the MEATER. Make sure to follow the same process as turkey by sticking into the thickest part of the thigh.

Chicken internal temperatures:

• White meat: 165°F

• Dark meat (thighs and drumsticks): 175-180°F for optimal tenderness.

For steak you can use an instant-read or a leave-in – it all just depends on the thickness of the cut. For super thin cuts like flank steak, skirt, hanger, or carne asada, the instant read will be your best tool.

However, for thick juicy cuts, like a tomahawk steak, you can absolutely use a leave-in thermometer. You’ll measure this by inserting it parallel to the work surface into the thickest side of the steak, and look for these temperatures depending on your desired steak internal temperature:

Steak internal temperatures:

• Black and Blue: 115°F and below

• Rare: 120-125°F

• Medium Rare: 130-135°F

• Medium: 140-145°F

• Medium Well: 150-155°F

• Well Done: 160-165°F

For burgers, you will primarily use an instant-read thermometer because of the thickness. Typically, burgers will be a little bit thinner, so unless you’re planning on grilling a super thick burger or smoking a meatball (like the one featured in our epic smoked over the top chili recipe), you’ll test your burger’s internal temperature by placing the thermometer in the center or side of the patty.  

Ribs

Some pitmasters prefer instant-read thermometers for smoked ribs over a leave-in probe.

No matter what tool you use, you will measure the temperature by inserting the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat without going through and without touching the bone.

If you use an instant-read thermometer, check the internal temperature only towards the end of your timed cook. If you open and close your grill too often, you’ll not only let out important heat and wood-fired flavor, but you’ll get a notification encouraging you to stop fiddling with your grill.

If you decide to use a probe, make sure your ribs are meaty enough and that the probe will actually be able to stay in. If they are thinner like St. Louis ribs, they’ll be too thin.

While you’ll see some people cook pork ribs to the USDA-suggested safe temperature of 145℉, but expert pitmasters will suggest cooking them to about 205℉ to melt down all the connective tissue. 321 Ribs is a prime example of this technique.

However, if you decide to try out the newest trend of smoked party ribs on the pellet grill, you’ll need to take a different approach for this recipe. You can read our guide for must-have techniques.

Brisket is a Traeger classic, and every good pellet grill user should know how to cook it to epic perfection. Reading our guides about how to smoke a brisket, the best pellets for brisket, whether or not you should smoke brisket fat side up or down or spritz brisket, how to wrap brisket, and how to cut brisket are good first steps. However, learning how to find brisket internal temperature is also a necessary step.  

A leave-in meat thermometer, is always going to be your best bet for smoking brisket. One of the best things about temping brisket is not when it’s done, since that’s easy to check, but to know when to wrap. Brisket is usually ready for wrapping at around 160°F and is difficult to gage by touch or sight.

If you’re cooking a full packer brisket (where the point and flat are attached), the best placement for your probe is into the thickest part of the flat, about 1-2 inches from the edge where the flat meets the point. If you have multiple probes, put one in the point as well to compare temps. But keep in mind, the point will usually be about 5-10℉ hotter since it’s a fattier area.

If you’re just cooking brisket flat (the leanest part of the brisket), you should insert the thermometer into the middle of the thickest part of the side. For the brisket point (the fattier and more marbled area of the brisket), you will insert the probe into the center of the point, about 2 inches deep. You can learn more about the differences between brisket flat vs. point by reading our guide.

Brisket internal temperatures:

• Brisket flat: 195-203°F

• Brisket point: 203-210°F

Pork butt, which is typically used to make pulled pork, is another Treager staple that you should know how to use a meat thermometer for when smoking on the grill.

Pork butt is very thick, so you’ll exclusively want to use a leave-in meat thermometer.

Insert the probe into the thickest area of the pork butt, avoiding the blade bone if bone-in, and then you can monitor the internal temperature of the pork butt while it smokes.

Pork butt internal temperature:

• 195-205°F (perfect for pulled pork (collagen fully breaks down)

• 180-190°F (good for slicing instead of shredding)

For pork shoulder, you will insert the probe at an angle from the top at thickest part of the shoulder.

Pork shoulder internal temperature:

• Between 195-205°F

For pork chops, it’s straightforward.

You can use an instant-read to measure the internal temperature by inserting it into the middle of the thickest side of the chops. However, the leave-in thermometer will be your best bet.

Insert the wireless meat probe into the thickest part of the pork chop on the side. That way, you can monitor it until the chop reaches its ideal temperature while still getting a good sear. If you need some epic recipe inspiration, this reverse-seared bone-in pork chops recipe.

Pork chop internal temperature:

• 135°F if you’re planning on searing it
• 145°F final temperature

Lamb comes in a variety of cuts and can be cooked to different levels of doneness, so monitoring the temperature accurately is key to achieving the best results.

The most common cuts you’ll cook on a Traeger include leg of lamb (bone-in or boneless), lamb rack or lamb chops, and lamb shoulder.

For lamb leg and shoulder, insert the leave-in meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding bones and large fat pockets for the most precise reading.

For the rack of lamb, insert the probe horizontally into the meaty “eye” of the rack, coming in from the side so the bones are standing upright. Make sure it's in the meatiest section and avoid bones to ensure an accurate temperature. If your chops are very thick or double chops, you can insert a thermometer into the side of the chop, but if thin, an instant-read is your best bet.

Lamb internal temperature:

• Rare: 120-125°F (Cool red center)

• Medium Rare: 130-135°F (Warm red center)

• Medium: 140-145°F (Warm pink center)

• Medium Well: 150-155°F (Slightly pink center)

• Well Done: 160°F+ (Little to no pink)

Fish

You can use either an instant-read or leave-in thermometer for fish to ensure perfectly cooked, juicy results.

For a whole fish, insert the probe into the thickest part at a slight angle from the top, avoiding any bones for an accurate reading.

For smaller cuts, like a salmon filet, insert the probe from the side, positioning it in the thickest section to get the most precise temperature.

Fish internal temperature for common fishes like salmon, halibut, whitefish, etc.:

• 125-130°F (medium-rare)

• 140°F (well-done

Prime Rib

There's nothing like prime rib during the holidays. However, this thick cut of meat can be difficult to temp unless you have a leave-in meat thermometer. For smoked prime rib, whether it is a bone-in roast or not, insert the leave-in thermometer into the deepest part of the meat.

For boneless cuts, go horizontal into the the thickest area while avoiding fat.

For bone-in roast (rib roasts), go vertically at an angle between the bones at the thickest area.

Prime rib internal temperatures:

• Rare: 120–125°F, with a red interior that may fade to pink
• Medium rare: 130–135°F, with a pink interior and a deeper, nearly red center
• Medium: 135–140°F, with a mauve interior that is uniformly colored
• Well-done: 145°F or higher, with a brown interior and no pink