Whether you’re an expert cook or thinking about getting into cooking, thermometers are a great tool. Knowing what’s hot or not inspires your confidence and gets you reliably delicious results.

I use 3 different types of thermometers. Here’s how they work and what I use them for:

Digital instant-read thermometer

I use this one the most. Press a button, stick it into something and read the temperature. Good for:

• Water, e.g., for cooking tea and coffee at the right temperature (Shout out to all the 80°C AeroPress hipsters)

• Protein on the stovetop, like salmon in a pan. Great for hitting that sweet spot between safe to eat and want to eat! The Germans are just learning about this concept.

Infrared thermometer with a targeting laser

Doesn’t it sound cool that way? It’s fun to point lasers at things, every time:

• Pans. Some induction stoves have zones that rely on a detection mechanism. If that mechanism fails, it won’t tell you. Since you won’t touch your pan, measuring your pan’s surface is the only way of finding out if your new pan works as intended on your stove.

• Anything you can’t stick a probe into

Digital multi-probe thermometer

This one’s the kicker. It has 4 probes that can stay inside a hot oven. It also transmits to an app via bluetooth, plotting temperature over time.

I measured the air inside my oven in different spots to see if it heats evenly and accurately. However, thanks to space nerds explaining the James Webb Space Telescope, I learned about different kinds of heat transfer (convection, conduction, radiation), so now I’ll have to repeat this experiment in a significantly more Science-Fiction-worthy fashion.

I also measured different zones in my fridge. That little drawer lying 1°C in your face, and you’ve always wondered how it works? It doesn’t. The temperature wasn’t different from anywhere else inside the fridge. Cool.

What’s cooler than a laser?

A thermal camera! They’re just really expensive and I don’t have an excuse to buy one. Some day.

I hope I haven’t just managed to diminish your trust in home appliance marketing claims, but also inspired you to adopt a few tricks and helped make your cooking reliably delicious!