Why You Should Use a Food Thermometer to Combat Salmonella

It is the summer of salmonella, it seems. Multiple overlapping salmonella outbreaks now sprawl across at least 30 states as of late August, even as cases of prodigious-poop-causing parasite cyclospora seem to be receding. Hundreds have been sickened, and simultaneous recalls are in effect for products as diverse as eggs, granola, jalapeño peppers, greens powders, nut butters, and dog food.

Salmonella, and its attendant havoc on the GI tract, are these days a hallmark of American summer—not just in meat and eggs but, increasingly, fresh produce, as climate change brings warmer and wetter summers. Foodborne bacteria enjoy the same weather as corn and tomatoes and are happy to hitch a ride.

“When we see warmer temperatures, that is going to create conditions that are favorable for bacteria like salmonella or parasites like cyclospora to grow,” Ellen Shumaker, a food safety expert at NC State Extension, told WIRED this month.

Luckily, there's already a simple preventive technology known to be wildly effective against salmonella. It's called “cooking.” While anything above the USDA-recommended food-safe temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit can kill salmonella if cooked for long enough, the bacterium is dead nearly immediately above 165 degrees.

Heat is the last, best line of defense against salmonella. I'm the WIRED Reviews team's lead reviewer for cooking technology, and I consider my food thermometer the single most important food safety item in my kitchen.

And yet, while most Americans own a food thermometer, more than 70 percent don't regularly use it to assess food temp, according to a recent food safety survey. This is a statistic that would terrify my mother.

I have convinced myself that the problem is that your thermometer is terrible. A lower-cost thermometer, like this $14 quick-read thermometer my editor has in her kitchen, will give you an accurate enough internal temperature for your meat or lasagna. But it'll take as long as seven or eight seconds to get a useful ballpark reading, which can feel like a lifetime when hovering over a pan or an open oven door.

The best meat thermometer is the one you'll actually use. For more than a decade, the WIRED Reviews team has been recommending an instant-read food thermometer that costs seven or eight times the price of a “fast-read” thermometer on Amazon.

The reason is simple: speed. The above Thermapen One offers a stable digital readout of food's internal temperature within just a couple seconds. This difference is pivotal, because it means you're likely to actually use it rather than dread using it. This gives the Thermapen a much better claim to hang out in the important real estate next to the stove rather than jumbled somewhere nearby in a drawer.

What Food Temperatures Can Kill Salmonella?

If you're looking for the maximum reduction in your risk of salmonella, you need to “introduce a kill step,” said Jerold Mande, an adjunct professor of nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health. And in the case of bacteria, your kill step likely involves temperature.

Salmonella and other dangerous bacteria thrive, and propagate, in the temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. To be safe, food must be either placed in the fridge or cooked and held at temps higher than 140 degrees.

But if you're just planning to cook indoors in a space with a good Wi-Fi signal, I've also found the TempPro TempSpike Pro ($130) to be convenient at a lower cost, with a digital temperature monitor that has a magnetic back so I can mount it on the fridge. The app's not as fancy as Typhur's, and the signal range also isn't as good if you're trying to take this outside. But the accurate ambient temperature readings are a lot more precise than the thermostat in my range oven; the internal temps are likewise reliable. But especially, the TempSpike's fridge-mounted digital temp readout makes it the probe I often reach for.

And (say it with me): The best meat probe for food safety is the one you actually use.

More Food Safety Gear

Lately, increasing reports about tomatoes and onions and jalapeños had me worried: Do I need to use a meat thermometer for veggies now?

Deaths from acute food-borne illnesses range from the hundreds to the low thousands in the US, and foodborne illnesses have declined significantly since the turn of the millennium. Compared to the long-term chronic disease risks of avoiding fresh produce and eating processed foods, the acute risk posed by your lettuce and carrots can look comparatively insignificant, Mande said.

This said, each person's risk tolerance is, well, personal. This is true especially if you're a parent, or an older or immunocompromised person. Those worried about salmonella outbreaks in the news should first consult local public health authorities to determine whether an outbreak is active in their area, Mande said.

Washing produce helps, though it's not foolproof. So does using separate cutting boards for meat and produce and avoiding cross-contamination of cooked and uncooked food. Most food safety experts tend to recommend that the best cutting board for raw meat is a less-porous, high-density cutting board like this one from Great Jones, which WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe loves for its juice groove and easy portability.

I don't like piling up extra cutting boards. And so I use an ingenious, svelte, steel-reinforced dual-sided cutting board from Steelport, which has end-grain walnut on one side for veggies and a high-density, non-porous polymer on the other side for meats.