Which Oven Thermometer is Best? We Ask a Rocket Scientist

When I needed an oven thermometer as cookie-baking insurance this holiday season, I turned to my pal the rocket scientist for advice. That would be Leena Singh, a Boston-based missile guidance system designer and my go-to-person for anything technical in the kitchen.

I was considering a cool, $25 digital thermometer that sticks to the oven door with a magnet and registers temperature via a wire running inside. What did she think?

"I wouldn't go pfaffing about (Leena's Brit-speak for messing) with anything but a mercury thermometer," she emailed. "There's nothing as accurate."

Then she linked me to Taylor's classic commercial oven guide thermometer – at $9 less than half the price and easy to hang from the rack. It's mercury-free but works the same way. Think of it my own personal hot-space probe, guaranteed to prevent over-browned gingerbread men or under-baked Yuletide kisses.