Technical Abstract: The only way to determine if meat products have been cooked to an internal temperature necessary to inactivate pathogens is to use a thermometer. To date, the accuracy and reliability of consumer instant-read thermometers have only been evaluated in water-baths, not in meat products. A consumer digital probe thermometer (PT) was tested for accuracy compared to a calibrated thermocouple (TC) and response time in preformed 80 percent (80GB) and 90 percent (90GB) lean ground beef patties cooked to 71 C on gas grills (GG) and electric griddles (EG), and boneless (BCB) and bone-in split (CB) chicken breasts cooked to 77 C on GG and baked in consumer ovens (CO). Once the meat product reached the target endpoint temperature using the TC, the product was removed from the heat source and the PT was inserted into the product perpendicular and as close as possible to the TC. Times and temperatures of the PT and TC were recorded at two predetermined times; 15 s (MT, manufacturer recommended time) or 30 s (EPT, predetermined endpoint time) or if the PT reached the target temperature. The test was discontinued when the PT reached the target endpoint temperature or EPT. In both 90GB-GG and BCB-CO, the PT did not register any of the samples as cooked at the EPT. The PT showed the highest percentage of the samples being cooked in the CB-GG; 27.8 percent at the MT and 44.4 percent at the EPT. The PT reading ranged from 4.7 to 14.2 C less than the TC temperature reading at the MT and 5.5 to 9.3 C less at the EPT. For those samples that reached the target endpoint temperature, the PT took on average 10.0 to 17.8 s to register the target temperature. These results indicate that consumers using this type of instant-read digital thermometer would cook ground beef patties and chicken breasts to higher temperatures than necessary to destroy harmful microorganisms. Although cooking to these temperatures would ensure a microbiologically safe product, it would negatively affect the sensory quality of the products.