Dietician Maggie Moon on why she swears by this Michelin-grade food thermometer for all her meals

Written by Elizabeth Fuhrman
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Dietician Maggie Moon on why she swears by this Michelin-grade food thermometer for all her meals

Registered dietitian and best-selling author Maggie Moon has spent nearly two decades helping people make healthier food choices easier.

“As a registered dietitian, food safety is really important to me,” says Maggie Moon. “I want food to be healthy and delicious, but before either of those things, it has to be safe, right? First, do no harm. Don’t make people sick.”

With that safety-first mindset, Moon says the products she stands behind need to be science-backed, completely transparent, and genuinely useful to novice and seasoned cooks. As the bestselling author of The MIND Diet and an adviser to Health-Ade Kombucha, she knows how important fostering trust is when it comes to nutrition. 

“What brought me in [with Health-Ade] was some of their leadership, and then what kept me is just the team that’s there is delightful and the brand is science-backed and they really want to be honest and transparent and all their products taste so good,” she says. 

So it tracks that one of Moon’s most-used kitchen gadgets isn’t the flashiest thing in the kitchen drawer. It’s an instant-read thermometer she has relied on for more than a decade to ensure her food is always safe.

“Getting food to the right temperature is really helpful from a food safety perspective, but also from a quality perspective,” she says.

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE, $115 at ThermoWorks

$115 ThermoWorks

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ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE, $115 at ThermoWorks

An insider to the food scene, Moon discovered the ThermoWorks Thermapen One “many, many years ago” at Tastemakers, a food content creators conference. 

“I love this because it’s so convenient. I think that the theme here is things that do their job simply are very good,” she says. “Every once in a while, a tool that does its one job really well is going to get a lot of use.” 

For her, that’s the ThermoWorks Thermapen One, which is the gold-standard food thermometer used in the food industry by Michelin-level chefs. It reads in less than one second to a half-degree Fahrenheit of accuracy, so your meal is perfect every single time. 

“What is so convenient about it is that as soon as you open it, it starts to read,” says Moon. “You don’t have to press a separate button. It has a nice point that goes into meat or anything else, fish, really easily. And because it’s nice and long and metallic, it’s really easy to clean in between. If your fish isn’t quite up to temp, you can sanitize this pretty easily and then go back in to retest in a minute.  

How to cook with the ThermoWorks Thermapen One 

ThermoWorks Thermapen can certainly do a lot, but it’s best for quick temperature taking, not sitting in a low-and-slow roast. 

“I have a different thermometer for if I’m roasting in the oven, which has a wire that comes out of the oven and then I can read it from the outside,” she says. “I wouldn’t stick this in the oven for a 45-minute roast or something like that. Don’t do that. The case is plastic. Don’t do that.” 

The Thermapen One also works for your other cooking or baking projects that don’t involve meat, so there’s no need to buy separate gear. “I don’t have a separate candy thermometer, but if I’m using a double boiler, dark chocolate to coat strawberries in or something like that, I’ll use this to make sure that I’m maintaining the right temperature,” Moon says. 

It’s also important to point out that this thermometer really holds its juice: “I’ve never changed this battery, and I’ve had this for over 10 years. When you do replace it, it’s just a AAA battery, so it’s nothing crazy.”

$115 at ThermoWorks

Pros

  • ✓ Provides instant-read temperatures
  • ✓ Easy to clean and sanitize
  • ✓ Versatile across different foods

Cons

  • ✕ Can’t stay in the oven for continuous temp reads
  • ✕ Higher price point

EXPERT SPOTLIGHT

IN CONVERSATION WITH

Maggie Moon

 MS, RD

Maggie Moon is best-selling author of The MIND Diet: A Scientific Approach to Enhancing Brain Function and Helping Prevent Alzheimer's and Dementia. Her career spans curriculum development, innovation R&D in the CPG and retail spaces, food systems change, and nutrition communications strategy. She advises government agencies, national nonprofits, and global brands like Health-Ade, and serves on expert boards. Moon completed her dietetic internship at NY Presbyterian and holds degrees from UC Berkeley and Columbia University.

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If These Walls Could Talk” operates independently and exercises sole editorial discretion in all content decisions. While certain brands, products, or services referenced may have current or prior relationships with our affiliated marketing agency, such relationships do not influence our editorial content. We disclaim any liability for conflicts of interest, omissions, or outcomes arising from reliance on our content. All information is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as professional or individualized advice.

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