It only reads the patch you point it at, so take three readings and go by the coldest.
Equipment review
Infrared thermometer
ThermoPro TP30 infrared thermometer gun, battery powered.
By Steven · Updated September 2026
A point-and-read thermometer that tells you the temperature of the surface you're about to cook on.
Buy the cheap one, and read the surface before every launch rather than just the first.
BakeClass Snapshot
- Cost
- Budget
- Longevity
- Long lasting
- Learning curve
- Immediate
- Best for
- Knowing the surface is ready, and knowing when it's ready again.
It takes one of the biggest variables out of the bake for very little money.
Do I actually need one?
Yes.Yes, and it's the cheapest way to stop guessing. The surface reading is the one that matters most at the moment of launch, because that's what the base touches. A built-in gauge tells you something else that's useful, about heat held through the mass, and both are worth knowing, but only one of them tells you whether the spot you're about to launch onto has recovered from the last bake. Where a pizza has just cooked, the surface will be cooler than everything around it.
What it does, and why this one
It reads the temperature of a surface from a distance, instantly, without touching it. On a stone or a deck that means you know what the base is about to land on, rather than inferring it from a dial, a timer, or how the last one went.
It cost a fraction of the branded alternatives and does the same job: point it, read it, act on it. There's no feature on the dearer ones I've found myself wanting, and the battery it came with is still going after a year.
Pros and cons
What works
- Instant surface reading, from a safe distance
- Costs a fraction of a branded equivalent and reads the same
- Battery lasts: still on the original after a year
- Useful anywhere else you want a surface temperature, not just for baking
What does not
- Battery powered, and mine is still on its first set, but if pizza is an occasional thing you'll pick it up on the day and find it flat. Worth checking the night before rather than with dough proving
- It reads a patch rather than the whole floor, so one reading off the middle only tells you about the middle. Take three, and the coldest one is the one that matters
My experience
Over a year old, used before every launch and between pizzas. I've never replaced the battery and it has never behaved oddly. It's one of those purchases that stops being a purchase and becomes part of how you do the thing.
Steven, BakeClass
Alternatives
The thermometer built into the oven, if it has one, which measures something related but not the same. A branded infrared thermometer, which costs considerably more for the same reading.
Will you outgrow it?
No.