So useful are infrared thermometers that firefighters, car mechanics, electricians and even trained professional cooks use them to check temperature from a distance.
Saying this, infrared thermometer do have their limitations as they can only measure surface temperature so you are still going to need a good old food probe thermometer when grilling, baking and roasting foods.
That's where a solution like the Thermapen IR is neat because it is a kitchen thermometer with a penetration probe, infrared, calibration certificate and adjustable emissivity.
The infrared functionality of Thermapen IR makes it a non-contact thermometer that works very much like a thermometer gun but at closer range.
The probe has to be folded up in order to use Infrared Mode which works by pressing and holding the Scan button (three curved lines show up on the display).
When you release the Scan button, the temperature reading is held for 30 seconds the word "HOLD" shows up on the display.
The distance to target ratio (field of view) of the Thermapen IR is 5:1, which means the Thermapen IR infrared lens can only measure reliably based on the diameter of the target and the distance, meaning Thermapen IR can measure a target with 0.5-inch diameter at a distance of 5 inches.
The temperature range of Thermapen IR infrared (-49.9 to 349.9°C) and probe (-49.9 to 299.9°C) is very similar. Accuracy and resolution are very important in a thermometer so it's good to see the resolution of the Thermapen IR is user configurable between tenths of a degree (0.1 °C/F) as well as 1°C/F.
The Thermapen IR built-in probe is as accurate as the one in the Thermapen 4 so the probe has an error factor of up to 1°C in either direction, while the infrared beam has an error factor of up to 2°C in either direction

The Thermapen IR is battery powered via two 3V CR2032 lithium coin cell batteries which provide 1000 hours of battery power. A "battery " symbol shows up when batteries are low
While there is no beep alarm built-in nor backlight feature on the display of the Thermapen IR like in the Thermapen 4 and the ETI DOT, the LCD display of the Thermapen IR does rotate automatically from landscape (12mm) to portrait 10mm).
Thermapen IR measures 16cm long, 5cm wide and 2cm thick, and weighs 125 grams so it has a similar body size to the Thermapen 4.
It's worth mentioning that the Thermapen IR can also measure ambient temperature during IR mode. To check the ambient temperature, hold down the Mode button for 3 seconds to enter the menu and press again to view the ambient temperature.