Stick it in the thickest part

Yes, it matters where you insert the probe.

The thickest part of the meat is where you’ll get the real temperature. Stick the probe into the center of that, making sure you’re not touching bone, fat, or the grill grates. If you hit bone, the reading will be off because bone conducts heat differently. Fat also takes longer to heat up, so you’ll get a false low if you’re in a fatty spot.

A few other things: don’t poke a thermometer into a frozen steak and expect it to be instant. Give the probe a second to settle. I like to pull the meat off the grill a few degrees before my target temp — carryover cooking will finish it. And don’t trust the color of the juice or the feel of the meat. Only a thermometer knows for sure.

Rest your steak for at least five minutes after pulling it. That’s not thermometer advice, but it matters.

Your grill deserves a thermometer, not a guess.