dave did a few DMM 'shootouts' were he compared various DMMs of a certain price window, Im requesting the same with thermocouple thermometers. The reasoning is 1. not everybody has thermometer DMM 2. thermometers are quite indispensable 3. there are many (almost too many) to choose from
all should be thermocouple since IR is rather buggy and will simply not work properly if pointed at certain materials
some candidates:
6802 II
Fluke 52 II
ut320D
ht-9815
gm1312
tm-9-2C
Im sure there are more but these are quite prevalent
I suggest having >>1<< thermocouple buried in sand (or perhaps some other material which will not swing in temperature too rapidly) firmly in place, - the sand raised to some temperature and compare the results of the inexpensive thermometers to say maybe a fluke or keysight DMM thermometer using the same thermocouple by plugging the thermocouple to the various meters