Get This For Dad

Father’s Day is right around the corner. If you are still stumped for gift ideas, here’s a little something that might be just the thing. Husbands, fathers, brothers, boyfriends, sons… any grill loving man who spends a decent amount of his time standing over the flames flipping meat back and forth needs this. Read on.

If you are serious about food safety, or if you just want to make a perfectly cooked burger every time, the Thermapen digital thermometer will change the way you cook. I am so in love with this device that I am shamelessly plugging it, even though I am in no way being compensated.

Truth be told, this gadget topped my wish list this past Christmas, so the one you see here belongs to me. My husband was only mildly interested when the box arrived, and I had to chase him around with it a bit before I could cajole him into giving it a try. Mind you, my husband was already turning out perfectly cooked steaks, chicken, and fish. He had some system of his own, and it was working, but this little guy took it up a notch. The first time he used it, he was skeptical. The next time he headed for the grill, he was asking me where it was so he could take it with him. Now both of us are using it, every single time we cook, and let me tell you, it’s life altering. There is no more guessing if ground beef is safe to eat, or if the chicken is done, because you can measure it. Perfectly cooked salmon and steaks exactly to your liking. Your food will not be the same.

There are several options to consider when you order. The basic, classic model sells for $59. But if you grill in the dark, the rain, are left-handed, or tend to be juggling a lot when you cook, consider the Mk4 model. At $99, the display auto-rotates, so you can read it any direction. It has a backlight, and is waterproof. Yes, it costs a bit more, but it fits the way we cook, so this is the model I chose. There is a lot to peruse on the website, including some options that might be better for using with a smoker (the Traeger kind). Now the hard part: picking a color.

Finally, order direct from the Thermapen website. There was enough dialogue about problems with pens ordered from other sources to make me sure to avoid them.

My husband loves the Thermapen. There’s a man in your life who needs this. Don’t even think about it. Just get it for him.