Go on, mingle.
(Credit: Cooking.com)Grilling outdoors is great fun, and that fun is usually best shared with friends and family. I don't just mean hanging out with them and enjoying their company; I mean putting them to work. I have previously noted that engaging your guests is a good way to ensure a good time for all, but sometimes you just want to rule the grill.
Guarding the grill may give you the added benefit of constant meat moderation, but then you miss out on sharing time with your guests. The simple solution is to trust your guests and just monitor while you mingle.
The Outset Digital Remote Meat Thermometer with Receiver allows you to appreciate the thrill of owning the grill while simultaneously enjoying your own party. Featuring two probes that allow for two separate temperature readouts, the thermometer relays the information back to a remote sensor. With 10 meat settings and 4 doneness levels, specific preferences are just a signal alert away (assuming, of course, that you are within the 120-foot range of the unit).
The large digital backlit LCD display is easy to read and simple to use. Perhaps best of all, when you are not using the unit to guard the grill, the thermometer can be conveniently used indoors. Although guests are less likely to BYOBBQ for an indoor party and jockey over the oven, you just never know. Break free and enjoy the company.
Voice Thermo: "You're really, really hot."
(Credit: Pro Idee )Sometimes when you're sick, you just don't feel like talking. Try telling that to the loquacious Voice Thermo talking forehead thermometer.
It isn't content to simply offer your reading on a display. It wants to chat with you, too. Press the sensor button to the forehead, and the gadget works via infrared signal. It reads your body temperature in 1.5 seconds, then tells you just how you measure (remember, if it informs you that "you're really, really hot," that's probably not a good thing).
The thermometer sells online for 39.95 euros, or about $63. A nice feature: it saves readings from the last 30 tests--useful if you want to track your temp's progress. Also nice: it doesn't demand an answer.
(Via Red Ferret)
(Credit:
Sharper Image)
Of all the shared items in any household, the personal thermometer may well be a germaphobe's worst nightmare. Just think about how it's used--on second thought, don't. But there may be a non-invasive answer to our fears.
The "Thermofocus" claims to be the first "non-contact medical thermometer," using infrared technology to take temperatures without ever touching skin. Just hold it "close to the forehead, navel, or armpit and line up the projected light beams," according to its product description, and you'll get a "totally hygienic" digital reading one second later. Music to our hypochondriac ears.
(Credit:
BobWards)
We know it sounds crazy, but a few gamers might actually get tired of bass fishing on the Wii. (Some people are just never satisfied.)
So for those fickle anglers who think they're good enough to progress from virtual to real waters, here's an item that may still tickle their digital fancy. The "William Joseph Infrared Thermometer" is supposedly the first point-and-shoot model of its kind, designed to literally test the waters without getting your feet wet or--more important--without disturbing the fish.
This may seem like overkill for those not acquainted with the finer points of angling, but trust us: True fly-fishing aficionados are as serious about their sport as golfers are about theirs. And given some of the things we hear about the Wii, real fishing might be safer too.
(Credit:
Oregon Scientific)
It was only afew days ago that we hought we'd found the ultimate barbecue tool with the "Redi-Chek Remote Thermometer," which monitors your culinary feats wirelessly from up to 100 feet away while you watch TV. How wrong we were.
Oregon Scientific has weighed in with a wireless version of its own that monitors your steaks from a distance up to 330 feet so you can even see the game on the neighbor's new plasma. But here's the real kicker: It talks to you. The "Grill Right" thermometer can "verbally alert you" in five languages when the meat is cooked to specification.
Not only that, but for the barbecue-challenged among us, the handheld unit's LCD screen will display a picture of the type of animal that's been dispatched for the grill, along with a wealth of other information. As they say on generic infomercials (redundant?), this is one gadget that can suit any lifestyle, whether you're using a George Foreman iGrill or a 24-carat gold-plated BeefEater.
(Credit:
Uncrate)
A certain other Craver, who may or may not espouse symptoms of sanriophobia, is slightly disturbed by the fact that I write a lot about booze gadgetry. (See Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, Exhibit D.) Consequently, when I pointed that Craver in the direction of Uncrate's coverage of a little product known as the "Nuvo Vino," he was a little bit concerned.
But here's my take on it. The presence of alcoholic beverages in human history stretches back for thousands of years, and it's legitimately interesting to see how new technology is shaping one of the oldest social pastimes. As a result, I think "booze gadgetry" is one of the most interesting things to write about on Crave. Take the Nuvo Vino, for example. It's an infrared thermometer that can measure the temperature of wine without touching the liquid. Personally, I'm not hardcore enough to care about temperature when it comes to wine (though red wine does taste kind of nasty when it's been in the fridge) but I do know that some oenophiles are pretty particular. So, with a Nuvo Vino, you can rest assured that your guests won't stigmatize you for serving white zinfandel at a chardonnay temperature. That's like, social suicide.
(Credit:
Muji)
This may not look like the most crushworthy item, but it's a classic case of form following functions--and many of them, at that. Depending on how you position it, the "multi-functional clock" from Japan-based Muji is a clock, a calendar, a thermometer or an alarm. Its utilitarian design lends itself for use in the kitchen or, as Ubergizmo suggests, as a space-saving travel device. And at $12, you won't fret too much about it when your luggage gets lost.
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