Why are thermometers essential for cooking? Two great reasons: saves your health (and potentially, your life) and saves you money.

Measuring the temperature of our food with thermometers is the only way we can reliably tell when our food is cooked safely. We eliminate the risk of food-borne illnesses like salmonella in under-cooked chicken.

Using thermometers on our food saves us money. Steaks are expensive! No one wants to waste food and overcook a ribeye. No one wants to get stuck with medical bill after eating undercooked chicken.

Let's all agree: you need a food thermometer!

One of the best manufacturers of thermometers, ThermoWorks, is offering a sale on their top-of-the-line Thermapen MK4, 20% off, exclusively for our readers. This is our favorite food thermometer bar none! If ThermoWorks last model was the Cadillac of food thermometers, the MK4 is the Porsche. Yes, really!

If you've already got an armada of grills and smokers and a thermometer, picking up these cool tools can make all the difference.

The Slow 'N Sear is the best Weber kettle accessory you can buy. The Slow 'N Sear is a charcoal basket with a built-in water reservoir. On the indirect convection heat side you can bake or smoke roast food. On the direct radiant heat side the Slow 'N Sear creates the hottest sear zone we've ever tested on any grill.

Read our full review on AmazingRibs.com. Then buy it from the manufacturer's website.

Frogmats are a dynamic barbecue tool. They keep delicate fish from sticking to the grates and disintegrating. With Frogmats, I can grill and smoke small foods without them falling into the fire, like the grape tomatoes here and my recipes for smoked nuts, beef jerky and lip-smacking cracklins. Frogmats are a sturdy wire mesh with a non-stick coating capable of resisting high heats, yet easy to clean and dishwasher safe!

Click here to order Frogmats on Amazon.

And if you were curious to know how to prevent food from sticking to the grill in general, click here.
 

My favorite all-purpose knife isn't Japanese steel. It's my Rapala soft grip filet knife (click to read my review). It has a thin, flexible, dangerously sharp blade, a wicked tip, and it won't put you out any more than an Andrew Jackson. It's great for slicing tomatoes, removing silverskin on meat, boning, cutting ribs on hot peppers, and filleting.

Click here to order the Rapala knife on Amazon.

What is the one tool in your kitchen that can dismantle a chicken, snip a bouquet of fine herbs, slice off a sliver of pizza as well as a skein of butcher string, and many more tasks? Seek no more: OXO Kitchen Shears (read our review). The stainless steel blades can be dismantled at the hinge for full cleaning.

Click here to order OXO Kitchen Shears on Amazon.

If you have a gas grill or a pellet smoker, get GrillGrates (click to read our review). They amplify heat, prevent flareups, make turning foods easier, produce great grill marks if you want them, keep small foods from committing suicide, kill hotspots.

Click here to order GrillGrates direct from the manufacturer.

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