Doing some low-and-slow grilling is one of those processes that rewards you for your patience, and it's even better when you don't have to actually stand there all day while you wait for it. Other things gotta get done too, y'know?

That's why ThermoWorks' “Smoke” remote thermometer is such a useful tool. It comes with a dashboard base that stays next to the grill — or oven, or stove, or deep fryer, etc — and a pre-paired receiver that the base can talk to up to 300 feet away, and which will beep and vibrate at whatever alarm you set. So, you can go about your business elsewhere in the house or yard while keeping tabs on how things are going with your food.

What's even neater is that it's a two-channel thermometer, meaning there are two probes you can use to, say, monitor both the meat and your ambient smoker temp, or check the white and dark meats of a turkey while it roasts...that sort of thing.

This thermometer was chosen as the best by America's Test Kitchen, which is plenty enough recommendation for me. You can get it for $99 on the ThermoWorks site. I'm partial to the red model myself.

[Consider adding the “Smoke Gateway” gadget ($63 as of this writing) to add Wi-Fi connectivity and track your cooking from anywhere you have an internet connection.]