I'm with you Cam. Instant read meat thermometer, gets roasts just right. Mine is one prong, digital read.

I'm gonna hafta go with the Little Smokey Joe Tiny Weber charcoal grill thing with instant Matchlite charcoal. I've given up on propane grills that have to be replaced every few years and I think the food tastes much better cooked over charcoal. Plus the kids can roast marshmallows after dinner :)

We'll have to look into getting one of those meat checking forks. Checking for doneness with a flashlight can often lead to filling up on salad and french fries while Dad puts the meat back on the grill.

Man, oh man! You should never use a pronged fork when grilling! Test for doneness by touching the meat. Use your face for comparison - your chin feels just about how the meat will when it's rare, your nose is about the same "sponginess" as medium, and your forehead is along the same temperature as well-done.

And use tongs, dammit!

Oh that reminds me to rave about the charcoal starter can- That cylinder thing with the handle. It is magical. You crunch up 1 sheet of newspaper underneath, add your coals, and light. Go drink a beer and when you return, youre good to go. NO starter fluid needed. No strange starter tastes/smells/mess. If you can get a bag of real hardwood charcoal, not the briquets, youre happening.

The pronged fork is great when it's dark and when cooking inside as stuff browns much faster, but when grilling just squeeze the meat your cooking, the juice that runs out is an excelent indicator of how done the meat is. The clearer the more done it is. Takes some practice to figure out but it's the only way I'll do it now.

I'm not squeezing my meat.

That's a great way to dry out your meat, and lose the flavorful juices. Go to any quality steakhouse and ask if they use pronged forks at anytime during the prepping/cooking process.

vis the microwave train:
I have an old RadiationKing type microwave (it was my folks from when they got married, circa 1972 or so). The neat thing about it is that it's also a convevtion oven. Not many people use them any more b/c they are just as incovenient as a regular over. But, when your regular oven sucks donkey-nut, the micro/oven is a livesaver.
As far as gadgety things are concerned, I'm going to have to have a three way tie between the waffler, the SandwichBuddy (mmm....minute grilled-cheese), and the toaster oven (also good when the reg. oven craps out on you).

That Guy, I'm not advocating piercing steak, I said it's useful when cooking outside in the dark, usually after you already have a good idea of how done it is by it's time on the grill. But if you squeeze it with the tongs the juice you see is an indicator of the doneness you don't need to pierce the meat at all. Just gently press it to the grill.

I bought a Sharp carrousel in 1973 for $500. It lasted 25 years and a month. Replaced it with a Sharp carrousel that cooks in half the time for $160. Whata country!
How do the tongs compare the meat to your chin/nose/forehead? :D

Undertoad: Have you tried a Waring Bar Blender? I have one and it kicks butt as far as crushing ice goes. My parents used to have a hand-cranked ice crusher in the garage that worked pretty well too, but it only made a cupful at a time.

I have lots of kitchen stuff I really like: my George Foreman grill, my crockpot and my toaster oven/breadmaker combo are among my faves.

Rho is the gadgeteer in our house...I have to stop her from buying a new gadget at least once a week.

She initially bought a Cuisinart SmartStick (a hand mixer), but it isn't what she really wanted...and it isn't that great unless the amount you are trying to mix is small. So, she bought a ThunderStick, which is much better.

My in-laws gave us a Krups 4-cup coffee maker (which I still consider a gadget), which is perfect...that's about all we'll ever drink in a day.

We have a small carousel microwave, which tends to work as well as a larger one.

But by far, the best gadget we have is this small electric can opener from Hamilton Beach. All you do is stick it on the can, and it goes around the can all by itself. And it runs on batteries or AC...and it was only like $10.

I picked up an Oster breadmaker at Kohl's the other day for 30$. It's capable of making 1 and 1.5lb loaves. The first batch wasn't too bad. I guess I'll have to refine my own recipe. My main reason for purchase is for winter-time pizza. You can't really get the dough to rise much in the cold, and this thing makes dough as well as cook it.

i love having a breadmaker, but you owe it to yourself to make bread from scratch once in a while. try making a potato or german rye bread. its very rewarding, and enjoyable.

it does do a good job raising pizza dough. try adding 1/4 cup of asiago or parmesan cheese (or both) to your dough when mixing the ingredients. mmm...

~james

ice cream makers are good too, especially for frozen drinks like pina coladas. i havent found a *really* good recipe for ice cream yet, it all tends to come out with a waxy texture.

~james