Infrared Laser-Sighted Thermometers
One of the coolest, trendiest gadgets that you need to have is an infrared laser thermometer. You can tell the temperature of that hot oil without having to stick a traditional thermometer in it, risking losing that thermometer, or worse losing your skin. If you watch Alton Brown's Good Eats on the Food Network, you may have seen him use it from time to time to gauge the temperature of oil heating up in a skillet. It's a pretty cool little gadget that has been dropping in price recently. Here's a good one from Mastercool that's only 49.95 (aff)
It's easy. You just point the "gun" at whatever you wish to know the temperature of, and it sends you a reading within milliseconds. In fact, most IR thermometers send a reading back faster than your eye can move from the object to the display on the thermometer. The newer "gun" style models feature a laser sight, which shoots a red beam of light out much like those gun sights they have on police shows.
The base technology is nothing new. There have been infrared devices in use for decades in the military and law inforcement. Police helicopters are sometimes equipped with IR sensing sevices. There's infrared goggles for nightime combat, and of course, IR weapons-mounted scopes.
So what's the advantage? Other than being totally awesome, the IR thermometers are extremely accurate and very reliable. Since the heat sensing part of the device never comes into contact with the sample, the sensor is never damaged or altered. Readings are the same use after use. The main advantage is that you get an instant reading. You never have to wait a few seconds for the thing to read. You know the precise temperature the second you need it.
Pick one up today at Amazon.com. There are plenty of models out there, such as MasterCool