At $96, Super-Fast Thermapen isn’t cheap, but it will help make your meats perfect

Sitting at the counter at Chi Spacca one night where I could watch Chad Colby and cooks grilling giant Tomahawk pork chops and bistecca over a wood fire, I noticed Colby probe the meat with a thermometer. I’d never seen one like it before. Accurate and fast, it turns out it’s a favorite tool of a number of chefs made by hand in England by ThermoWorks.

I went home, looked it up online. Here’s what I read: “Robust, splash-proof design with molded-in seals to protect the thermometer from wet hands and kitchen splashes. Reads in less than 3 seconds.� $96. Sold.

And it comes in 14 colors! Plus five limited edition patterns that are all sold out at the moment.

I ordered one, plus the translucent silicone rubber “boot� that protects it from knocks and general abuse. A few days later, my Super-Fast Thermapen arrived in the mail, bright green as requested. Now I’m thinking maybe I should have gotten the magnetic, glow-in-the-dark boot for $3 more. Oh, well.

I gave it a trial run the next night grilling a tri-tip over hardwood charcoal. The Thermapen works great, giving you an accurate, instant reading. The beef came out just as imagined, a deep rose at the center.

This cook’s tools is not inexpensive, but then again, think of how many times that expensive leg of lamb or crown roast of beef has been inexplicably overcooked. This will save you from mishaps like that.

Super-Fast Thermapen, $96; Thermapen translucent boot, $8; shipping by FedEx ground, $2.99 from ThermoWorks.

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