If you were hesitant to try the iGrill when it was first released at $80+, the new iGrill mini might make a believer out of you. At $39.99, the mini is an affordable tool to monitor the temperature of your expensive steaks and could pay for itself. In fact, the iGrill mini won an iPhone Life Best of Show award at CES. Unlike the big brother iGrill and the new $99.99 iGrill 2, both of which have four probes, the iGrill mini has one probe, which should suffice for most grillmasters. Unless you're cooking significantly different kinds of meat, like turkey and hamburgers and steaks, one probe might be enough.
The iGrill mini has a magnetic base which allows you to stick it right on your grill, provided the grill has a metal base. If that's not convenient, they include a metal plate with double sided tape to create a mounting spot.
Inside the home, iDevices also offers the aptly named Kitchen Thermometer which performs a similar function for your indoor cooking. The common thread is the use of an elegant Bluetooth-connected app that displays the temperature for your probes and can alert you based on timers you set.
To make best use of these iDevices, you'll need to know what temperature to cook at and for how long. That might seem obvious, but it's worth pointing out. These are not replacements for cooking knowledge and experience, although the app does include recipes from various sources.
I am looking forward to iDevices' next generation product, tentatively named iLP, which will attach to the bottom of your gas tank to monitor the amount of liquid propane left, using sonar! This is a promising gadget that could have alleviated many empty tank disasters in my household and I'm sure in many others! Sure, you could keep a spare tank around, but in addition to the extra cost and space, it would be nice to have some insight into when the tank will need to be swapped out.