Maverick Bluetooth Thermometer

Photo courtesy of Maverick

Is there anything your phone can't do for you these days? We've come a long way since it was a thing tethered to a base or wall that was only used to call people when you really needed to talk to them. Because, of course, you could always write them a letter. With pen and paper. And mail it.

Are you laughing yet?

My latest techy gadget that works with phone, iPad or iPod is the Maverick Bluetooth Thermometer. The base unit functions like a regular remote thermometer, but ... there's an app.

Once the app is downloaded to your compatible device, it connects via bluetooth so you can monitor your baking remotely.

The alarm on the base unit is fairly loud, so I think it's likely you'd hear that unless you wandered pretty far. But I have to say that it's nice to be able to be away from the oven and be able to check how the temperature is progressing, so you know when your food is 20 or 10 or 5 degrees away from being done.

I used this thermometer on Thanksgiving, and it worked perfectly. When the temperature was reached, but the base unit and its paired bluetooth device beeped.

The thermometer has a bunch of preset temperatures for a variety of meats, or you can set a custom temperature. It accepts up to 4 probes (but only comes with two; you can buy more), so you can monitor several items you're cooking, or you can monitor the food and the temperature of your oven or barbecue at the same time.

Overall, it's a nice thermometer, even without the bluetooth component, and with the bluetooth, it's even more useful. I like that it can monitor several things at once - like the white meat and the dark meat of a turkey.

Who's it for: People who want to monitor their baking, roasting, or grilling remotely.

Pros: Works well.

Cons: Make sure you have a compatible device - this didn't work with my (admittedly older) phone. While bluetooth is nice, a wifi connection might be the logical next step for these sorts of devices, so you can monitor from a computer and from a much greater distance.

Wishes: It would have been nice if it came with all 4 probes. I doubt I'll actually need to monitor 4 things at once, but people who do a lot of barbecuing or smoking in large quantities might want to monitor several meats, plus the smoker temp, so they'd be wise to buy the extra probes when they buy the unit.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

The Ribalizer

Ribs - check out the smoke ring!

Some years I'm more excited about getting outside and grilling than others. This year, I'm itching to fire up the grill ... and the weather hasn't been cooperating. I've managed to do some outdoor cooking, but not nearly as much as I want to.

And of course, the gadgets I'm reviewing are more about summer cooking than about baking.

Today's gadget is a thing called The Ribalizer.

You might guess that it's designed for cooking ribs. Yup. When you buy it, you get four disposable aluminum pans, two very sturdy metal racks, and a pretty big pouch of rib rub (I transferred mine to a jar, and it was about a pint). Instructions and recipes are included, too.

Ribs on the grill with Ribalizer.

If you follow the rib-cooking instructions, you'll use two aluminum pans - one for the base and one for a cover - for each cooking session. They're disposable, but you can choose to wash them, if you prefer.

There's a bottom metal rack that keeps the ribs (or other food - more on that later) above the water that you'll be putting in the pan. And then there's another rack that keeps the ribs separated for cooking.

Instructions suggest rubbing the ribs well ahead of time and also taking time to soak wood chips for smoking. When you're ready, the ribs are arranged in the rack and you add water to the bottom of the pan.

Then, you set your grill up for smoking using whatever method is right for your grill.

Cooked ribs.

The first stage of cooking is with the pan uncovered so the ribs can absorb the smoke. In the second stage, you put the second pan on the Ribalizer as a cover and you continue cooking. I followed the high altitude cooking instructions and cooked the ribs with smoke for 1 hour and covered for 1 1/2 hours.

I've cooked ribs using pretty much every method there is, from par-boiling to no boiling. This is the first time I finished ribs with steam.

I have to say that I liked the result. I got a nice smoke ring, the ribs were tender enough but not mushy, but they still had a little chew. And the rib rub was nice, too.

But that wasn't enough testing. I saw that they mentioned that you can use the ribalizer without the rib separator to cook a roast, so I decided to cook a pork roast in the ribalizer. The weather wasn't conducive to outdoor cooking, so I used the ribalizer in the oven.

Pork roast in oven on rack.

I was more than happy with the pork roast, but the lightbulb moment was when I realized that this would be great for cooking any sort of food where you want a rack that's well above the bottom of the pan.

Most roasting racks are fairly low - maybe 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch at the most. If you want to pile vegetables under the roast or you want a lot of liquid underneath, you don't have to worry about the roast smashing the vegetables or drowning in the liquid.

The Ribalizer is pretty big, so if you've got a big turkey to roast, it's going to fit. The pans are steam tray pans that are 20.75 inches x 12.875 inches, and about 3 inches tall. The Ribalizer folks sell them, or you can buy them at places like Sam's Club or Costco, and maybe at some grocery stores as well.

The one downside to the ribalizer setup is that the aluminum pan just sort of snaps together with the racks, and they come apart just as easily, so you need to be really careful if you need to lift or move the pan.

And, seriously, you're using disposable pans, so there's always a risk of the pan bending. And if you're poking around with a fork, it's possible to stab a hole into the pan. My suggestion: if you need a more rigid, solid, sturdy pan, stack a few pans together.

Who's it for:  People who want a different way of cooking ribs.

Pros: Also great for roasts. Racks are dishwasher safe.

Cons: The aluminum pans can be flimsy. They're disposable, but also recyclable.

Wishes: I wish the racks actually fit in my dishwasher; but that's a dishwasher issue. My dishes barely fit.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Grill Grates

Grill grates on my grill. They will never be this clean again.

The first time I fired up my grill this year, I looked at the grill grates and thought, gee, I'm going to need to replace those nasty grates pretty soon. The enamel coating had chipped off in spots, and they looked pretty terrible overall.

As I was researching replacement costs, I got an email from a company called GrillGrate that makes ... well, grates for grills. They said that their grates were better, and I thought, "How could they not be better? Mine are rusty."

The GrillGrate website has all sorts of information about the heating properties of these grates and why they're better for grilling, but I don't always believe the hype. I said yes because I figured they couldn't possibly be worse than my rusty grates, and this would save me the cost of replacement.

At worst, they'd perform the same as the grates that came with the grill, and that would be perfectly fine with me. And if they were better ... well, then that would be a huge bonus.

The grates come in a few different sizes and shapes for different types of grills, from rectangular gas grills to round charcoal grills, but they don't need to be super-precise if you want these to lay on top of your existing grates. (You can also get them to replace your grates, which does need to be more precise.) My gas grill setup was pretty standard, but if you've got a weird grill or you need something special, you can also get custom grates.

The grates come in sections that link up, which makes a lot of sense for packaging, shipping, and handling. And even for washing.

While you're supposed to let these season - like a cast iron pan - if you drip some goopy marinade on them, it's nice to be able to pick up small sections that will fit into the kitchen sink, so you can wash off the goop.

But never mind all that. In the end, it's all about performance. How about some grill marks?

Here's another shot where you can see grill marks on the burger in the foreground.

I've cooked different types of meat and even salmon patties on the grates, as well as vegetables. There are holes in the valleys of the grates, but you're not going to drop anything through the grates and into the fire, so that's a plus. But the holes do let smoke though, for flavor. BUT! Even if there's a flare-up under the grates, you're not going to burn the food.

Well, I suppose if you tried really hard you could start a fire ON the grates, but you'd have to work at that pretty hard to make that happen.

I have to say that I'm beyond thrilled with these. I've never gotten grill marks like these from any of the many grills I've owned, and it really does seem like these even out the heat, so food cooked more evenly. Food didn't stick, and I think the nonstick properties will be even better as the grates "season" from being used repeatedly.

Since there's no enamel coating, like my old grates, these should last a long time - I don't expect I'll be replacing them, ever. And, if I upgrade my grill, I can still use these.

I really can't see a downside to these grates, except of course that they're not standard equipment on grills.

For more information about why these work, how to order, videos, recipes, and more, check out the GrillGrate website.

Who's it for: People who have grills.

Pros: Check out the grill marks. 'Nuff said.

Cons: Hmmm. Hmmm. Can't think of anything.

Wishes: Wish I had found them sooner!

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.