Monitor Your Cooking Temperatures With FLIR

Using a flashy thermal camera to cook your dinner might sound a bit crazy, but think of the FLIR ONE as an evolution of those cool infrared thermometers Alton Brown liked to wave around on Good Eats.

The sleek, little accessory plugs directly into your iPhone or Android device and combines thermal imaging technology with its built-in digital camera to produce an easy-to-read photo displaying the temperature of anything put in front of it. And while it might appear to be geared more toward the home handyman than the home cook, the FLIR ONE also holds all kinds of fun possibilities for the kitchen: Aside from simple jobs like seeing if your oil is hot enough for frying, imagine pinpointing where the hot spots are in your oven or figuring out where the best spot on your charcoal grill is for searing.

Before you throw away your old-fashioned analog thermometer, though, know thermal imaging hasn't exactly developed magical X-ray vision yet, so you can't really see if the internal temperature of thicker foods like a two-inch pork chop or standing rib roast have reached the safety zone. But for those of you who like to stay on the bleeding edge of cooking—or are in need a conversation starter at your next barbecue—the FLIR ONE is probably worth it.