Meat Thermometers, Burger Presses, and Grilling Tools - because "I think it's done?" is not a food safety plan.

There are two kinds of cooks: the ones who check the temperature, and the ones who serve chicken with a side of suspense. This collection is for turning the second kind into the first kind.

From backyard BBQ to Sunday pot roast, these are the meat prep and cooking tools that take the guesswork (and the gristle) out of dinner. Well done, medium rare, or somewhere in between - we've got the gear either way.

Let's meat in the middle. Here's what belongs in your arsenal:

• Stop cutting into meat to check it. The Escali long stem digital thermometer reads in seconds, which means juices stay IN the steak where they belong. Roasting instead? An OXO oven thermometer tells you what your oven is ACTUALLY doing. (Spoiler: it's lying to you by 25 degrees.)
• Burger night, but make it uniform: the Perfect Burger Press shapes patties the same size and thickness every time, so they all finish together instead of one hockey puck and one raw middle.
• Tough cut? Tenderize it into submission with Norpro's Grip-EZ tenderizer or the classic meat hammer. Cheap cuts plus a good pounding equals expensive-tasting dinner.
• Bacon lovers, meet cast iron peer pressure: the cast iron bacon press keeps bacon FLAT, which means even cooking and no curled-up crispy-raw hybrid strips.
• Basting, trussing, and other pro moves: a glass baster for the drippings and stainless poultry lacers for keeping the Thanksgiving bird tucked in tight.

The kitchen store that knows its way around a Michigan grilling season. (All 4 weekends of it.)

Kooi Housewares is a real kitchen store in Muskegon, Michigan, where we grill in the summer, roast in the winter, and check the internal temp year round. Ask us before you buy - we'll tell you which thermometer we actually keep next to our own grills.

Cooking your masterpiece in cast iron? You're in good company:

>> Cast Iron <<

Need somewhere for all those leftovers to go?

>> Food Storage <<