Last November, I celebrated Thanksgiving 1,100 miles away from where I live at my sister and brother-in-law’s home. It was quite the drive — spread across four days there and back — so I needed to be diligent about my packing list. Clothes, snacks and my 10-year-old Labrador were obvious must-brings. But there was another essential on my packing list: the iQ Sense smart thermometer from Chef iQ.

I love hosting dinner parties, but I used to be scared to death to cook anything with meat. I would catastrophize that I would end up poisoning and hospitalizing all of my friends with undercooked meat. Now I feel differently. With the iQ Sense, my brother-in-law and I confidently cooked the Thanksgiving turkey perfectly. In fact, my brother-in-law and dad were fascinated by how well the iQ Sense works, and swore up and down that they need their own. 

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In short, this smart thermometer works so well that it’s become a kitchen essential. And it’s on sale now at one of the lowest prices I’ve seen. 

The iQ Sense doesn’t come cheap, but I’d argue that it’s worth the price — especially if you’re trying to elevate your cooking skills and impress your in-laws with first-rate kitchen equipment. What makes this product even better is that you can now get any number of probes at a discount. With just a few weeks to go until Father’s Day, this might just be the perfect gift for your cooking enthusiast dad. 

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I love the ease of the iQ Sense

The iQ Sense is an unlimited-range, wireless cooking thermometer that connects with your phone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to alert you when your dish is ready to be removed from heat: no more dry turkey or overcooked steak.

You can get one-, two- or three-probe sets to satisfy any of your cooking needs. If you really only cook for yourself, I’d go with one probe, but if you’re like me and you enjoy hosting dinner parties or cooking multiple steaks at once, the three-probe set may be your best bet. 

Here’s a breakdown of the deals: 

• One probe: $68 (usually $130) — a 48% discount. 
• Two probe: $129 (usually $180) — a 29% discount. 
• Three probe: $160 (usually $220) — a 27% discount. 

No matter which set you choose, you can feel confident that you won’t be serving up undercooked or overcooked meat. Each probe has four internal temperature sensors to monitor the ambient temperature, within 1 degree Fahrenheit of accuracy. As much as I love the accuracy of the iQ Sense, I love its ease and convenience even more. 

I also love that I don’t have to constantly open the oven door and stick a probe into the meat to check the temperature every few minutes. I can simply pop it in once and leave it to work on other dishes until I’m notified that it’s ready to go. When I say “notify,” I truly mean it, considering it comes with a built-in speaker for audible alerts. It’s like having a sous chef that perfectly cooks meat in your kitchen at all times.

The iQ Sense also makes a thoughtful gift

When you think of great kitchen gifts, you may automatically think about a coffee maker or a quality set of pans. I’d argue that you’d get more use out of a smart thermometer. Every time you cook meat, either for yourself or others, you’ll use the iQ Sense. For me, this breaks down to daily use, making it well worth the higher price compared to analog meat thermometers. 

With the iQ App, you can also browse over 700 guided cooking recipes from Chef iQ’s in-house culinary experts and follow along to hundreds of videos that break down recipes in simple instructions. If you have a home chef in your life looking to expand their skills without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on cooking classes, then the iQ Sense is an ideal gift.

Will there be more deals on Chef iQ?

Chef iQ’s line of intelligent kitchen gadgets is not the cheapest, so it’s good to keep an eye out for discounts on the website — and Amazon sales are the best time to score Chef iQ products at a discount while you can. The iQ Sense is also available at Costco. 

For more smart kitchen tech, you should also check out the iQ Cooker, a smart multicooker that also offers the same ease and intelligence to users. 

If you’re looking for other useful, fun gifts for your favorite hostess or the chef in your life, here are our favorite kitchen gifts under $50.