We’ve all heard that expression before. It means that you a) are finished, b) have had it up to here, and c) have got nothing left to give. That idiom is perfectly fine to use if you’re talking about your own existence, but in barbecue, sticking a fork in to check for doneness is simply a big fat no no. When you poke a piece of meat a half dozen times to check whether or not it’s cooked the way you like it, you’re effectively letting the juices drain out. And then, that piece of steak that you thought was done to perfection is going to be dry and tough. Hope it wasn’t a Black Angus N.Y. strip at $12.99 a pound.

In the hands of a grill master, however, the right fork - in one felled poke - can tell you if your meat is cooked to perfection. That is, if it’s a fork with built-in digital thermometer probe. You know how when you’ve got a big fat thick juicy steak on the grill, and sometimes you just feel like you’ve got to cut into it to see if the inside is done just the way you want? Boy, does that spoil the presentation. But a fork with a temperature probe gives you an instant read on the doneness (or otherwise) of your meat or poultry. And you won’t waste a single second having to grab another utensil to take it off the grill once it is perfect, since the fork is built-in. In grilling, every second counts.