ShareThisAn oven thermometer (that is, a thermometer that measures the temperature of your oven) is one of the handiest devices to have in a kitchen, especially if you do a lot of baking. Ovens are notoriously unreliable, and their actual temperature can fall more than 30 degrees on either side of where they're supposed to be.
An oven thermometer (especially the kind with a wire and an outside-the-oven display) lets you keep track of how hot your oven is and adjust the heat accordingly -- and it will give you a better sense of how long your specific oven needs to preheat, and just how much heat is lost every time the door is opened. It's one of the easiest ways to improve your cooking -- it takes away the guesswork and helps you get to know your equipment.
If you're braising meat in wine, the best pairing to drink with it is a wine similar in flavor to what you're cooking with -- of course, you don't need to break the bank on braising wine, but a similar region and grape will do the job nicely.
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