This $10 Gadget Perfectly Times Your Dinner Prep (It’s Great for Hosting!)

Once again, Daylight Saving Time has ended and it’s getting darker earlier and earlier in the evenings. Fortunately, the holidays are just around the corner — and there’s perhaps no better antidote to cold, dreary days than gathering with loved ones to celebrate and, of course, eat plenty of food.

A home-cooked meal can be a beautiful thing, but it doesn’t always feel that way while you’re cooking it. Keeping track of everything on the stove and in the oven can be tough, but I’ve discovered a multitasking kitchen timer that looks so nice that it makes me want to cook a multi-course meal just to try it out.

The Taylor Four-Event Digital Kitchen Timer with Dry Erase Whiteboard got on my radar through an Instagram Reel by Lo of @losweethome. The small-but-mighty timer has a screen with four different individual timers and a mini whiteboard next to it, so you can label each one. “This is absolutely genius!” one commenter wrote.

Despite its many functions, this timer is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand; it measures 7.5 inches wide, 1 inch deep, and 5.5 inches tall. The LCD screen is 2 inches by 1.75 inches and can display “countdowns or count-ups” of “up to 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds,” so you’ll be covered whether you’re doing a quick steam, an overnight marinade, or both. The product description also notes that “each event has its own distinct alarm sound,” making them even easier to keep track of, and both batteries and dry erase markers are included.

This kitchen timer obviously comes in handy for occasions like Thanksgiving when you’re preparing lots of different foods at once, but it’ll be good to have even if you’re making a meal for one. Sure, you could use your phone timer for that, but do you really want to deal with unlocking a touch screen with greasy hands or social media distractions?

And although it’s technically a kitchen timer, you can use it for far more than just coordinating meals. If, like me, you’re a multitasker who tends to get a bit scattered, you could use it to do your laundry, meal prep, and keep track of just how long you’ve been “taking a quick break” for.