If you’ve ever tried to use a gas stovetop for any type of low-and-slow cooking method — simmering sauces/soups/stews, making delicate stuff like custards and caramel, etc — then you’ve probably found out the hard way what a pain it is to achieve precise and consistent temperature control for that type of thing.

It’s not that you’re a bad cook, you just need the right tool to help you out, and the Ilsa cast iron heat diffuser is what I’d recommend. What it does is absorb the heat from the burner and then evenly distributes it across a flat surface to make it gentler and easier to regulate.

This energy distribution eliminates hot spots, helps prevent scorching and burning, and generally makes it easier to simmer things slowly without them boiling over. The flat surface is also great for setting small pots and stovetop coffee makers on, with the added bonus of keeping pan handles from getting hot.

On the topic of hot handles, it should be noted that the diffuser’s own handle can indeed get hot while the item is in use, but luckily it’s removable by squeezing the two sides together, so as long as you remember to do that before the cooking process is underway, then you should be golden.

Get the Ilsa cast iron heat diffuser for $30 on Amazon.