Meet the crew · The shop window · draft horse
Clyde’s story
Clyde is a very large horse who has never fit through the kitchen door. So he runs the shop window instead, and comments on everything.
- Has never been inside the kitchen. Knows every recipe anyway.
- Keeps a thermometer in his mouth for emergencies. There have been no emergencies.
- Can reach the top shelf without a ladder. Can’t reach the stove.
Clyde always wanted to be a cook. The problem was the door. The kitchen door at the Riverbank Inn is a beaver-sized door, and Clyde is a horse-sized horse.
He tried going in sideways. He tried backwards. Once he got his head and one shoulder through, and Chef Tamás had to hold out a carrot so he would back out again.
So now Clyde stands outside, puts his head through the big window, and watches. He watches everything, and he has an opinion on all of it. “Is that onion done? It looks done. Pippa, your onion is done.”
In the end the chef gave him a job that fits: the shop window. Clyde sells pans, boards and thermometers to every boat that stops, and he tells every customer exactly what is cooking inside.
He still wears a chef hat. It is very small. Nobody has told him.
🛍️ Clyde’s thermometer shelf
- ThermoWorks ThermoPop 2: ATK’s Best Buy instant-read thermometer. Clyde’s favorite thing to hold in his teeth. (about $39) · Check on Amazon
- ThermoPro TP16: ATK’s Best Buy leave-in probe. It beeps, so nobody has to keep opening the oven. (about $18) · Check on Amazon
- CDN ProAccurate oven thermometer: ATK’s best analog oven thermometer. Shows what your oven is really doing. (about $6) · Check on Amazon
Test results from America’s Test Kitchen, explained in our turkey tools guide. See the whole range in Clyde’s Window Shop. Prices checked October 2026; they change often. Affiliate links: how we make money.
Find Clyde at work: Clyde’s Window Shop
Clyde is made up, like everyone on the river except Chef Tamás. The gear is real.
