Yes, you can make the ISO on your hard drive (build to ISO).
Write and verify that and delete it afterwards.
If it doesn't verify, you can go into verify mode and select the ISO to verify your burned disk against.
Checking the sectors are good and can be read is one thing. Verifying they are an exact replica of what you wanted to write onto them is another. Ner0 CD DVD Speed is free and has a sector scanning tool in it.
As for drives, 1,000 burns sounds like a few. It's impossible to tell how long they last for, for sure, but I reckon they should go further.
Regards