MEATER Thermometers

[bliumuncher]

Hey guys,

I recently saw the MEATER thermometer and while I personally don't own one, it looks pretty cool since it can give you temperatures of food you're making as well as time remaining. However, it doesn't seem feasible for anything you cook on a pan or a pot if you have to close the lid...?

What do you guys think?

 

[Aunt Bea]

I use an old Pampered Chef pocket thermometer a couple of times each year, mainly because I happen to have it, but I wouldn’t bother to replace it.

Personally, I would skip the expensive meat thermometer and spend the money on some quality meat.

 

[caseydog]

I have a Meater thermometer. When it works, it is just okay. But, there's only a 50/50 chance it will work when I go to use it. If it does work, my iPhone has to be about three feet from the probe. I would not recommend one, except perhaps to someone I don't like.

The worst part is, I contacted their customer service by email, and once they had me email address, they flooded my inbox with marketing messages, but never showed any interest in solving the problems I was having. Basically, they were saying, "Shut up and buy more of our stuff."

There are now companies competing with Meater, so I would check them out first. I have decided to go back to my $25 wired probe thermometer. It has to be close to the meat, but so does my Meater.

CD

 

[bliumuncher]

I have a Meater thermometer. When it works, it is just okay. But, there's only a 50/50 chance it will work when I go to use it. If it does work, my iPhone has to be about three feet from the probe. I would not recommend one, except perhaps to someone I don't like.

The worst part is, I contacted their customer service by email, and once they had me email address, they flooded my inbox with marketing messages, but never showed any interest in solving the problems I was having. Basically, they were saying, "Shut up and buy more of our stuff."

There are now companies competing with Meater, so I would check them out first. I have decided to go back to my $25 wired probe thermometer. It has to be close to the meat, but so does my Meater.

CD

A 3 ft range does not seem good, although it looks like the Meater Plus provides better range. Which thermometer did you buy? I'm also sorry to hear about your poor customer service experience.

 

[caseydog]

A 3 ft range does not seem good, although it looks like the Meater Plus provides better range. Which thermometer did you buy? I'm also sorry to hear about your poor customer service experience.

Three feet is a pretty low bar to beat. I was an early customer, and bought mine because of a recommendation from Guga (YouTube steak guru). He now uses and recommends a competing wifi thermometer. I forgot the rule of recommendations from people on YouTube... they love whatever products and companies that sponsor them.

CD

 

[bliumuncher]

Three feet is a pretty low bar to beat. I was an early customer, and bought mine because of a recommendation from Guga (YouTube steak guru). He now uses and recommends a competing wifi thermometer. I forgot the rule of recommendations from people on YouTube... they love whatever products and companies that sponsor them.

CD

Are Bluetooth / WiFi thermometers worth it in general?

 

[caseydog]

Are Bluetooth / WiFi thermometers worth it in general?

I think so. I wouldn't have bought one if I didn't see a reason to buy one. It would have been great for me, as I sometimes cook meat on the smoker for 5, 10, or more hours. Being able to monitor the internal temperature from anywhere in and around my house would have been great.

CD

 

[taxlady]

Thanks for the update CD. I would be interested in getting a meat thermometer that uses Bluetooth and works inside an oven. I spend most of my time upstairs. It can be a PITA checking stuff in the kitchen. Well, I'm still happy with my Chef Alarm. It has a probe and a loud beeper that can be set to tell me when a high or low temperature, that I set, is reached. Definitely loud enough to hear it from upstairs when it beeps in the kitchen.

 

[dcSaute]

Are Bluetooth / WiFi thermometers worth it in general?

depends on your usage. if it's something you use every day/week, probably.

for me, I use an oven retained thingie once/twice/three times per year.
I have the Thermoworks "ChefAlarm" model. probe stays in the oven, readout/control "body" is outside the oven. works as advertised....
since I do not live with a smart phone embedded in my head, function is peachy keen for me - without worrying if "OMG , , , I'm out of range...."

 

[taxlady]

depends on your usage. if it's something you use every day/week, probably.

for me, I use an oven retained thingie once/twice/three times per year.
I have the Thermoworks "ChefAlarm" model. probe stays in the oven, readout/control "body" is outside the oven. works as advertised....
since I do not live with a smart phone embedded in my head, function is peachy keen for me - without worrying if "OMG , , , I'm out of range...."

The only "out of range" with a ChefAlarm is that you could be too far away to hear the beeping.

 

[bliumuncher]

depends on your usage. if it's something you use every day/week, probably.

for me, I use an oven retained thingie once/twice/three times per year.
I have the Thermoworks "ChefAlarm" model. probe stays in the oven, readout/control "body" is outside the oven. works as advertised....
since I do not live with a smart phone embedded in my head, function is peachy keen for me - without worrying if "OMG , , , I'm out of range...."

I kinda wish there was something I can use where I can monitor how my food is cooking while I'm still in the kitchen. I use my pan a lot to cook stuff and I kinda wish I could check the temperature while I say prepare other parts of my meal, sort of similar to taking an exam where every now and then I can check the time to time manage and change any pacing if necessary.

I wonder if that thought crosses people's minds.

 

[taxlady]

I kinda wish there was something I can use where I can monitor how my food is cooking while I'm still in the kitchen. I use my pan a lot to cook stuff and I kinda wish I could check the temperature while I say prepare other parts of my meal, sort of similar to taking an exam where every now and then I can check the time to time manage and change any pacing if necessary.

I wonder if that thought crosses people's minds.

I can check the temperature of food in a pan on the stove with an instant read thermometer. I have used my ChefAlarm with probe to monitor the temperature of sausages that I was poaching in a pot on the stove. I set the temperature to 74°C (165°F). That way I could make sure the meat was cooked to a safe temperature without the risk of having the sausages burst, like they often do if you just boil them.

 

[bliumuncher]

I can monitor the temperature of food in a pan on the stove with an instant read thermometer. I have used my ChefAlarm with probe to monitor the temperature of sausages that I was poaching in a pot on the stove. I set the temperature to 74°C (165°F). That way I could make sure the meat was cooked to a safe temperature without the risk of having the sausages burst, like they often do if you just boil them.

Nice I just looked it up. Pretty cool how it notifies you when the temperature is reached. Maybe it would be fancier if the timer was a well-formed prediction instead of one manually set.

 

[taxlady]

Nice I just looked it up. Pretty cool how it notifies you when the temperature is reached. Maybe it would be fancier if the timer was a well-formed prediction instead of one manually set.

How would the prediction work? When would that be more useful than setting it manually? If I could somehow sync the burner with the thermometer and have the burner stay at a temperature that I set, that would be nifty.

Actually, back in the 1960s, we had a gas stove that had one burner that would do that. The dial to switch it on was marked in temperature. There was a sensor in the middle of the burner. The only thing my parents used it for was keeping a pot of coffee at the temperature they liked.

 

[bliumuncher]

How would the prediction work? When would that be more useful than setting it manually? If I could somehow sync the burner with the thermometer and have the burner stay at a temperature that I set, that would be nifty.

Actually, back in the 1960s, we had a gas stove that had one burner that would do that. The dial to switch it on was marked in temperature. There was a sensor in the middle of the burner. The only thing my parents used it for was keeping a pot of coffee at the temperature they liked.

How is that different from from just keeping the burner on at a certain heat, or is it the fact that a thermometer's temperature is more precise?

 

[caseydog]

As for predictive, the apps associated with these wifi/Bluetooth thermometers track the rate of increase of internal temperature of the meat, and estimate when the meat will reach the temperature you want to reach. That's pretty nice to know.

The one on my Meater is pretty accurate with its prediction... when the Meater actually works. The screen looks like this...

CD

 

[taxlady]

As for predictive, the apps associated with these wifi/Bluetooth thermometers track the rate of increase of internal temperature of the meat, and estimate when the meat will reach the temperature you want to reach. That's pretty nice to know.

The one on my Meater is pretty accurate with its prediction... when the Meater actually works. The screen looks like this...

View attachment 68329

CD

Nifty

 

[taxlady]

How is that different from from just keeping the burner on at a certain heat, or is it the fact that a thermometer's temperature is more precise?

Ordinary burners just keep pumping heat. They don't take into consideration the size, shape, or materials that the pot is made of. They don't take into consideration what and how much is in the pot. All of those things will affect how fast and how hot something will get with a steady amount of heat energy going into the pot. A thermometer can tell how hot the food is getting.

In the case of that burner from my childhood home, it had thermometer in the centre of the burner that detected how hot the pot was, which is related to how hot the food it is. There was one of those burners in my 7th grade home ec class kitchen. The teacher demonstrated by putting a pot on the burner and turning it on. Then, when the gas flames had gotten small, she tossed some ice cubes into the pot. The flames immediately got bigger.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I am doing a pork roast in the smoker Sunday and will use my Thermoworks DOT for the job. However, I am concerned about closing the lid on top of the cable.
I see it being used this way all the time. I can imagine how hard that would be on the cable?
So I have been looking at truly wireless. Where the probe has no cable. You insert it and it reads out to your phone.
Anyone have one? Any good? Suggestions appreciated.

 

[Andy M.]

I did that and I had to replace the cable. I use the Dot on a Weber kettle. I found I can thread the cable through the top vent but then you have to be careful about removing the lid.