Meater

[mayapoppa]

I know a lot of people backed the Meater on Kickstarter, and many are frustrated that they haven't received theirs. I just wanted to chime in and say that I got mine a little over a week ago, and it worked well, although the Bluetooth range is pretty pathetic. So hang in there, you should see yours soon.

But it also raised an interesting question... the ambient sensor, by design, sits just off the surface of the meat. My other pit probes are usually at least a couple of inches away from the meat. The ambient reading from the Meater is definitely being affected by proximity to cold meat, and its moisture evaporation. So my ambient readings were significantly lower than on a cook using my normal pit probe. I just rolled with it, assuming the meat was cooling the sensor, but it did create an uncertainty... with a pit probe, you know how hot your pit is in general, and that ideally remains fairly stable. With the Meater, you have to kind of adjust to a slowly rising pit temp as related to the temp and cooking process of the meat.

[Huskee]

Great to hear, we appreciate the updates as well as the insight about the pit sensor. It appears from this that perhaps dedicated meat & pit probes would be the best way instead of the combo probe- like the other makers do it, just wireless...

[mayapoppa]

I'm gonna need to set up the bridge that allows connection to WiFi...

[RonB]

I have watched the videos from Meater, and they say to insert the probe to the line to protect the "innards". How far is that line from the ambient air sensor?

Since I have a CyberQ and use that to regulate pit temp, I would be using a separate pit monitor anyway.

[mayapoppa]

I don't have it in front of me, but I would say maybe 1 - 1 1/2"... I might have stuck the probe in a hair deeper than just to the line. It was a big piece of meat.

[mayapoppa]

To add to my original post, one thing that was made quite clear by the phenomenon of the ambient sensor was when I was in the stall. And why. The ambient temperature dropped a little as the internal stopped rising, indicating that the amount of evaporation from the meat was cooling the air immediately surrounding the meat. Interesting stuff, and not useless. But I think I still would want a separate pit probe if I needed to truly work my pit temp. Having a PBC, I don't think it is as much of an issue.

[kmhfive]

This is great information. I doubt I'll receive mine before the end of the season here, but I'm glad to know they exist. I really appreciate your insights on how it compares to others. Thanks!

[Spinaker]

Season? What season?

[lonnie mac]

Don't even know what I was thinking when I ordered mine. Now with the FireBoard, dang, I think that works better than I could ever imagine any other device possibly can. I suppose the meater would have one thing going for it would be for rotisserie cooking.

[RonB]

I want the Meater because I absolutely HATE the wires. For now, I want shorter wires - maybe 2 ft.

[Huskee]

That looks not unlike my bbq tool bin.