Would I be crazy to pre order The Meater Block?

[MBMorgan]

As long as smokers are made of metal, no manufacturer is likely to be able to push a meaningful signal out to a receiver that's not REAL close by. I'd wait a while ... possibly years ... before even thinking about throwing any money at a Meater or any other wireless thermometer.

[Troutman]

The operative word being "supposed" ......

[RonB]

Troutman - that's why the word is in italics...

I haven't seen any reviews of the Meater Block. Hmmm - I think I'll look now.

[Pequod]

I've had no problem with it penetrating inches of refractory cement over a wire ("Faraday-like"?) frame. Yes the bluetooth receiver needs to be nearby, but with 10'ish feet works for me in practice.

[fracmeister]

I was an early backer The company lies constantly. The bulk of the reviews I have seen were from the company employees but now we are seeing some others.

[Jerod Broussard]

If only there was some way to attach a cable to the probe and connect that to a base which would in turn communicate with a receiver.

​​​​​​

[customtrim]

If the money spent on junk was saved imagine what we could own

[Willy]

Good one, Jerod!!!!

[EdF]

You're a crusty man, Jerod Broussard !

[Santamarina]

I’m a kickstarter backer. They got my money almost three years ago, and my MEATER Block arrived...wait, it’s not here yet. Six months turned into a year, which turned into tree years.

The single probe backers have all received their product and they’re for sale on demand for everyone now. Blocks...hopefully soon.

If they actually do what they're supposed to, they’ll be the greatest barbecue accessory ever. With all this time I have very high expectations. Hopefully they deliver!

[Jerod Broussard]

Greatest?? I can't see that. I'm already measuring pit temperatures with alarms.

[Troutman]

....or does it run a fan? hmmmm?

[Attjack]

The responses on this thread have me going back and forth on what I want to do.

[Potkettleblack]

You want to stay away.
You have my word on it.
Company with 3 years of delays does not deserve your money. Wait until their Chinese manufacturing partner rips off their design and ships an imitation.

[Pequod]

Wait until Thermoworks or similarly reputable company does the same thing. I own a MEATER, but don't like the company and have my doubts regarding their staying power.

[Willy]

I haven't really paid much attention to the Meater, other than to occasionally read the AR threads wherein AR folks express their lack of enthusiasm for same, but Jerod Broussard 's clever post just above (If only there was someway to attach a cable...) has been stuck in my head for the last hour or so. It then occurred to me--what is the point of the Meater? Why are cables so bad? What does eliminating them buy the pitmaster? The only situation I can see where there is a positive is for a rotisserie where cables can't work (I'm sure that if other positives exist, y'all will let me know! LOL).

Anyway, this seems to me to be a case where some spiffy tech idea has captured the imagination of folks for no practical reason.

Go ahead, rip my head off--I can take it.

[ckreef]

Rotisserie was the main reason I wanted one and mainly for rotisserie rib roasts. Other than that there are many tried and true options that already exist.

[RonB]

I just hate the wires. They are a pain to deal with.

[sfrancis353]

The one thing that the Meater will give you that the cables do not is the ambient and meat temps for each thermometer. This is nice so that you know how hot each section is cooking. I'm still waiting on my Block also, so this is all in theory, but is at least one use case that I'll be looking to investigate

[CaptainMike]

I'm with Willy on this one. Years ago I bought a cheap Maverick and it worked fine. Upgraded to the Smoke and it works great. Thought I needed the Fireboard because, you know, graphs and stuff, and it is equally great! I really don't see the need for a wireless unit unless you really hate wires, which I don't. When I do rotisserie I simply shut it off, usually, and probe with the Thermapen. Come to think of it, all of my cooks get the Thermapen treatment to assess universal doneness prior to pulling.

As far as the Meater company, it sure looks like they've kicked all of their kickstarters to the curb in favor of fresh cash. Caveat emptor.

[Pequod]

The MEATER folks claim it is because there is a "cool air bubble" next to the meat. Their explanation is a bit odd, but not wrong. The probe would need to have more length outside the meat to be more accurate. As it is, I just ignore the ambient temp and time remaining estimates. Useful for internal meat temps only.

[Attjack]

Interesting. Been clipping my DigiQ pit probe to the meat probe and have noticed a discrepancy when also using my maverick.

[EdF]

Sounds like the old "meat shadow" effect.

[klflowers]

Got a Maverick, works fine. Think I'll spend on better meat...

[JGo37]

Yes.

[jgreen]

The look of that thing was pulling at my MCS, but based on all the comments I will wait till it has been in production a while and gets good reviews.

[Attjack]

The fact that I use a controller is probably going to save me from this bout of MCS. I can't really justify buying a wireless system and still having a wire hanging out of the Primo.

[BriggsBBQ]

First the thermometers came out. Then came the pit controllers with fans. Next came the autofeed of the fuel Pellet Smokers. Next will be auto feeds for logs and charcoal.

[Attjack]

Then the auto-feeder tube so the meat just pumps out of the pit into your mouth.

[klflowers]

Is there a crowd fund for that? Sign me up!!