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Review of Meater Plus

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    Review of Meater Plus

    I've been using the $99 Meater Plus, a wireless thermometer for the last six weeks. I've had sufficient experience now to post a review. The product is a single metal probe that's inserted into the meat and, using its app, allows you to read both the temperature of the meat and the air temp outside in the grill around the meat. I was skeptical at first that it could provide a signal through the thick steel lid of my Yoder as well as the stainless steel of my M Grill. For comparison, I also used my wired Fireboard Gen 1 with two probes right next to the Meater.

    Initially I had a problem pairing the device with my iPhone, but after a few tries it finally connected. From then on, whenever I removed the Meater from its case, it automatically was recognized by the app.

    So how well did it work? It measured both the ambient air and the meat consistently and accurately. It was always within a degree or so of the Fireboard probes. The Meater Plus has the added benefit over the Meater to work over a longer range. Its bamboo storage case provides a relay to your phone, and they claim it can connect up to 165 feet away. In practice I found it worked up to about 25 - 40 feet through a couple of walls. Occasionally I'd get a disconnect alert, but it quickly reconnected on its own.

    The convenience of a wireless thermometer is generally an advantage over wired, but not always. It's a larger probe than a wired probe and has to be inserted into the meat a certain amount, defined by a line on the probe, to allow part of the probe to read the air and part the meat. You also need to be careful to put the probe in from the edge, parallel to the grill surface when probing steak, so you can turn the steak over without the end of the probe touching the hot grill. When that happened, an alarm sounded, telling me to remove it from the grill before damage occurs. It was ideal for cooking a steak on my M16 and never having to set up my Fireboard. The temperature readings were not instantaneous and look a while to stabilize, perhaps 20 - 30 seconds.

    The device also should be a great way to monitor a roast or whole chicken on a rotisserie.

    The probe is water-resistant, and after each use you can wash it under water. The app also predicts cooking time after selecting what you're cooking and how you want it done. It then displays the cooking time estimate that continually updates, along with displaying the two temperatures. The app's functions are pretty basic and the cooking time is not all that accurate. Also, it's not designed to predict the time of a long smoke.

    The probe is stored in a bamboo box with a AAA battery and a blinking light that has the charging and relay electronics within. It's a clever design, but the bamboo gets pretty dirty and easily stained when working around a grill.

    Over all the product worked well, better than I expected. I'm always untangling wires with my Fireboard, even though I use their silicone spools to store my probes. So eliminating the wires has some benefits. But I would gladly put up with that inconvenience for the benefits of the Fireboard that are many: long distance remote monitoring over the cloud, multiple probes, recording my cooks, the graphing and documenting great customer support, and being able to go back and reference prior cooks. They're really not comparable and not meant to be. One's a cool gadget and the other is a serious cooking system. At $100, the Meater+ is more than half the cost of the Fireboard. But overall it's a decent product.

    I should add - based on comments below - that customer service was less than stelar the one time I contacted them. When I had trouble connecting the first time, it took them 3 days to answer an email.

    Last edited by BBQPhil; September 27, 2020, 10:40 AM.

    #2
    Thanks for the review! I am glad they managed to improve it a lot from the first version.

    Comment


      #3
      I'm glad it is workin' for you. My experience was - um - less than stellar...

      Comment


      • BBQPhil
        BBQPhil commented
        Editing a comment
        Connection issues?

      • RonB
        RonB commented
        Editing a comment
        BBQPhil - accuracy problems with all the probes, and a less than responsive customer service...

      #4
      Does the alarm sound via the app or do you have to be right by the smoker?

      Comment


        #5
        Sounds via the app

        Comment


          #6
          Unfortunately my experience with the Meater+ wasn't as positive. Each time I tried to use it it was a struggle to get it connected to my iPhone. The connection was hit and miss with many more misses than hits. It is now sitting inside my roll top desk collecting dust. I have since gone with the FireBoard 2 and have yet to have a connection problem.

          Comment


            #7
            How does the Meater Cloud sharing and data analytics compare to the Fireboard Cloud and sharing?

            Comment


            • BBQPhil
              BBQPhil commented
              Editing a comment
              Cannot compare. No history, no chart, no cloud. Basically, just a temp reading with a rudimentary timer. The Fireboard is incomparable. The only advantage of the Meater is it's almost instantaneous to set up. Just take it out of its case, stick it into the meat, and open the app.

            #8
            I have had a Meater/Meater+ since they came out. Have used for at least 40 cooks. I love the fact that there are no wires, nothing to get tangled up. However, I still on the fence with it. The meat probe seems to be spot on, the ambient I am not sure based on other probes used during the cook. Seems to be about 25 degrees off. Maybe this is due to the proximity to the meat and perhaps it is a cooler environment due to the meat sweating, dunno.

            I started with the Meater probe when it came out and when they came out with the Meater+ you could order a new base so that you had better range. I still do not like the bluetooth range, it is terrible. That said you can get unlimted range using WIFI. Basically to do this I use an old tablet or cell phone to connect via bluetooth and keep it near the base. Probe outside in smoker and base attached to house door inside, with tablet near by. The tablet acts as a repeater. Once that connection is made i then can use my phone to connect via wifi and can monitor anywhere in the house. Also, once on WIFI can use app anywhere with cell signal to monitor.

            If I want I can monitor the cook via web link share. https://cooks.cloud.meater.com/cook/...e-9285285aaf82 (this will not work after the cook today 10/26/2020) will screen shot below.

            You can set several timers based on your need. Ambient Temp (high/low), Internal (high/low), Time (elapsed/time to end).
            The app does show previous cooks (screenshot below), mine is showing 40 at the time of this.

            As you can see in the screenshot, the ambient is showing 237. My smoker shows 275 and my ink-bird is showing 262. Meat is midway in the smoker.

            I just got the Ink-Bird IBT-4XS bluetooth wireless and so far I like it. Bluetooth range is good. Base is outside with smoker and I am on the other side of the house and haven't lost connection (several walls and a metal door between me and it).

            I want to get a Fireboard so I can get to only one setup. The Meater is ok but a lot of hoops to jump through to get it to work as needed. You can do up to 4 probes, maybe more not sure on that, but i know 4. One other thing I have run into is you need to make sure you keep the ambient end clean. This is where the little spring is that allows the probe to charge while in the base. I have had to run a thin blade around it from time to time to be sure there is no build up, etc. While not submersible, you can run water over it and clean.

            Click image for larger version  Name:	meater1.jpg Views:	0 Size:	304.2 KB ID:	929891Click image for larger version  Name:	meater2.jpg Views:	0 Size:	465.0 KB ID:	929892
            Click image for larger version  Name:	webmeater.png Views:	0 Size:	188.5 KB ID:	929893
            Last edited by NCSmokin; October 27, 2020, 06:29 AM.

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