There are a lot of cool things out there that make us wonder — do they really work? In our I Tried It series, we set out to use them in the real world and have determined that, in fact, they really do.
On Trial: The MEATER Block Wireless Smart Meat Thermometer
Tester: Brandon Carte, a frequent griller who loves a perfectly cooked medium steak and understands the importance of checking food temperature
The Brief: If you eyeball your steaks to check for doneness, buddy, you're grilling wrong. Investing in a proper thermometer like the MEATER will help ensure you grill the perfect steak every time.
As much as I love grilling, there are two things I hate about it:
- How babysitting a grill takes away my time from family and friends during a gathering.
- The pressure of grilling loved ones’ food to their preferred temperature.
The MEATER is an incredibly useful gadget that has completely eradicated my problems with grilling. It's the world's first truly wireless leave-in meat thermometer, and it gives grillers the freedom to step away from the grill without a high risk of ruining dishes.
Apption Labs, which manufacturers the MEATER, sells multiple variants of its smart meat thermometers. There's the Original MEATER, which has a 33-foot range, the MEATER Plus, a 165-foot-long range, and the MEATER Block, which also offers the extended range, but comes with four probes.
The aptly named MEATER Block is housed in an attractive and sturdy-looking bamboo block. It has a foldout metal stand, making it stylish enough to keep out on your kitchen countertop full-time. Since it's powered by four AA batteries, you can easily move it from your kitchen to the outdoors. The rechargeable probes are made from stainless steel and are built to withstand temperatures up to 527 degrees Fahrenheit. I've been testing the MEATER Block over the last week and have used it to grill steaks, pork chops, and chicken breasts.
For me, the selling point of the MEATER thermometer is its exceptionally helpful and easy-to-use smartphone app. It's super intuitive and is extremely well-designed.
You use the app to create cooking sessions for each of the MEATER's four probes. You can select from recommended doneness levels for various types of meat (including beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, lobster, and game), select from dozens of different cuts (sirloin, ribeye, flank, breast, legs, chops, among many others), and have the freedom to set your own preferred temperature if you so choose. The app also provides a readout of the internal food temperature, the target temperature, and the ambient temperature for each probe. I was impressed to discover that it even uses an algorithm to determine how long your food has left to cook.
The app gives users a step-by-step walkthrough of connecting the MEATER to your smartphone and getting it set up on your Wi-Fi network, and when you're actually grilling, its graphics are clean, easy-to-read, and large enough to see at a distance.
Though extremely easy and straightforward to use and set up, there are some drawbacks to the MEATER. First, it's difficult to differentiate between the couplet of probes. I would have preferred a color-coded system, but instead, MEATER has engraved small numbers on the ends of each probe. Fortunately, MEATER sells some clips that can help you distinguish between your multiple probes/cooks.
Also, in terms of thickness, the probes are significantly thicker than previous grill thermometers I've tested, and I've used several. Because of this, your meat will be left with holes that allow juices to escape.
Despite these minor setbacks, I was highly impressed with how well the MEATER worked. It cooked four ribeyes — all with different levels of doneness — perfectly.
Closing Argument: Whether you're a novice griller or a grillmaster, the MEATER thermometers can help anybody cook their favorite cuts of meat to perfection thanks to its intuitive app, long wireless range, and easy setup. Once you bring the MEATER to your grilling station, you'll wonder how you ever grilled steak to perfection without it.
