The Good:

The design is slick and well thought out. The app for the Meater works well and the accuracy is spot on. A green light flashes on the base if the thermoprobe is within range and connected. It flashes red if not. The app will tell you as well if you are connected. The base station will give you considerable more range than advertised, but see the next section for the caveats. The app also has settings to change the different alerts. You can only choose from their list of sounds which is considerably less than the full array you have on the iPhone, but still, there are four alarms and maybe 12 or so sounds to choose from. No need for too many. The initial settings were just fine for me. They have just updated the app to add all sorts of carnivorous delights you can cook with the probe. From venison to kangaroo. This is a nice addition as I often go in for antelope and other less common meats.

The Bad:

The instructions leave a little to be desired, but it is not hard to figure out unless you are the easily frustrated type. There is a card in the box for support and the website has support as well. The Meater + comes with a bamboo magnetic base for charging and storage and in the back it has a repeater to get to the 165' range it touts. The base (and I assume the basic Meater) must be within 33' of the base for ovens and some types of grills. For smokers it is much closer. That number is in the fine print. In the case of the Orion Cooker I have, I can get the base station to recognize the thermoprobe about 12' away, through the smoker and the window to the breakfast nook. The base station has to stay there so it can connect to the probe. Once connected the app can pick up the base station, and thus the probe) all over my house and considerably farther away than 165'. But if someone moves the base it might disconnect and then you won't get updates or alarms and you might overcook your meat.

The Ugly

There isn't much wrong with this unit and I do recommend it to others. That said, it is a bit misleading (or just obtuse writing) which will lead you to believe that you can just plop the probe in some meat and your phone will pick it up all over the house. I read several reviews (and one YouTube video) that slammed the Meater for the short range despite the fact it is in the literature and on their site. It is probably not as prominent as it should be, but think about it, how can a little probe hold a battery, two thermoresitors, and an antennae and get 165' range? Not with today's tech I fear. Maybe when the Federation is founded. Either way, if they were a bit clearer about that for the Meater and instructions to first remove the probe before using the app. My guess is those who had issues already had the app open and so the probe paired with the phone and they didn't get the range they desired.

Some Pointers

If you turn on the app then remove the probe, the probe will connect to the app/phone and your range is now 33' (10' for a smoker). What is not said is that you have to fully exit and quit the app (swipe up on Apple), then remove the probe which causes it to pair with the base. Then open the app and your phone will pair with the base. Place the base where it is still flashing green when the probe is in the meat and the lid shut. Now you can use it all over the place. The app will show if it is connected properly and if it is not. I didn't notice where an alarm would sound if the base and probe stop syncing. If it doesn't have one that would be a nice addition. A nice loud one that vibrates as well.

Wish list

They make a basic Meater with four probes, which is a great idea if you are smoking different meats at the same time, or maybe just using the smoker, the grill, and the oven at the same time. I wish they had something like that for the Meater +. I assume it will come out at some point. Then again, I rarely would need more than one as I'm not running a restaurant. Also, I wish the magnets on the back were a bit stronger. For some reason my fridge it will slip down a few inches before attracting to some metal large enough for it to grab onto. Other kitchen items like the pot rack and microwave side have the same issues. I just think the weight of the base, battery, and probe are too much for the magnets to support.

Bottom line, great unit, does what it says (even if you didn't read all it says). Just remember to remove the probe from the base first before opening the app or your range will be that of the basic Meater.

Used this on a brisket cook and was impressed with how accurate the readings were throughout, internal and ambient temps tracked closely with how the meat actually looked and felt. The app's graph made it easy to watch the stall and know exactly when to wrap. Bluetooth connection stayed solid the whole time, even monitoring from another room. Battery easily lasted through the full 8-hour cook with charge to spare. Build quality feels solid and well-made. For what you get, it's a great value, does everything I need without the bloat of pricier options. Great tool for anyone doing long smokes.

I'm thrilled to share my first experience with the Meater Plus Thermometer. It’s absolutely phenomenal! Marinating the chicken breasts was just the beginning, and baking them in the oven was so easy, taking significantly less time than I anticipated. I was able to do other tasks while keeping watch on the progress via my phone. The Meater Plus truly is a fantastic cooking tool!

I’ve used this probe to cook a couple of briskets and it’s performed well. The battery holds up well even with cold e.g. 20°F temperatures. Being able to monitor the internal temperature remotely enables the ability to identify when the cooking has stalled, and it is time to wrap the meat. Your phone has to be on the same wireless network to be connected to the probe and for this reason may have limited range. It works in some rooms of my house and not others. The probe also seems to disconnect intermittently for reasons Ido not understand, but seems to reconnect fairly quickly so it hasn’t been an issue The app is very helpful. It it not only monitors internal meat and ambient smoker temperatures, it also graphs both of these out and predict how much time remaining to complete cook. The app records and saves each cook and you can add notes during each cook. It’s helpful to look back and to learn from prior experience.

This thing is GREAT once it’s set up. The app is outstanding, super helpful, love that it estimates cooking time and is really helpful with knowing whether your cooking equipment temps are accurate (via “ambient temperature” feature). The app has lots of great features and the device and charging dock design is sleek, compact, and very easy to use once it is set up….

I am not giving it 5 stars because: setup was dramatic (and I live with a computer engineer…who was also annoyed by it) AND why are we using a regular AA battery to “recharge” the device vs just making the charging dock USB-C or something. Also, there is no indicator on the charging dock or device that lets you know when it’s fully charged (or charging) - gotta have the app. I need to mess with the notifications and sounds more because the default is SUPER annoying (like literally every 30 seconds).

Make sure you open the package and charge it BEFORE you need to use it for the first time (not at the exact time your Christmas roast needs to go into the oven…).

Works great, sometimes loses signal based on distance from phone but overall really easy to use and helps make great, easy smokes

I rarely write reviews, but believe this product is so outstanding I had to "sing it's praises.

This "smoking/grilling" thermometer is, without a doubt, one of the best tools available for keeping tabs on your BBQ/grilling/smoking "cooks". I just received my "Meater+" thermometer 4 days ago and did my first cook (Boston butt) two days after it arrived. I will say, that I did a lot of research before making this purchase and as usual, there were some negative comments. I believe many of the negative comments are due to people not setting the Meater+ up correctly, especially where it concerns the " Meater+ "App". I had no problem at all setting up the thermometer. Once you are ready to begin using the thermometer, open the app and follow the step-by-step directions to get everything going. One of the criticisms I read concerning the app was that the thermometer kept losing its connection to the "repeater" block. This is actually the charging station and case in which you keep the Meater. The charging station must stay close to the probe for it to say connected (Bluetooth). I set the the Block right next to the grill, about 3 feet away. When setting up the Meater, be sure to pair the probe and bluetooth connection FIRST.

Then open the "app" and the smart phone (or tablet) will pair with the "repeater" and give you the ability to monitor your cook from some distance, depending, of course, on what the obstruction is between you and the grill.

With the "Meater" you can monitor the ambient temperature, the temperature of your meat, an estimate of when the the cook will be done and you can either use a programed cook or set up your own custom parameters. The app will log the cook and display a graph of temp fluctuations. and allows you to make notes concerning your cook. The app is one of the best, most well thought out apps I have seen.

I also monitored the temperatures with my Thermo Pro wired thermometer. The ambient temp reading was within 5 degrees throughout the entire cooking process (keep in mind the probes were not in the exact same location). The internal temp of the meat varied by as much as 20 degrees. This could also be due to the probes of the thermometers being in different "densities" within the meat. I believe the accuracy of the Meater+ is spot on. If one would like to read a review of the Meater+ written by a professional "griller" go to "foodfirefriends.com.

And no, I did not receive any compensation for writing this review.

An update (April 2022) to my original review. My original post can be seen at the end. Purchased again in April of this year and the experience is much better but still needs a ton of work.

This is now the 3rd time I am purchasing this product, but only 2nd time I'm actually getting to successfully use it.

What I love:

- The Ambient temperature sensor. This feature is crucial if you are serious about smoking / BBQ. The built-in thermometers on most grills and offset smokers are usually very poor quality, and give skewed readings. Because they are connected to the metal of the grill, and because they are located at the top of the cooking chamber they tend to read much hotter than the air/environment where your food is actually being cooked. The fact that I only need 1 probe to read both internal and ambient temperature is fantastic.

What needs work?

The bamboo/wooden charging case feels premium, but there's no real way to clean it. And if that thermometer isn't 100% dry when you put it back, that's just a breeding ground for mold. A major design flaw to this charging case is the fact that it doesn't have any indication of whether or not the probe is charging. Now, this may not seem like a huge deal at first, but then I ran into the same issue I had with the first unit I purchased. The first use, it works great. However, after cleaning it (I thought thoroughly enough but was proven wrong) I stored the probe back in the charging case, expecting it to be charged the next time I needed to use it. Now, a delay of needing to wait to charge this probe for a few hours can delay a BBQ project by an entire day. I woke up at 6 am this morning to start an all-day smoke to find that the probe would not power on no matter what I tried. Turned out, the probe never was charging. After contacting customer support and finding some helpful tips on Reddit, I found that even if the back charging plate looks clean, it often isn't clean enough to make a connection with the charger. The support recommended using baking soda and a coarse sponge (which I did the first 2 times I tried cleaning it). I ended up finding a post on Reddit suggesting I use fine-grit sandpaper to fully clean the back tip of the probe to ensure it would charge properly. After trying this, thankfully it was finally charging. BUT I had no way of actually knowing whether or not the probe was charging until a few hours later when I took it off the charger. I'm hoping in a future version they add a charging indicator to the case.

The software has definitely improved by leaps and bounds from my first review, but still needs a ton of work. Originally, it was incredibly difficult to remove/reset a device if you were having issues. Now, it's possible but I found that the menus were sending me in circles. Since I first tried the product, the functionality of the "estimated cooking time remaining" has never worked.

When the Meater+ works, it's great. But it's too inconsistent. It feels incomplete.

ORIGINAL 2021 REVIEW:

I was so excited about this! I had seen it on youtube and bought it immediately. It seems like a great idea, but executed poorly.

In the app, there is no way to specify which phone/tablet you want to use as a base station, and which one you want to have as the "remote" device. I was leaving my iPad out by the grill, and bringing my phone inside with me so I could view the temperature from inside. But the thermometer kept defaulting to try and connect to my phone instead of the iPad that was less than 5 feet away.

There is no easy way to connect a second device to the app, or to factory reset one.

After one use, the thermometer would not charge or connect to any device. It just died after one use. The one time it did work, it worked fantastically (if I was close enough).

I think the app UI needs some rethinking. I really wanted to keep using this, but it died after one use.

When I tried to order a replacement, my order was lost, and took a few weeks to fix the issue. I don't even want to try again. Best Buy has another brand of smart thermometer and I think I will end up trying that one instead.

An essential for any low and slow cooking. Easy to set up and use. Make sure and dismiss notifications in the app itself or it will continue to alert you to things like estimated cooking time or being at target temperature. Great device. If anything happened to it it buy another.

I use my BBQ on a daily basis and have tested a lot of BBQ thermometers, and NONE delivers the quality that Meater does or the ease of use in the app.

Is it expensive? Yes.

Is it worth the price? Without a doubt.

Soy gran aficionado a la cocina y la carne me gusta en punto concreto de cocción, en muchas ocasiones, tanto en casa o como en muchos restaurantes, no aciertan con el punto de cocción pedido, por lo que genera frustración. Hace unos meses mi cuñado me comentó de la existencia de un termómetro inteligente que se insertaba en la carne y podías hacer un seguimiento desde su App, pero no me decidí comprarlo hasta esta semana.

A continuación, voy a hacer un análisis de este producto para darle mi opinión, y os pueda ayudar en la medida de lo posible.

1.- Abrimos el producto, y encendemos Meater+ (incluye pila), y dejamos la sonda o termómetro conectado para que se cargue. Cuando termine de cargar, retiramos la sonda de Meater+

2.- Ejecutamos la App y encendemos Bluetooth. Automáticamente Meater+ se conecta a la sonda, y la App reconoce tanto a Meater+ como la sonda.

3.- Empezamos!!. A través de un intuitivo asistente, seleccionamos la carne, el tipo de corte y finalmente el punto de cocción (imagen 1). En mi caso, cerdo, solomillo y medio bien hecho o ¾ (imagen 2 y 3)

4.- Desde la App, podemos ver la evolución de la cocción a través de la temperatura interna (3º al comienzo), temperatura objetivo (66º) y temperatura ambiente (50º). Ver imagen 4, 5, 6 y 7. Por defecto, recibes notificación cuando quede 5 minutos para terminar.

5.- Cuando la temperatura interna llegue a la temperatura objetivo (66º) el proceso termina y la app te avisa para que retires la carne. Hacemos clic en el símbolo + de la App, para indicar que se ha realizado el paso (imagen 8). Seguidamente empieza el periodo de reposo de la carne (imagen 9). Y nos avisará cuando la carne esté lista para comerla (imagen 10).

6.- Para terminar el proceso, la App nos aconseja limpiar la sonda para que esté lista para el siguiente cocinado, y podemos acceder a una gráfica para visualizar la evolución de la temperatura interna, ambiente y como converge hasta alcanzar el valor umbral de 66º.

7.- Finalmente muestro como ha quedado el solomillo tras el uso del termómetro inteligente. Como podemos observar se ajusta exactamente al punto de cocción seleccionado: medio bien hecho, punto+ o ¾ (imagen 13).

Estoy muy contento con la compra porque usando este dispositivo se garantiza que la carne salga en el punto deseado y no se desperdicia nada. 100% recomendable e incluso lo regalaré a mis amistades.

It's not the most intuitive thing to use. Just so you know, the base needs to be pretty close to the probe at all times and the phone needs to be connected to the base. My Meater is very prone to losing connection. It's mostly just annoying as the app saves all progress even after losing connection, so a quick reset fixes it.

But the recipes and the system it gives you to cook virtually any meat, be it turkey or chicken or any cut of steak / roast, is almost perfect. I've made multiple ribeye steaks, striploin, and yesterday did a full 4kg prime rib over 6 hours of cook time. I've never once before made perfect medium rare prime rib that's fully cooked throughout. Sure, I'm not professional chef, but it's nice not wasting $100 worth of meat and having a meal that everybody is raving about.

The recipes provided by Meater in the app are great with awesome videos and step by step instructions, as well as reasoning for each step. But you don't have to use it if you know the temps you need to reach and the proper techniques to cooking meat. I've used it to learn how to roast meat low and slow and the results are just divine every time.

The temps are completely accurate. The done-ness every time I've used it has always been perfect too, right down to the resting time. There's even graphs inside the app so you can track the oven air temperature (which fluctuates quite a lot surprisingly), and internal meat temperature. Estimated cooking times are the best too.

It's given me some really good insights on how much to adjust cook time for when you're opening the oven every 30 minutes to baste the meat. No more guessing, so it's always consistently perfect. No need to rely on any archaic methods like pushing in the meat or stabbing with a knife then using your gut feeling.

I really think if you spend a lot of time cooking expensive meats or roasting birds / meats for half a day, you need to get one of these.

The only downsides are this doesn't work on thin cuts of meat (the instructions say not to use this if the probe cannot be completely inside the meat) and the app has a lot of disconnects. But other than that it's a very solid recommendation!

Great thermometer and like the wireless function which is useful. Use this often for bbq and cooking meats and styles.