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Meater Review (2 years on)

Those of you who have been following this website for a while will know that I am always raving on about my Meater wireless meat thermometer. Well, I thought it was about time I wrote a proper review for you guys, so here it is, my official Meater thermometer review after owning it for over two years!

(Spoiler alert: I really like it, in case you didn’t guess)

Meater thermometer in its storage block.

Review of the Meater wireless meat thermometer (after 2 years of use)

There are a few of these wireless meat probes on the market these days, and to be totally honest my initial purchase was swayed by the awesome pun name, but after two years of usage I am confident that I made the right purchase (as backed up by the hundreds of positive reviews on Amazon).

I have the Original Meater (up to 33 feet/ 10 metre distance). I bought it in mid-2019, I use it every week, and it is still going strong.

What is the Meater?

The Meater thermometer is a smart wireless meat thermometer that you use with a smartphone.

(And just to be clear, this one is actually totally wireless, not like those other ones that call themselves wireless, but the probe still has wires going to a transmitter unit).

It is a probe used to monitor the internal; meat temperature during cooking so that you can get perfectly cooked meat every time.

It is a sleek stainless steel probe around 5 inches long and ¼ inch thick, similar to a short thick metal skewer.

Meater thermometer probe and storage block with tape measure.
The Meater probe is 5inches long, the box is 6½ inches long.

Key Features

  • 100% wireless probe thermometer
  • Simple to use
  • Smart meat thermometer with guided cook system

How do you use the Meater?

1. Set Up Meater

To get started with your Meater the first time you use it, you need to download the Meater app from the Apple App Store or the Android Play Store, and register your thermometer to your phone.

This is very straightforward to do, just make sure you have Bluetooth switched on on your phone. Once you are signed in and set up it stores all your cooks in the Meater cloud so you can refer back to them if you are cooking the same dish again.

Note: before starting any cooks the Meater needs to be charged for 4 hours to make sure it has enough battery life.

2. Set up cook

rib eye roast in air fryer basket with Meater meat thermometer.
Prime rib roast in air fryer with Meater probe.

Once you have to app set up you stick the Meater into the meat you want to cook, open the app and select “set up cook”.

You want to position the probe so that it is in the center of the thickest part of the meat, and not touching a bone.

Then it is as simple as selecting the type of meat you are cooking and the desired temperature.

If you are not sure what temperature you want to cook it to, the Meater app lists the temperatures for different doneness (if applicable), tells you the USDA recommended temperature for what you are cooking, and makes a recommendation.

3. Monitor

A phone showing the Meater App with 56m remaining cook time.
The Meater monitors the internal temperature of the meat and the ambient temp to calculate cooking time.

The Meater probe then monitors the temperature of your food and the ambient temperature during the cooking process, and calculates the cooking time required for your meat to reach the selected temperature.

You can watch the temperature increasing on the app on your phone, or just leave it until it alerts you.

You can customize what alerts you want to receive. I just use the default ones which are an alarm at 5 minutes before cook time finished, and another one at the end of the recommended cook time.

Cooked pork roast in air fryer basket with perfect golden brown crackling.
Pork roast in air fryer with Meater probe.

4. Rest your meat

Cooking times are calculated to include the resting time, so the Meater should alert you to remove your meat a few degrees under the target temperature.

At this point you remove your meat from the pan to a plate or board and cover it with aluminum foil to rest. It then continues to monitor the internal temperature while the meat rests, and alerts you when your meat is ready to eat.

My Thoughts on the Meater

I use my Meater all the time, and frankly don’t know how I cooked anything larger than a steak correctly before I got it (tbh we probably had overcooked meat a lot back then).

Here are some of my favorite recipes to use it with:

Accuracy

I have found it to be relatively accurate. I like that it accounts for the temperature rise during the resting time as that can be tricky to get right if you are not an expert at cooking meat. .

Sometimes I have found it takes a while to calculate the cooking time. For smaller cuts of meat (like a thin steak) this can result in the cook time being up before it has calculated the cook time.

It is best for thick steaks, chicken breast, whole chicken, and roasting joints of meat.

Range

When I first started using the Meater I had the app installed on my main phone, and I often found myself wandering off with my phone or off range of the thermometer.

You do get an alert if you do this, and it is easy enough just to move back into range and it reconnects and started monitoring again. However, if you don’t notice that you have moved the phone out of range it is easy to accidentally overcook your food as it is no longer being monitored and you wont get alerts when it is done.

I solved this issue by using an old phone as my Meater monitoring phone. But, if I was going to buy a new one I would definitely buy the long range version so I didn’t need to worry about it.

Battery life

Before starting any new cooks it is recommended that the Meater be charged for 4 hours to ensure it has the battery life to last the whole cook time.

Luckily this is easy, because the Meater probe storage block is also its charger. The storage block takes a single AAA battery which charges the probe any time it is not in use and being stored in its block. This is such neat design, you don’t even have to think about charging it up.

You can check the status of the AAA battery (to make sure it is still charging) by pressing a tiny button on the block. If you get a green LED light then you are all good, it still has power. If the light does not come on it is time to change the AAA battery.

Note: a blinking red light on the Meater+ means that it has lost its Bluetooth connection to its probe.

Support

The Meater has to be the meat thermometer with the best support ever. Just check out the Meater website*.

They have a support wizard, heaps of easy-to-follow video tutorials on many aspects of using the probe, and you can email the customer support team if you can’t solve your query yourself (though TBH I have never had any need to contact them so I can’t really comment on how good their response is).

Other observations

People are always interested in it when we have friends over for a backyard barbecue. I guess people are always interested in a new smart device, and though the Meater has been around for a few years it is still new to many people (ie anyone who hasn’t discovered it yet).

I also love that the charging block looks stylish (its made of bamboo) and has an integrated magnet so you can stick it to your grill or other appliance to keep it handy (I have mine stuck to the edge of the range hood):

Meater probe stored on the edge of a range hood.
Handy storage of the Meater probe.

Is the Meater thermometer worth it?

The question of whether the Meater thermometer is worth it depends on how you would use it. For me, yes it it very worth it. For you, maybe.

Who is the Meater good for?

If you are the kind of person who cooks lots of larger cuts of meat, thick steaks, roasts, whole chicken, and use your grill, smoker air fryer, oven, or rotisserie to cook them, then it is a good option for you.

If you like smart technology and want a fuss-free way to cook your meat to perfection.

Who is the Meater not so good for?

If you are looking for an all-round meat thermometer to use for everyday cooking, including smaller cuts of meat like thin cut steaks, meatballs or chicken thighs, then the Meater may not be for you.

If you want a meat thermometer to use with a pressure cooker or submerged in a liquid during cooking then the Meater is not for you.

If you want a thermometer for this type of cooking I would recommend getting an instant read thermometer instead. Thermopro* is a quality digital meat thermometer brand with a range of thermometers to suit most budgets.

Meater Pros and Cons

Having used the Meater meat thermometer for a few years now, here are the major pros and cons that I have noticed.

Pros

  • Good quality, robust
  • Best meat thermometer to use with an air fryer
  • Accurate
  • Dishwasher safe
  • Simple to use
  • Easily cook meat to its optimal temperature
  • Impress your guests (who doesn’t love smart tech?)

Cons

  • Expensive compared to an instant-read thermometer
  • Too slow for really short cook times
  • Original Meater has a short-range (hint: buy the long-range model)
  • Can’t use it with a pressure cooker

Where can I buy the Meater?

You can buy the Meater direct from the MEATER website here:

I would recommend signing up to the mailing list as they sometimes have special discounts.

You can also buy the Meater through Amazon here: Meater Amazon Store*. (Check out some of their bundles for discounts).

Conclusion

So I have finally got around to writing up my experience with using the Meater thermometer. You might be wondering Is it the best wireless meat thermometer out there?

Honestly, I don’t know, because I haven’t tried them all, but it is certainly the best that I have tried!

I have the original 33ft (10m) model, which I have used frequently for over two years with no issues. As I mentioned above I find the distance limit of the Original 33ft model a little limiting. So if I was to buy one again, I would go for the Meater Plus, which is the long-range model which works at a distance of 165ft (50m).

Actually, I would probably buy the MEATER Block (which contains four Meater probes, a screen to monitor them, and a wifi extender up to 165ft/50m), since every member of my family likes their steak cooked to a different doneness 🙄.

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