What is the Meater wireless probe thermometer?
Meat probes have ended with dry Sunday roasts and imperfectly cooked steaks, but they all come with a flaw: either you must continue to check the screen to see what temperature your food has arrived at, or you need to pass a wire through the oven door that connects to an external monitor. The Meteor Probe wireless thermometer addresses both problems.
This device is wireless, it works through an application via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The latter is more complicated, since it requires additional hardware. You can use a second smartphone or tablet located within the Bluetooth range (10 meters) of the Meater, using the in-app function of Meater Link to transmit the temperatures through your Wi-Fi network; Or, there is the next Meater Block, which allows you to monitor up to four temperature probes.
Ultimately, going wireless means you can control how meat is cooked without being in the kitchen, and it also puts an end to the output cables.
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Wireless thermometer with Meater probe – Design and features
The Meater is as close as you get to an "elegant" thermometer probe. Coated in stainless steel with a ceramic handle, it is thin and sits in a wooden cargo box when not in use. An LED shows when it is charged and ready to use. The box is magnetic, so it can stick to the door of a refrigerator. [App19659003] estimated that it can cook for 24 hours continuously between charges and the AAA battery of the probe should last 100 charges.
The probe contains two temperature sensors: one for the interior of the meat (which rises to 100ºC) and another for the exterior (up to 275ºC). The thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the meat by passing a line on the probe and, when combined with the application, it shows the ambient, internal and target temperatures.
The application includes links to videos of recipes for different meats, adjustable cooking with options for the same meat (for example, well made rare meat), tutorials, a manual mode and an option of Celsius or Fahrenheit.
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Wireless thermometer with Meater probe – How does it feel to use?
The Meater probe is paired only when it is removed from the charger and paired with my Android phone for the first time. Finding my way around the application was not as intuitive as it could be: there are tutorials, but they are in the Help section instead of in advance. I referred to the videos of the recipe on YouTube to start.
First, I used the Meater probe to roast a 1.2 kg chicken. In reference to the video, he preheated the oven to 150ºC (below the 170ºC he normally selected) and inserted the probe in the center of a breast. Then I set my options using the application, choosing poultry, a whole chicken, then how much I wanted to cook.
Then I chose the USDA safe option (the application is American), which established a target temperature of 74ºC. A good touch is to save this set of options as a "favorite" if you are happy with the results, eliminating the need to re-enter the same selections over and over again. It is also useful to be told how to insert the probe each time.
There was no pop-up window to indicate at what temperature the oven should be placed once I entered all the above details, which would have been useful. The application simply began to show the temperatures.
Placing the chicken in the oven, the application calculated the cooking time, although this changed several times, falling from 1 hour and 12 minutes to 1 hour and 7 minutes in seconds.
It was interesting to monitor the temperature reported by the probe when the chicken was cooking, although its internal temperature increased slowly.
Concerned that my oven did not maintain a constant temperature, I moved the controls to 155ºC for the last 10 minutes of cooking The application sent notification five minutes before the cooking finished, and advised removing the chicken from the oven before the temperature internal temperature will reach 74ºC.
The chicken legs were pale, but golden on top. The application instructed me to let the bird rest, initially for three minutes, but then this period was extended. While resting, the internal temperature rose to 77ºC, and the application considered that the chicken was too cooked.
It is likely that safe cooks must conform to the use of the Meater probe; initially it was difficult to trust. However, the juices of the meat ran clean, and inside the chicken was clearly cooked.
Next, I cooked a steak using one of the tutorial videos. This advised burning the meat in a pan and then cooking in the oven.
Inserting the probe into a medium thickness sirloin cut without breaking it was a challenge, mainly as a result of the thickness of the probe. Next, I used the application to select the medium rare configuration, which establishes an internal target temperature of 57ºC.
Plucking the steak with the probe in place was simple enough; the probe did not get in the way of flipping the meat.
After burning, I transferred the pan to the oven. There was no guide on the temperature at which the oven should adjust, so I chose 150ºC. After five minutes, the application advised me to remove the meat to rest, which I did for a few minutes.
Following the instructions, it turned out to be a steak of medium rare meat perfectly cooked, pink in the middle, tender and juicy. Cleaning was simple: simply allow the Meater probe to cool before washing your hands.
Why buy the Meater wireless probe thermometer?
Whereas you can pick up a basic meat probe for less than ten, the Meater has a long way to go to justify its price. Fortunately, it does so with aplomb, combining style with functionality while maintaining a compact size.
Instead of being "connected" by the simple fact of doing it, the application has features and videos of real added value. As desirable to experienced chefs as roasters, this is a tool that every meat lover should have in his arsenal.
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Verdict
No guessing, no burns, no effort and no wires – the Meater probe is a no-brainer.