MEATER Block | 4-Probe Premium Smart Meat Thermometer | Bluetooth to WiFi Range Extension | for The Oven, Grill, Kitchen, BBQ, Smoker, Rotisserie

I don’t write a lot of reviews but when I do it has to be good. Let me give you the pros and cons (A LOT MORE PROS THAN CONS).
Pros: easy to set up and use. Meat is tender and juicy every time. My steaks are cooked to perfection. I like my steak Medium Well, my wife likes hers Well Done and our friends like theirs Medium, with these meat thermometers each one is just perfect. The app tells you about when each should be complete and how long to rest. Our chicken, pork chops and lamb are just as juicy and tender.
The charge last along time did not make it to 22 hours (I smoked a brisket and the charged stopped after about 21 hours) but got a very long use before it stopped. The probs are VERY EASY TO CLEAN!!!
Cons: to charge the unit it has to be turned off to charge and when it is charging there is not light to let you know the status of the charge. When you plug the cord in to charge it is behind the kickstand which makes it awkward to plug in the port. And the last con is the Meater Block has to be next to the probs so when you are grilling, and it starts to rain (or snow here in MN) your Meater Block get wet I had me make a shelter for the Meater Block as it is not waterproof.
Overall this is the best product on the market and would highly recommend you getting this one, you won’t be dissatisfied with it.

Eins vorweg: Die Bewertungskriterien sind bis auf das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis (habe das Ding am Prime Day geschossen, da wars sehr ok) offensichtlicher Quatsch. Wer vom Meater Block eine hohe Wärmeleistung erwartet, hat etwas Grundsätzliches falsch verstanden. Auch was mit Transparenz bewertet werden soll, ist mir nicht transparent. Wenn einfache Bedienbarkeit, dann sind zwei Sterne zu viel.
Scherz beiseite – die Idee schnurloser Sonden ist genial. Habe ich mir lange gewünscht. Auch sieht der Block sehr schmuck aus, fühlt sich wertig an, und die App bietet theoretisch alles, was man sich wünschen kann. Und mehr. Für einen IT-affinen Griller genau das Richtige, sollte man meinen.
Die Praxis sieht anders aus.
Von drei Versuchen, das Ding zum Grillen zu verwenden, sind zwei nicht zustande gekommen, weil die Sonden nicht geladen waren. Beim dritten waren sowohl die Sonden als auch die Batterien im Block zwar voll genug zum Anfangen (vorher nie erfolgreich genutzt, Originalbatterien!), haben aber nach 90min schlappgemacht.
Man kann sagen, selbst schuld. Ich hätte ja 8h vorher dran denken, Batterien tauschen und Sonden laden können. Aber ich bin einen Maverick gewöhnt mit Drahtsensoren – bei dem habe ich mich vor Jahren zuletzt um etwas mit Batterien kümmern müssen.
Die Sonden sind recht dick und vertragen einen ziemlich schmalen Temperaturbereich. Ist verständlich, da steckt ja auch viel Technik drin. Was wiederum bedeutet, dass man sehr gut aufpassen muss, dass sie einem nicht in den Grill fallen. In der Glut wären sie ruck-zuck hin. Und technikbedingt sind sie deutlich teurer als Drahtsonden, die man ja fast als Verbrauchsmaterial sehen kann. Nächster Minuspunkt.
A propos – drei der vier Sonden weichen im selben Glas mit warmem Wasser 3Grad voneinander ab (trotz rühren etc), die vierte lag bei meinem Block satte 12 Grad neben den drei anderen. Ungenügende Präzision.
Funktechnik – Ein reizvoller Anwendungsfall wäre gewesen, eine Sonde mit einzuvakuumieren, wenn das Fleisch sous vide gegart wird. Davon abgesehen, dass die Sonden nicht wasserdicht genug dafür sind, wird kaum eine Frequenz besser in Wasser geschluckt als die von Bluetooth. Wieder nix.
Immerhin kommt zwischen Sonden und Block eine halbwegs stabile Verbindung zustande, wenn die Sonden in einem Keramikgrill und der Block direkt daneben liegt. Dann braucht es nur noch exzellentes WLAN, und man bekommt fast immer nach nur kurzer Wartezeit (nach jedem Sperren des Handys) eine Verbindung zur App. Direktes Koppeln der Sonden mit dem Handy habe ich gar nicht erst versucht.
Wenn die App nicht permanent offengehalten wird, erinnert sie einen regelmäßig daran, sie mal wieder zu öffnen und nach ihr zu schauen. Ihr Aufmerksamkeit zu widmen. Und meine Gänsekeulen waren angeblich schon nach 60min (statt 2,5h laut Rezept) auf Kerntemperatur. Waren sie nicht, aber die App hat mich ab da angejammert, ich solle doch endlich die armen Keulen vom Grill nehmen.
Mann tut es gut, sich das alles mal von der Seele zu schreiben… 😉
Fazit: Wer es in Kauf nehmen will, dass beim Grillen plötzlich das Thermometer im Mittelpunkt steht und mehr Fürsorge braucht als das Fleisch, der bekommt mit dem Meater ein Schmuckstück zum Hinstellen und Bewundern. Und Aufladen. Allen anderen wird er auf den Geist gehen. Da nehme ich gerne das Gefummel mit den Kabeln herkömmlicher Sonden in Kauf. Ist unterm Strich deutlich entspannter.
Vielleicht ist in ein paar Jahren ein Gerät auf dem Markt, dessen Sonden ein geeigneteres Protokoll als Bluetooth sprechen. Und dafür zuverlässiger messen, widerstandsfähiger und energiesparender sind. Dann probiere ich es vielleicht zum Primeday noch einmal. Vorher sowas von nicht.

UPDATED REVIEW AFTER FIRST USE! UPDATED 18 NOV 2021

PROS:

1) EXCELLENT QUALITY PRESENTATION FROM THE SHIPPING BOX, THE PRODUCT BOX TO THE APP
2) HIGH QUALITY BUILD: IT LOOKS EXPENSIVE
3) IDEAL FOR ROTISSERIE COOKING
4) 4 PROBES ALLOWS DIFFERENT FOODS TO BE COOKED AT THE SAME TIME
5) NO NEED TO KEEP OPENING YOUR KAMADO TO CHECK TEMPERATURES
6) USB DIRECT POWER AVAILABLE FOR LONG SESSIONS
7) UNBELIEVABLY EASY ROTISSERIE COOKING

CONS:

1) NON-RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES
2) MAXIMUM AMBIENT TEMPERATURE USAGE = 275 DEG C
3) YOU CANNOT USE THIS IMMEDIATELY: PROBES NEED TO CHARGE FOR 8 HOURS FIRST

UPDATE 2: 8TH JAN 2022

OK, further to the original and last update I’ve got something further to add. If you have an irregular shaped cut of meat you can use multiple probes in the same joint of meat. A few days ago, my son’s friend stayed over. I cooked a nice fillet beef joint on the Kamado Joe, Rotisserie (I refuse to call it Joetisserie, it’s naff and embarrassing). Anyway, knowing that the friend was a fussy eater, I had a joint that was tapered. Using multiple probes allowed me to cook different areas of the same joint to different levels of “doneness”. Simple physics will tell you the thin end will cook quicker than the fatter end. By inserting multiple probes, I was able to serve well done meat and medium rare beef to my family. Seriously, you must buy this system, and remember, you can use it in your kitchen’s oven(s) too. It not just for barbecuing.

===============UPDATED REVIEW=======18 NOV 2021===================

Well, I used the Meater Block to rotisserie a chicken today. It’s like a fire and forget missile! Get the Kamado going (I have a 2 month old Kamado Joe Classic III) stick the temperature probe in the chicken’s breast and just watch the cooking from an information screen. I set temperature alerts, but if the ambient temp drops, all the app does is add or freeze time. This way you know for certain your chicken (or whatever is cooked). You don’t need the weight, since you’re cooking to the temperature of the meat, not the bbq. This is a fool proof way to roast, bake or bbq safely. The chicken I had for dinner was delicious, especially after wrapping in foil, then towels and putting in an insulated cool bag for 2 hours. The meat was tender, juicy and cooked to perfection. It’s a lot of money, but then so is the Kamado Joe. Why ruin it by constantly opening the kamado to use a thermoprobe, when for a couple of hundred pounds, you can sit back and relax? BUY THE MEATER BLOCK, IT’S DOTTORE APPROVED!!!

===============ORIGINAL REVIEW=====17/11/2021=============
Last week I submitted a rather scathing review. Amazon didn’t like it, and it was my intention of changing it, because I actually supplied incorrect information. The reason it was scathing was it comes supplied with alkaline batteries which I heavily criticised. Part of my criticism was levelled at what I believed to be the case. That is there was no usb option. I was stressed last week rushing around trying to sort out a party that night. I didn’t examine the product properly. Behind the metal stand, is a Micro USB port. This allows long cooks. However, as it’s microUSB it’s still not great since long microUSB cables are not common place.

I still would have preferred a rechargeable unit, and I don’t doubt that the next version will no doubt include it. I am yet to use it, as my other gripe was that you had to wait 8 hours for the probes to charge. I think this is something that should have been mentioned in the details section. Thus, if you plan to use it on a particular day, leave at least two days before the event to receive and charge your probes. I will use this at the weekend, and I will report back on its usage characteristics. However, looking at the quality of everything from packaging, product and App, you can tell that this is a premium product.

This thing looks awesome in a box on a shelf that just makes you want to BUY BUY BUY it, but you will be disappointed when you get to know it. Like dating a model.

The first issue is its WiFi robustness. It is terrible. I had nothing but disconnect issues on our homes WiFi at first. Disconnected non-stop where our phones and other devices function perfectly fine. So I installed an extender because it is never a bad idea to boost of your homes WiFi. That knocked down the issue significantly now that a booster is roughly 10 feet away, but it still has issues, sending me roughly 1-10 disconnect warnings through a typical cook like a smoked pork butt at say 8 hours cook time. I still get about 1 disconnect an hour as the norm. I also plug in the base station to USB for every cook now because the stupid AA batteries inside can’t cut it. It is so easy to accidentally turn or leave on the base station killing the batteries. Losing dinner because the battery dies is no good.

That leads me to WORTHLESS battery life. If you plan to use this on battery, stock up on AA batteries. Why on earth does this not have a rechargeable battery in the base station at this price point. Trust me, plug it into a USB battery bank and save yourself the endless battery costs hassles. If you want to BBQ and you turn on the base station to get going only to find your probes dead, well that is a 8 hour recharge mission using AA batteries with everything OFF, aka you can’t use it while charging. If you put this away after using it on those AA batteries expecting it to be all charged up later, you will be screwed. Best to run on USB in use and leave the AA batteries just to recharge probes after you are done.

This leads me to the ridiculous wooden case. I don’t know if I am the only one that BBQs outside, but this trash wooden case will not last in the elements. Within a few uses the thin wood battery door on the rear has warped. I live in Bay Area, California where it is alway nice outside and if this thing can’t last here, I can’t imaging other places with more weather. The case has also warped so that the kickstand is so snug, it takes 2 hands and often a pry tool like my pocket knife to open, not a big deal except the kickstand hides the USB port, so you must open it to use the device as I mention above.

More on the wood case. Looks great when you buy it and has a neat cut out to hold a cardboard box with small flags you install on the temp sensors. How long do you think that cardboard box will last snugly in that spot perfectly nestled for marketing photos…. not long. So isn a few months you will have a useless void on the front that can’t hold the flags, because the box has withered. Your choice what to do with the flags then, but no pictures will be posted in Instagram once that cardboard box fails.

Going back to me being the rare person who BBQs outside… the finish on the wood is not lasting UV exposure and I don’t have it sitting in blazing Arizona sun. I shade the devise as best as possible, but the sun you know moves during the day and the case is leashed by a USB chord (see above), so it gets some sun. Well, it does not like being in the sun! Finish is already failing and it is not a year old and I use it say once every few weeks. Not Heavy Use. It is also a varnish or poly finish , so you can’t maintain it with oil like you would a cutting block.

Well maybe the software makes up for everything……. ehh. The software is easy to use and overall they did a great job with the interface, but its accuracy sucks probably due to hardware. The estimates for time till done are a joke. If it is a quick cook like a steak, nope. Changes way too fast to be accurate. How about a long cook like pulled pork….. OFF by hours. It really only handles small roast like a try-tip or loin roast with any accuracy. Thinking you are going to depend on the time predictions to run errands…. you better like over cooked meat.

What about the probe accuracy you say!!! Well I often put 2-4 probes in the same piece of meat since I have 4 of them and more is better. You would expect them to be in the same ball park, but they are way off from each other. More variance than you can justify as varying temps across the meat or cooker. The internals will often vary 20 degrees from each other and the outside temps have varied by 35 degrees. This likely explain the garbage time till done predictor. Garbage data in, garbage predictions out. I have had 4 probes in the same pork butt (not hitting bone, all placed just right) and have had one probe say it will be done in 4 hours and the other 22 hours with the others in between. This variance in cook times is directly a result of the probes variance. In one cook, one probe thought the ambient temp was in the 225-250 range and the other thought the cooker was in the 70s. One probe thought the meat was 130s and the other 160s. 4 Probes in one piece of meat you would think I could get say 2 of the 4 to agree…. NOPE!. (yes a clean and maintain the probes). Yes I have tried to ID a rogue probe, but the inaccurate readings are erratic, so that same probe reporting crazy info one time will look like it is ok another time.

Do I have more issues, probably. I am tired of typing. Will I still use this thing,,,, yah. I can’t afford to throw away that kinda money and I’ll just live with the inaccuracies. I use my quick read pen and fingers like I did before. Has the BBQ improved from this device, not at all. Has BBQing been improved, nope. Worse due to the frustrations this device has caused. I would go back to my old device, but I passed that on to a friend. It was one of the cheap ones with wired probes to a base base station that wirelessly connected to a pager type thing. WAY better and 1/5th the cost. Yah, it doesn’t INaccuracy predict when the cook should be done, but I am OK with that because it would tell me when it was actually done, whenever that happened to be.