MEATER Plus Review

We purchased the MEATER Plus so our reviewer could put it to the test. Keep reading for our full product review.

Wireless grill thermometers are handy little tools that help ensure your meat is grilled or cooked to perfection. So we, of course, knew what we wanted to use the MEATER Plus for—meat. We stocked up on chicken, beef, and pork, and readied our roasting pans and our grill. Then we got a little more creative, using the MEATER Plus smart wireless grill thermometer on the stove, too. Does it live up to its hype? We’ve got all the details.

Design: Truly wireless

While most wireless thermometers aren’t entirely wireless, MEATER Plus is. There’s no wire from the thermometer to a base unit—and there’s actually no base unit at all—just the probe and the wooden holder and an app.

A huge benefit of the wireless design was obvious when we used MEATER Plus in a chicken on the rotisserie, monitoring the temperature all during the cook. When cooking was done, we didn’t have to juggle our food along with a base unit tethered by wires.

The MEATER Plus probe itself is mostly stainless steel with an etched line that marks the minimum depth the probe should be inserted. The opposite end has a short black section with a stainless steel end cap.

The included wooden storage case looks attractive and holds the MEATER Plus securely. It’s not just for storage, though. When the MEATER Plus is in place, the base charges it. The magnet on the back makes it easy to hang it on the oven, grill, or refrigerator.

When MEATER is removed from the wooden case, that case extends the range of the MEATER’s signal to the app, up to 165 feet. While that’s not enough to get down the block, it’s enough to step far away from the grill.

MEATER Plus actually is two thermometers in one. The one that measures the food’s internal temperature is safe to 212 degrees, which is why it needs to be inserted to the proper depth. Since the food’s internal temperature isn’t going to be hotter than the boiling point of water, the probe is completely safe when nestled inside food. Getting it deep enough was easy when we made a thick beef roast, but a little trickier getting the probe into a thin, narrow steak.

The rest of the probe can handle ambient temperatures up to 527 degrees, so it’s safe with normal oven temperatures and most grill temperatures. But this thermometer is smart, so if temperatures get close to their maximum it will send an alert.

When it’s time to clean, MEATER Plus has been tested by the manufacturer in dishwashers with no ill effects, but it’s simple to clean by hand as well. Since it’s small, we prefer handwashing so we can keep track of it. 

We wondered if it could be used in a sous vide bag but couldn’t find the information online, so we emailed the company. The response was that it’s safe—and the person who responded does it all the time. But until there’s an official statement online, we’re not sure it would be covered under warranty if it failed during sous vide cooking.

App: It estimates the finish time

Since MEATER Plus doesn’t have a base unit that shows the temperature, it’s all about the app. The app has suggested temperatures for a wide variety of foods, and it’s intuitive to use. Just choose one of the categories: beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, or other. Those categories offer new choices that drill down until temperatures are offered, including those endorsed by the USDA as well as MEATER’s recommended temperature. If those aren’t your preference, the temperatures can be adjusted.

When the cooking starts, MEATER Plus displays the current food temperature as well as the ambient temperature. Straight from the refrigerator, our pork roast was safely under 40 degrees. As the internal temperature started to rise, the app calculated the estimated cooking time remaining. It took a short time to calculate, but still left plenty of time to plan side dishes.

While MEATER Plus is obviously intended for meat, we also used it to monitor the temperature of a loaf of bread. The dough was too soft and squishy to hold the thermometer at first, so we inserted it after a crust had formed.

Unlike thermometers that alert when the final temperature is reached, MEATER Plus signals that the food is done a little earlier. Because it knows the speed of the temperature rise, it knows how much more the temperature will continue to rise after the food comes off the heat, so it prevents overcooking from carryover heat.

When cooking is complete, MEATER Plus isn’t done. It continues monitoring the temperature as the food rests, and announces when the food is rested enough for serving.

Oh, but there’s more. It saves a summary of the cook, including the date and time, the duration, and the doneness of the meat, and it shows a graph of both the meat temperature and the ambient cooking temperature. These can be saved as favorites or they can be deleted completely.

The app can be set for Fahrenheit or Celsius, but that’s just the start. Different sounds can be set for different alerts: ready for resting, cook ready, alert, and overcook. These notifications can be set to expire after 10 seconds, or they can play and stay on screen until the cook silences them. One thing we particularly liked was the warning 5 minutes before the food was ready to come off the heat since that gave us time to get the oven mitts ready.

For even more ways to check the temperature, the app can connect to Alexa. The response includes both the meat temperature and the ambient temperature, so it assured us that the grill was staying close to our preferred temperature. Another interesting feature that’s not obvious is that MEATER Plus gets its language settings from the device, and it adjusts the meat descriptions to match what’s available in that country.

While using the thermometer and app was easy, we also appreciated the comprehensive website and the ability to contact customer service.

Performance: Accurate

A fancy app won’t make a thermometer useful if it’s not accurate. We tested MEATER Plus with other thermometers in the same food, we tested it against a very accurate instant-read thermometer, we tested its ability to sense the ambient house temperature, and we tested it in boiling water. Each time the temperature was accurate.

While we probably wouldn’t use MEATER Plus as an instant-read thermometer, when we removed it from one location in a meatloaf and moved it to another, the temperature changed immediately and settled quickly onto its new temperature.

Price: Expensive, but worth it

There’s no doubt about it—this thermometer is expensive. It will, however, make cooking easier and more foolproof. Considering the cost of food, if MEATER Plus saves just a few steaks or roasts, it will pay for itself. The fact that it can estimate when the cook will be done makes it even more valuable.

MEATER Plus vs. MEATER Block

If one MEATER probe is good, are four better? The MEATER Block comes with four MEATER probes, plus a block to hold them. The block also has a touch screen display, so the probes can be controlled without an app. The decision is easy. If you only need one thermometer, MEATER Plus is the best choice. If you need four thermometers, MEATER Block is a better value.