Meater digital thermometer Review
In 2015, three friends with hardware and software development background got together to enjoy a BBQ and a few drinks. Sounds like the start of a joke right… but what these guys developed over the coming years was certainly no joke. They solved one of the biggest issues us budding chefs face on a daily basis. Cooking the perfect piece of meat!
They founded a company called Apption Labs, and came up with the ingenious idea to develop a digital thermostat suitable for meat and fish that can be read via a smartphone app, allowing to perfect the art of cooking meat and never waste another expensive cut ever again!
Funded through Kickstarter, the Meater is now in full production and we were recently lucky enough to received one to review. Retailing for just under £80, the Meater consists of two sensors along its pencil shaped, stainless steel construction. Its internal sensor range goes up to 100 degrees, whilst its ambient sensor (the bit that stays outside of the meat) goes up to 275 degrees. Within the Meater is a rechargeable battery, which lasts an impressive 24 hours before requiring a charge, plenty of time to cook just about anything!
The device connects to an app you download from the iOS or Android stores, and is super simple to register. Once connected, the Meater can work wirelessly up to 33 feet, giving you exact and up to the second heat readings.
As someone who has never been able to deliver the perfect Beef Wellington, the Meater on the face of it was the answer to all my prayers. The Meater arrives beautifully packaged, in a neat bamboo housing, which doubles up as the charger and also has a handy magnet attached to it, which allows you to stick it to your fridge of BBQ for easy access.
Once you’ve downloaded the app and launched it, you simply register and connect the device to your phone via Bluetooth. Why do you need an app? Well, the app is the central hub for getting your cooking spot on. You simply select the type of meat and how you want it cooked and that’s it, over to the device to notify you once done. It’s worth noting that you can also set custom cooking schedules, which I can imagine more professional/confident chefs getting involved with.
So, onto the cooking and how the Meater performed… after a good charge, we simply inserted the thermometer into the heart of the beef fillet (our Beef Wellington). We set the app, which has a Smart Guided Cook system that walks you through the cooking process. This included selecting the exact cut of meat as well as exactly how you want it cooked. We then placed the meat in the oven with the Meater inserted in it, left it to cook and watched the countdown to completion (it’s quite addictive!). To ensure you don’t miss key timings, we set reminders, which is a great idea and worked for us.
The result was a perfectly cooked Wellington, the very first one I haven’t either under or overcooked. It was absolutely delicious and something I would have been guessing at to get right. The pairing of the app and thermostat is just what you need, trust me!
To sum up, yes, the Meater is more expensive than your average, bog standard meat thermometer, but in our view, it’s worth every penny. There will be no more wasting of expensive cuts of meat, or unnecessary blasphemy in our kitchen… just perfectly cooked cuts of meat. Well done Meater, what a fantastic fix to an age-old problem.
Buy it here: https://meater.com
