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The luxury version "Block": Four temperature sensors, WLAN, 299 euros
Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL
Summer time is barbecue time.
According to Statista, almost a million Germans fire up the grill several times a week.
More than 20 million do this at least once or several times a month, and particularly like to put steaks, sausages and meat skewers on the grill.
Whether they turn out perfectly, neither undercooked nor bone-dry, is another question.
The Meater digital grill thermometer is intended to make this easier by measuring the core temperature of the food to be grilled and sending it to an app via Bluetooth.
An advantage of this technology: it works without a cable, so with the popular kettle grills it can also be used with the lid closed and with a rotisserie.
In addition, the app offers possibilities that go beyond the conventional grill thermometer.
For example, by suggesting suitable cooking temperatures for many types of meat, poultry and fish and monitoring compliance.
What the app does not offer, however, are presets for vegetable dishes.
So if you want to grill a whole cauliflower according to Ottolenghi - as I like to do - you still have to rely on your gut feeling - or set your own temperature specifications in the app and turn the system from a meateater to a »veggie meter«.
Three variants
The manufacturer Apption Labs offers its digital barbecue thermometer in three versions: The standard version with a range of ten meters for 89 euros, a Plus version with a range of 50 meters for 109 euros and the Meater Block, which also has a WLAN connection, with two or four temperature sensors is supplied and costs 239 to 299 euros.
What you get for it is clear: a bamboo block as a base and, depending on the model, one to four radio thermometers made of metal.
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Connection breaks occur when the distance between the grill and the mobile phone is too great or other influences interfere with the reception
Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL
Anyone who always sits or stands next to the grill when barbecuing will certainly be fine with the standard version.
If you want to put a little more distance between you and the grill in the large garden, you are better off with the Plus version.
This extends the possible distance between the mobile phone and the charging station to up to 50 meters - under ideal conditions.
The Meater Block, on the other hand, is only needed by extreme grillers who want to place several pieces of meat on the grill at the same time and check their cooking time.
And those who also want to prepare grilled food that takes longer to cook.
Pulled pork, for example – referred to as “pulled” in the app – can sit on the grill for ten or more hours before it's done.
Since you don't want to be standing by all the time, you're happy that the block enables remote monitoring via WLAN.
In addition, it can be operated not only with batteries, but also with a mains adapter if it takes a little longer.
However, the power adapter and cable are not included.
But maybe you can still find an old wire for the micro USB connection in the basement.
App to the grill
While all the hardware is just the vehicle, what makes the Meater thermometer special is the app.
It runs on both Android smartphones (download from the Play Store) and iPhones (download from the App Store) and is paired with the temperature sensors via Bluetooth.
Once that's done, you push the thermometer so far into the food that the first of two rings on the metal body disappears into it.
This ensures that the tip of the thermometer measures the inside temperature, while the head of the thermometer registers the outside temperature, i.e. the temperature in the grill.
Then you choose what kind of fish or meat you want to prepare and, if necessary, determine how "well done" you want it, for example "Medium Rare" or "Well done".
From then on, you hardly have to do anything, apart from turning the grilled food occasionally.
The app takes care of the rest, displays the inside and outside temperature, estimates the remaining time, and lets you know when the food to be grilled is ready or is getting too hot.
If necessary, it also starts a countdown of how long you should let it sit before you cut it.
This basically works both on the grill and in the oven and pot, although the device had problems establishing a connection through the walls of my oven.
That only worked when I attached the charging station to the wall of the oven with the built-in magnets.
I would advise against preparing a steak with meat in the pan, the head of the temperature sensor is always in the way.
Conclusion
Having a Meater doesn't automatically make you a grilling expert, but it does make it harder to totally fail at grilling.
In any case, the experience of being served undercooked meat or over-dried shoe sole steaks can be avoided.
If you put larger pieces of meat, whole chickens, or fish that take a little longer on the grill, you will at least get closer to the perfect result with such a thermometer than with grilling by feel.
But you also pay a high price for this.
Even the cheapest model is not exactly a bargain at 89 euros.
Compared to other wireless grill thermometers, supermarket models aside, it's not overpriced either.
Of course, you only need the Meater Block, which costs up to 299 euros, if you regularly put a lot of meat on the grill.
But there should be fewer and fewer of them.
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