Wireless Probe Pros and Cons

[Headgear]

I am interested in hearing about experiences with wireless probes. With winter coming, it does not seem like a bad thing to have a 100% wireless probe that you can monitor your cook on very cold days from inside the house. I could also see it being convenient to not have to deal with the wires. So I have these questions:

How reliable are they through 1/4" or thicker steel cookers and building walls?

How user-friendly are they?

In general which one do you like and why?

I realize that circumstances like distances, how many walls, doors, windows, and other obstructions there are will all have an effect. But please let me know the pros and cons that you have experienced. Thank you

 

[Shadowdog500]

I don’t know how it Would handle 1/4” steel, or how far your house is from your cooker, but I really like the Meater Plus that I’ve been using the past two years. It works in my Weber kettles and WSM and I can easily get signal inside my house which is probably 80’ from my grilling area. It uses an app on your phone or tablet that is extremely intuitive and tells you to when to pull the meat off the grill to hit your desired finish temperature during the rest. My wife also uses it when cooking in the oven and monitors the temps on her iPad while watching TV. The one negative I have is that is usually hit within a couple degrees from the finish temp until an update a year ago and now it misses the mark by three to five degrees too hot. I compensate by setting the finish temp about three degrees low.

The Meater 2 plus was just released last week, mine arrived on Monday and I plan to try it this weekend for the first time.

 

[Headgear]

Thanks for the information. Hopefully, someone else will comment on the thicker steel units like on offsets, etc. I found some YouTube reviews that are helpful too and two that I have watched so far agree that the Meater and Meater Plus had the edge compared to a handful of others.

 

[CaptainQ]

I have a ThermoPro Temp Spike and a Workhorse 1975 with 3/8 in chamber walls. Haven't tried it any further than my office, but it works well at 100 ft. My office is on the opposite end of the house from the smoker, so it goes through the garage wall, laundry room wall, and then zigzags through the kitchen and great room, then goes through the office wall.

 

[Negolien]

Not a fan of the 100% wireless stuff honestly. I have found the IBBQ-4T from Inkbird is fantastic.

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Thermometer-Rechargeable-Wireless-Calibration/dp/B07XNTJKY4/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=21AA74KXIZQT4&keywords=ibbq%2B4t&qid=1700142113&sprefix=ibbq%2B4t%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.17d9e15d-4e43-4581-b373-0e5c1a776d5d&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

[Cat797]

I have a gen 1 Meater Block from the original Kickstarter. It works through my Yoder Pellet grill, but unless I have the block sitting right on the cooker and connected to wifi, it's pretty unreliable. I have connection issues all the time. I feel like some of the options within the last couple of years will be better.

 

[NCGrimbo]

I have a gen 1 Meater Block from the original Kickstarter. It works through my Yoder Pellet grill, but unless I have the block sitting right on the cooker and connected to wifi, it's pretty unreliable. I have connection issues all the time. I feel like some of the options within the last couple of years will be better.

I have a similar setup to Cat797. The Yoder is out next to the garage which is kind of far from my main router due to the number of walls between the two. The Meater worked great when I used it in the kitchen which is only 1 room from the main router. But when trying to use it with the Yoder, I gave up on the wi-fi connection and would just go out to the garage and look at the Meater Block to get the temps.

I've recently upgraded to a mesh network and one of the nodes is now right next to the garage. I did a quick connection test over wi-fi last weekend and it worked without any issues. I need to see how it works as I roam around the house, but I currently don't have any plans to cook anything.

 

[edmonds]

The Meater Plus is completely wireless and measures both IT and ambient temps. But it may not last thru a very long cook. Smoke gradually builds up on the outside of the probe, and it cannot transmit if it gets very dirty. Also, it's a fairly thick probe and needs to be inserted into a good hunk of meat. You should still check doneness with an instant probe.

There are also therms with wires going to a base station, which then transmits wirelessly. But you have to use 2 probes, one for your IT and one for ambient temp. And there are 2 types of these. Some connect to a dedicated remote and others connect to your phone. The latter ones can be either bluetooth or wifi. I have a former type that works pretty well, which I use more often than the Meater.

 

[SmokyDick]

I always found the wireless probes too thick to be of use for me.

 

[Headgear]

Not a fan of the 100% wireless stuff honestly. I have found the IBBQ-4T from Inkbird is fantastic.

What don't you like about the wireless type?

 

[toys4dlr]

I am not a fan of the thickness of the probe. I picked up the 2channel smoke from thermoworks when they had a special and I can use the needle probes with that unit. I get a good 150 foot or more range to the receiver. Through one or two walls. I lose range in the garage, but that adds two more walls to the equation

 

[frayedend]

I've got the Meater block given as a gift. So far not impressed. First it has 4 probes and it seems (unless I'm missing a setting) I have to set up a separate cook for each of the 4 probes. Sometimes I want 2 or 3 probes in the same brisket.

Also, 1 cook and the back of the probe has a coating of smoke. Not only will it not connect, it won't charge. If you don't realize it's not charging you go to use it and the probes are dead. You literally need to sand paper it off to clean it good enough. It's okay for the oven, not so much for the smoker.

 

[Kevin James]

I'm in the same camp as SmokyDick and toys4dlr, I don't like how thick the wireliss probes are. Frankly, I don't even like how thick the standard wired probes are on my Fireboard or any of the other comparable units, but at least they aren't THAT bad. The wireless are way to thick to the point its just a total deal breaker.

 

[Shadowdog500]

You can’t do this with a wired thermometer. This is what I bought it for and why I like it so much. I’m going to try the new MEATER 2, that was released last week, on a rotisserie chicken this weekend. It’s the thinner one to the right in the bottom photo.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I've got the Meater block given as a gift. So far not impressed. First it has 4 probes and it seems (unless I'm missing a setting) I have to set up a separate cook for each of the 4 probes. Sometimes I want 2 or 3 probes in the same brisket.

Also, 1 cook and the back of the probe has a coating of smoke. Not only will it not connect, it won't charge. If you don't realize it's not charging you go to use it and the probes are dead. You literally need to sand paper it off to clean it good enough. It's okay for the oven, not so much for the smoker.

You don’t need sandpaper to clean smoke and baked on grease off of stuff. Use baking soda and white vinegar. I learned this trick to clean the glass and light on my Green mountain smoker and it also works on anything with smoke or grease baked onto it. Vinegar alone will clean the glass on a smoker if you clean it regularly.

Here is a video showing this trick to clean a temp probe. https://youtu.be/EtZzdYeZPGA?si=OPNeDk3JD1XmcbGM

And here is a picture or my Meater Plus after two years of use , including use in the smoker. I can also toss it in the dishwasher. The bottom picture in my previous post shows it dirty after my last cook.

 

[edmonds]

You can’t do this with a wired thermometer. This is what I bought it for and why I like it so much. I’m going to try the new MEATER 2, that was released last week, on a rotisserie chicken this weekend. It’s the thinner one to the right in the bottom photo.

I have used the Meater Plus on a rotisserie several times, and the ambient temperature doesn't seem accurate. I'm sure it's at least partially due to the fact that the probe is rotating thru hot and not so hot zones. The Meater registered 75-100 degrees less than what I felt with my hand (1-mississippi ... 2-mississippi ... etc).

 

[Shadowdog500]

I have used the Meater Plus on a rotisserie several times, and the ambient temperature doesn't seem accurate. I'm sure it's at least partially due to the fact that the probe is rotating thru hot and not so hot zones. The Meater registered 75-100 degrees less than what I felt with my hand (1-mississippi ... 2-mississippi ... etc).

You must have fireproof hands. How many Mississippis is for you to read 350°F?

I use the hand test all the time when smoking on my WSM in the 225-250°F range. I put my hand on my performer when rotissing a prime rib a few weeks ago and only made it to “1-Ouch” which is about a tenth of a Mississippi.

 

[edmonds]

You must have fireproof hands. How many Mississippis is for you to read 350°F?

I use the hand test all the time when smoking on my WSM in the 225-250°F range. I put my hand on my performer when rotissing a prime rib a few weeks ago and only made it to “1-Ouch” which is about a tenth of a Mississippi.

Wow, 1-ouch is probably 500+. I have never rotisseried above 350F, which is about 5 hand-seconds at the position of the meat.
I would probably cook prime rib at maybe 300-350F, about 5-7 hand-seconds. Rump roast maybe 7-9 hand-seconds.

 

[JCBII]

I received the Meater block as a gift. Initially I had connection issues until I figured out that I needed to leave the block right next to the grill/smoker. After that, I've had no connection issues and it's been easy to use. I do agree about the probes being too thick. Anyway, they've worked fine in my Weber kettle, WSMs, and Traeger Timberline.

 

[Headgear]

After reading all of these replies, I have decided to try a wired unit that has wifi or Bluetooth capabilities. Whether it connects to a phone or a dedicated remote display, I will decide later. I am now using a Cyber-Q, only because it came with the used smoker that I bought. It runs a fan which I do not use. I only use it for IT and ambient temps, but I have to use a 30' cord to run it. I will be looking for a unit that uses batteries instead. It's an offset reverse-flow stick burner. I want to manage the fire and not rely on some computer/fan combo with an extension cord, lol.

As for the 100% wireless, I would like to try a Combusition, Inc. unit. I really don't care if the Bluetooth is strong enough to reach inside the house, although that would be great. I do like the idea and want to see how handy it is to have so many sensors on a probe for knowing what the true center of the meat's temperature is at any stage of the cook.

Knowing all of this now, if anyone has any more ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks again.