If you are serious about cooking meat, you may want to use a meat thermometer. There is no way to know when your meat will be fully cooked to your liking, even if it excludes arguments for safety (some meats may contain harmful bacteria if not cooked completely).
There are so many choices in the world of Smart Meat Thermometers so it’s worth double-checking what you’re getting: is your choice wired, wireless or “mostly” wireless? Does it have a companion app? Can it be used in multiple cooking situations and what is its range? These food thermometers are some of the most popular options on the market.
There are different styles of thermometers and for a quick meal like a hamburger, a simple handheld probe will do the job. If you are looking for a roast, rib or other meat cutting that will take a few hours to complete, you may want a wireless probe that uses an app or otherwise has some level of connectivity or is smart. Choosing a “smart” interface can help you take your cooking to the next level by providing temperature automation, alerts and notifications directly to your phone, meaning you can always find out what’s under the barbecue lid, whether you’re on the grill or away from home. Happening.
Mitstick X.
Check the temperature for both the meat and the ambient heat
Professional
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Really wireless operation
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Uses readily available AA batteries
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Dual temperature sensor
Cons
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Limited range when used with closed doors / lids
The MeatStick X is a true wireless meat thermometer. It uses a two AA battery powered probe that connects to your smartphone It has two sensors, one at the base of the stick and one at the point, which gives you both the temperature of the internal flesh and the temperature of the surrounding environment. It is deep-fried, sauce veg and dishwasher-safe. If you use it with an open grill or BBQ, the range is said to be 33 feet and 6 feet inside a closed grill or oven.
Mitstick X.
Check the temperature for both the meat and the ambient heat
Delicious smart thermometer
Smart device in a small package
Professional
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Dual temperature sensor
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Uses AAA batteries
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Good range
Yummly’s Smart Thermometer is a wireless stick probe that connects to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth. It has dual temperature sensors and is charged via a dock that uses two AAA batteries. The charge lasts about 25 hours. The thermometer is not dishwasher safe but can be cleaned with a soapy cloth. Probe is water-safe from splash, but cannot be submerged. It can connect to devices up to 150 feet away.
Delicious smart thermometer
Smart device in a small package
Meters
Meter Wireless Smart Meat Thermometer
Wood-looking wonder
Professional
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Dual temperature sensor
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Rechargeable
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Excellent wooden case
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Can identify the type of meat
The meter is a wireless stick probe that uses dual sensors to give ambient and internal temperature. Its range is 30 feet (although Meater Plus can fall 150 feet away). Probe dishwasher safe. Meater’s app is easy to use: just insert the probe, and Meater claims it can tell what kind of meat you’re cooking. This will give you a range of tasks and you can adjust those ranges to your liking. The meter lasts up to 24 hours on charge and it is charged by an AAA battery in an attractive magnetic wood storage case. For more details, see our full Meater review.
Meter Wireless Smart Meat Thermometer
Wood-looking wonder
iGrill 3
Easy device from BBQ giant
Professional
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Multiple probes
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Good range
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Uses AAA batteries
Cons
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Not really wireless
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Any on-device readout
Weber’s iGrill 3 is a “mostly” wireless meat thermometer that works a little differently than the others listed here. It is specially designed to work with webber grills and is mounted permanently with your grill. There are no readouts in the unit, so you need to keep the app running to see the temps. It uses a base station with wired probes. iGrill 3 comes with two probes and can handle up to four base stations. It is powered by three AAA batteries and connects from 150 feet away via Bluetooth
iGrill 3
Easy device from BBQ giant
Incubated four-probe meet thermometer
Multiple probes for many meats and foods
Professional
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Rechargeable
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Magnetic back for easy storage or visibility
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Alarms, timers and more
The Inkbird IBT-4XC is a “mostly” waterproof meat thermometer. Like the iGrill 3, it has a wired probe that plugs into a base unit. The inkbird is fully portable and has a magnetic back to hold it close to your grill or oven. This is the only probe on our list that has a built-in lithium battery that can be recharged via USB. The limit is 150 feet, and the app provides a timer, alarm, and approximate residual time for your cooking.
Incubated four-probe meet thermometer
Multiple probes for many meats and foods
Frequently Asked Questions
Why use a wireless meat thermometer?
When it comes to wireless probes, there are a few different styles you might want to consider. Some companies have gone with a complete wireless system, a stick probe that is powered and sends a signal to your smartphone. The other style involves a probe with a cable that you plug into a base unit left next to the oven BBQ, which sends a wireless signal to your smartphone. So consider these options completely wireless and “mostly” wireless.
The beauty of wireless is that it no longer has to be stuck around the house to look for corded temperature detection. There’s also the problem of the wires getting tangled up, so you have to hold on to your roast in its heavy pan and think about burning yourself if you need to remove them. Wireless removes all these problems and makes things simpler and easier and that is the goal here.
Another key benefit is knowing at a glance exactly where your roast is in the cooking process. You can’t see where the meat is heat-based, but most apps give you a chart to show progress over time and an alarm / timer to let you know when your meat has reached the desired temperature. No need to open the oven or grill a hundred times, slow down cooking while checking repeatedly. For things like ribs – including multiple steps based on temperature – it removes all speculation: just open your smartphone, load the app, and you’ll instantly see the state of your food. Not sold yet? We wrote about it in depth Whether or not a smart food thermometer is valuable is up to you to decide for yourself.
Smart gas grills
It’s also worth sprinkling some ink on other new technologies designed to help you make grills and barbecues better. Manufacturers of gas grills like Weber are now making smart technology locally in their barbecues, so add-on devices won’t take long to become obsolete. Weber’s brand new Genesis Smart Grill is “the biggest grilling invention of the decade, creating a complete backyard culinary experience.” With this grill, you replace Cooking Great with Custom-Fit Weber Crafted Grillware, which uses Weber Connect Smart technology for real-time food temperature alerting. It’s quite futuristic and seems a bit difficult to understand, so we’re going to turn it around this spring. Check out our review of Weber Genesis Smart Grill in the next few weeks.
No matter which wireless probe you go with, you can be sure that you can pull your food out of the grill or oven at the perfect time and you can say goodbye to overcooked and undercooked food.
Editors’ recommendations
