Meater 2 Plus Quick Review: How to Become a Smart Grill Master
Nowadays, it is no longer enough for some people to have a simple barbecue on their balcony or terrace. Smart grilling is one of the biggest trends when it comes to delicious food, but not everyone can afford a high-tech model. Luckily, there are appliances like the Meater 2 Plus that allow you to create your very own smart experience. Shoe sole meat is a thing of the past.
Meater 2 Plus release date and price
The manufacturer Apption Labs already made a name for itself on the market with the block version of the Meater. With no less than four different thermometers, you were able to grill your meat to perfection. Now the successor has been released and with the Meater 2 Plus you can expect even more precise grilling results. Not surprisingly, the first Meater was the result of a Kickstarter campaign.
The latest model is available from Amazon, among others, for $130 and is already available now. The smart meat thermometer can withstand temperatures of up to 500° C and is also 100 percent water-resistant.
The meater as the perfect barbecue companion
Compared to the Meater Block, the manufacturer has focused primarily on precision and made some improvements here. Heat resistance has also increased.
You could already grill your meat "almost" perfectly with the Meater Block. However, there were still some problems, such as the measuring tip being too long and thick or the somewhat imprecise measurement. With the Meater 2 Plus, however, this now seems to be a thing of the past.
Meater 2 Plus: many improvements
The Meater 2 Plus comes in an elongated package that you can use as a storage place in the garden box or cutlery drawer. When you unpack the Meater, you immediately have the charging block in your hand, which is the holder for the thermometer. Whenever the thermometer is not in a piece of meat, it is best to store it here. You can stick the entire charging block to a magnetic surface.
You can use the thermometer for all types of grills and also for the oven. The Meater app now also asks you how you are cooking your food. This means it can apparently calculate even more precisely when the right cooking point for your meat and your desired degree of doneness has been reached.
Meater has improved two things in particular compared to its predecessor. The Meater 2 Plus is now significantly more heat-resistant. This will please anyone who has trouble inserting the thermometer absolutely straight into the steak. The result: sooner or later the thermometer will touch the grill. This is no longer a problem with the Meater 2 Plus, the end piece is heat-resistant up to 500 degrees.
Five sensors in one thermometer
The main feature of the sensor, measuring, has also been improved in the Meater 2 Plus. Whereas the previous version of the Meater only used one measuring point to calculate the perfect degree of doneness, a patented multi-sensor is now used, which measures the internal temperature of the meat at five points and then shows you the lowest one.
This is particularly useful if you have a small piece of meat and the previous measuring tip may have already left the end of the piece of meat. This means that the meat was reported as cooked too early. The sensors are already calibrated at the factory, as evidenced by an individual certificate.
Another interesting feature for fans of fillet and co: the Meater 2 Plus is thinner than its predecessor. This makes it easier to insert into the meat - especially for thin meat, but also for marbled meat. Another new feature in the app: The temperature of your meat is now displayed with one decimal place.
Perfect meat with the Meater app
With the help of the Meater app, you can select different cooking levels and also have numerous types of meat to choose from. You can also find out which cooking level has just been reached or how long the meat still needs.
The right core temperature is a science in itself. Meater knows that too. That's why the company offers you the right app with numerous functions to help you achieve the perfect cooking level.
The thermometer measures the meat temperature and the outside temperature. Based on these two values and the development of the core temperature, the app then calculates how long you need to leave the meat on the grill. Our colleagues from inside digital tested the Meater Block some time ago and also put the app through its paces.
To test the app, they grilled a rump steak that had come out of the fridge just half an hour beforehand, and the app calculated a time of 7 minutes to reach the perfect core temperature. But be careful: you should never forget to turn the meat in between - ideally only once.
However, it took a while for the first calculation of the remaining time to appear on the display. Also important: The thermometer must be deep enough in the meat, otherwise it could break. Small flags indicate this when unpacking.
Fortunately, the Meater 2 Plus now offers greater heat resistance, which at least means you no longer have to work with pinpoint accuracy. The higher precision of the temperature and the thinner measuring tip also ensure that you get better results in the app.
When the target temperature is reached, the app alerts you to remove the meat from the heat. As soon as the thermometer registers this, the app recommends leaving the meat to rest briefly. In the test, the direct heat was removed from the meat, wrapped in aluminum, and cooked further in the residual heat of the grill. In the end, a perfectly grilled steak was sliced that absolutely met expectations. Without the thermometer, it would probably only have reached this cooking point by chance.
Once the steak has been eaten, you can view, save, and share the progression of the cooking curve and temperature in the app. This allows you to draw your own learning curves from the steak you have just grilled for the next steak. Was the temperature of the meat too low at the start? Was the grill too hot or too cold? Or was the target temperature significantly exceeded? All of this will help you to do even better next time.
Clear recommendation to buy - although one flaw remains
In practical use, we liked all the improvements to the Meater 2 Plus straight away. We did not notice any deterioration compared to the Meater Block test. In fact, it was much easier to use the Meater 2 Plus in practice with a thin ostrich fillet, for example, than it would have been with its predecessor.
You also need to worry much less about the end of the sensor, as 500 degrees is hardly ever reached on a grill grate. The improvements to the Meater 2 Plus are pleasing and the thermometer, like its predecessor, is a clear recommendation to buy for all fans of good grilled meat. Dead grilled fillet or raw meat on the plate is a thing of the past once and for all. Is an upgrade worthwhile? Probably only in the rarest of cases. After all, the smart thermometers, which you can also use in winter to bake a Christmas goose in the oven, cost over 100 euros.
Incidentally, the problem of the hot sensor, which needs to be removed from the meat after grilling and resting, has not been improved. If you don't want to burn your fingers, you need protection. This is now available in the form of (very good) barbecue gloves, but these have to be bought separately. A "small" solution included in the set would be much better and more customer-friendly.
Note: Apption Labs provided us with the test device and a set of barbecue gloves for this test on a permanent basis.
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