REVIEW – What’s cooking, family? I’m testing the MeatStick X, a Bluetooth-enabled remote cooking thermometer that is attracting a lot of attention for its ease of use and intelligent technology. Buckle up, because tonight we’re feasting! To the rating!
What is it?
It is a remote controlled Bluetooth-enabled cooking thermometer. With the MeatStick X model, you can monitor your groceries from the app from up to 250 meters away and use smart technology to take the guesswork out of when your dinner is ready.
What’s in the box?
The MeatStick X consists of two components. You will receive the temperature sensor. You also get the base unit that serves as a storage case, a charger for the probe and an extender that gives the device a range of up to 250 meters for remote monitoring.
Hardware specifications
- Wireless bluetooth probe
- Android and iOS compatible
- A thermometer measures both the ambient temperature and the internal temperature
- The charger and signal extender combination provides a monitoring range of 260 feet
- Charging station with AA batteries
- Deep fryer and dishwasher safe
- Max. Heat resistance 300 ° C.
Design and functions
Your journey begins with the hardware. The probe is inserted into the base unit as shown below. 2 AA batteries are required to charge the probe and use the base functions.
The probe itself is 5-1 / 8 “in total length and has a 1-1 / 2” black cap. They will insert the full length of the probe up to the cap into your protein when it is time to go to work. The probe itself is a solid device that can withstand temperatures of up to 572 degrees and is dishwasher safe. It also has two temperature monitors: one for the meat and one to monitor the ambient temperature in the cooking medium of your choice.
There is one important thing to note here: Do you see this metal end cap? This cap must touch the contact plate on the base to set up and charge the device. Your humble reviewer didn’t notice when he first set it up, which resulted in some awkward conversations with the great technical support staff at The MeatStick. The good news is that the customer care is excellent … and very patient.
You are not pairing the thermometer with your bluetooth connection. You first download the app on your smartphone and follow the instructions to charge the probe. As soon as the battery is charged, use the app to connect to your base unit. The MeatStick range is expandable so you can control multiple units through the app if you’re hardcore.
Pairing is pretty easy and the super friendly tech support is there if you run into problems like me. Follow the instructions and the device will now appear in your app.
Tap the device tab on the screen and you’re ready to start cooking. I did a couple of cooks for my tests. Let’s start with the whole chicken.
Roast a chicken
The Meatstick app does an amazing job of taking the guesswork out of cooking. You start with a menu of options to choose from depending on the heat source. My grill is iced over (thanks Mother Nature!) So I choose the oven option for this one.
Next, choose your protein and cut. I’m making a whole chicken here so I chose the poultry option first.
Now I’m going to choose my dates. “Chicken” here is a whole chicken.
Now you set your specifications for the final temperature and the ambient temperature (in my case the oven). The app sets default target temperature settings that you can customize. You choose the weight of your protein and the app will estimate the total cooking time.
You can also name your chefs, which will be saved for future reference, if you have a recipe that you cook several times.
Now let’s get down to business. The MeatStick is inserted into the thickest part of the bird.
You monitor your progress through the app. Your Cook Now screen provides real-time updates of the ambient temperature in my oven, the internal temperature of the bird, the elapsed time, and the estimated time to reach the target temperature! It also provides a visual representation of the temperature changes throughout the process.
At the top of the hour I opened the stove to cover the bird so that the skin wouldn’t burn.
The app not only recorded the temperature drop (see below), but also recalculated the cooking time. At some point I realized I had chosen the wrong weight for my bird, but the app was adjusted in no time.
You can set alert notifications to let you know when you’re close to graduation. The app notified me when it hit 160 degrees. When I finished I received a notification that it was time to evacuate the bird. You can also set alarms for the ambient temperature, which would be VERY useful for grilling and smoking if I could get on my grill.
The finished bird rested for 15 minutes and was perfect. Unfortunately my pictures got screwed up! That’s fine because we have more chickens.
Bake the chicken breast
Here I cook a pair of fat chicken breasts with a mixture of spices.
This is a shorter cook that was originally estimated to be 30 minutes.
Here is the warning message when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. We are nearly there…
And now we can get started!
34 minutes total cooking time and the MeatStick is just right again for perfectly cooked poultry. Listen. Moist and perfect.
Dutch Oven Beef Stew
Do you want to see beef Let’s cook beef. I actually braised a 2 pound roast beef to pull apart the tenderness in a Dutch oven for a stew. We started by choosing the cut and setting the cooking parameters.
I started by frying the beef in the Dutch oven, then pulled it out to insert the MeatStick.
I built a red wine base and tossed the roast back in the Dutch oven. This was covered and placed in the oven for a long roast.
Here was a nice thing that I discovered. When I started cooking, I set the roast to a medium end temperature (145 degrees). That won’t do for shredded beef. However, one of the nice things about the Meatstick app is that you can adjust the settings as you cook. I set the target temperature back to 212 degrees and we continued.
The beef alone is braised for about 90 minutes for a total cooking time of 2 1/2 hours. This is where the app’s automatic calculations have come in handy, as I’ve been cooking vegetables with the roast for the last hour. When the timer hit the “60 minutes left” mark, I added my veggies. I pulled the beef as it reached 200 degrees to shred and put back in the stew. Flawless finish:
(For those wondering, my veggies are made from carrots, diced beets, and diced celery roots with a fresh parsley finish.)
The long-life probe really shines here. MeatStick claims you can use it for deep frying applications. It acted like a champ in those bubbly goosebumps and is easy to clean up.
Other app notices
You don’t have to use the preset configurations to choose your cooking options. With the selection “Quick start” you can set your own temperatures manually and skip the default settings.
You can also record your previous chefs for reference.
I have occasionally noticed connection problems. I got this when I was cooking my roast beef. I’m not sure if it was the fact that the probe was in a cast iron Dutch oven in my oven that blocked the signal or was just a waste. It corrected itself after a few minutes.
I’ve noticed that the MeatStick sometimes loses its pairing with the app on startup, but restarting the app usually fixes this. Their support is excellent when you run into a problem.
Finally, note that the Meatstick app must have the location detection setting set to “Always On” in order for it to work. To my understanding, this allows MeatStick to be monitored remotely and no additional data is collected. You can turn this setting off if it is not in use. That’s what I do.
What I like
- Long-lasting, easy-to-clean probe
- Excellent and intuitive app that works for both beginners and experienced chefs
- Seriously accurate in calculating and monitoring cooking times
- Excellent customer support
What needs to be improved?
- Would you like an alternative to AA batteries to charge and use the device?
- Occasional problems with the Wonky connection when launching the app
Final thoughts
The MeatStick X shines as a simple and user-friendly remote cooking thermometer. Elegantly simple and easy to use, the app makes cooking easy with impressively accurate measurements. The real-time metrics allow for perfect timing, especially important when preparing the pages for your meat. The probe is designed to last. I would prefer a USB charging option to AA batteries, but that may be an option on other models.
As soon as the ice and snow stop here in the northeast of the country, I look forward to using the MeatStick for barbecuing and smoking. The spring comes!
price: $ 99.99
Where to buy: Go to the MeatStick X page on their website and on Amazon
source: The sample of this product was provided by The Meatstick.
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