 |
|
The MeatStick products contained in this review were provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of doing this review. No other considerations, financial or otherwise, were solicited from or given by Soma Labs.
Introduction
The MeatStick is a truly wireless meat thermometer that communicates via Bluetooth to transmit temperature data
to a smart device. Not only does this eliminate one or more wires coming out of your cooker, but also allows you
to monitor temperatures of meat spinning on a rotissiere. We have reviewed some of the MeatStick products in the past, but now
MeatStick has updated their entire product line. There are new probes, new chargers and a new look. As
you can see in the photo above, the components have a new color, charcoal. Here are some of the highlights of the
changes:
Above the stainless steel shaft is a ceramic section that houses a Bluetooth antenna and (in the case of the MeatStick probe, but not the MeatStick Mini) an ambient temperature sensor (what most of us would call the pit temperature sensor). And finally both probes have a metal cap that serves as the second electrical connection for charging. In the MeatStick probe, the cap is also connected thermally to the ambient temperature sensor. The ceramic section also has a colored band to distinguish it from other probes if you have multiple probes. This color shows up in the MeatStick app.
What's New
The new MeatStick probe is essentially the same as the
"All New" MeatStick probe which came out in 2020 except that it is about 1/16" (1.6mm) shorter.
Otherwise, if is pretty much the same as the 2020 probe. One minor difference is that there is no
longer a "minimum insertion" line etched onto the shaft of the probe. The minimum insertion point
is now all the way up to the ceramic handle. There is a line etched on the probe, but this indicates
the location of the actual temperature sensor. Don't confuse this with a minimum insertion line. You
must insert the probe all the way to the ceramic handle. Otherwise, you could damage the electronics
contained inside the probe.
Location of the etched ring on the probe shaft indicating the location of the temperature sensor.
And of course, the MeatStick Mini probe is all new. It is shorter and of smaller diameter than the MeatStick probe, designed for shorter cooks and smaller pieces of meat. The MeatStick Mini also has no minimum insertion line. Again, you must insert the probe all the way up to the ceramic handle. Also the MeatStick Mini does not have an ambient temperature sensor. This means that the MeatStick Mini's "time remaining" algorithm uses the meat temperature sensor to gauge when the meat will be done without the benefit of knowing the cooker temperature.
Physical Measurements
Here are the physical characteristics of the two probes:
| MeatStick | MeatStick Mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Length | 135mm / 5.3" | 95mm / 3.7" |
| Shaft Length | 92mm / 3.6" | 66mm / 2.6" |
| Shaft Diameter | 6mm | 5.5mm |
| Probe Weight | 16 grams | 10 grams |
Probe Battery Life
The MeatStick probe's battery will last for 24+ hours.
The MeatStick Mini's battery will last 8+ hours.
Probe Charging Time
The MeatStick FAQ lists the charging time for both probes as 2-4 hours. We drained both of our probes until they
no longer would connect to the App. The MeatStick probe charged in about 90 minutes while the MeatStick Mini
probe charged in about 45 minutes.
Probe Accuracy
The typical method for testing food probe accuracy is to immerse
the probe in boiling water and compare the result to the actual boiling point of water. This is not possible
with either the MeatStick or MeatStick Mini food sensor since the App stops reporting the
temperature before you get to the boiling point of water in order to warn you that you are about to
exceed the maximum temperature for the probe. Also, MeatStick does not recommend placing either probe in
boiling water since it may damage the electronics inside. Similarly, you can't test the ambient sensor on the
MeatStick probe in boiling water as they warn, "Putting the Stick in boiling water will put excess strain on
its battery and will reduce its capacity."
The best we can do in the case of the food sensors, is to test them in an ice bath. We tested both the MeatStick and the MeatStick Mini food probes in ice water and both reported a temperature of 33°F.
As far as the MeatStick ambient temperature sensor goes, MeatStick suggests testing it in an ice bath, but we had no luck in doing so. When the ambient sensor is immersed in water, so is the Bluetooth antenna and water eats Bluetooth radio waves for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The best we were able to achieve was a reading of 35°F before the signal was lost. And there really is not much point in trying to measure the accuracy of the ambient sensor since it will invariably read low throughout much of your cook due to the proximity of the ambient sensor to the meat. (More on this later when we describe some of our cooks.) Only towards the very end of the cook will the ambient sensor read anything close to the actual temperature in your cooker. Therefore it goes without saying that you shouldn't try to use the ambient sensor readings to control the temperature of your cooker. The real purpose of this ambient sensor is to give the App a reading on the temperature of the air immediately surrounding the meat in order to help predict the finish time of the cook.
Another reason for not worrying about checking the accuracy of the probes is that there is no way to calibrate them. If the probes fail, you will probably see a large error which will be immediately obvious.
MeatStick now has two chargers: one for the MeatStick and a slightly smaller charger for the MeatStick Mini. They are made of charcoal-colored plastic. (If you buy the MeatStick Mini by itself, the charger is blue.) Both are powered by 2 AA batteries. And both come in two flavors, with or without the MeatStick Extender. (We'll cover that in the next section.) In the photo above, the MeatStick Mini charger which is labled "MiniX" has the extender function while the MeatStick charger does not.) Both chargers also have a button and an LED to let you know the status of the probe's battery when charging. Finally, both chargers have magnets on the back to allow you to stick them to metal surfaces.
Regarding the LED, it is not very bright and cannot be seen in bright sunlight. Here is a list of how the LED behaves and what it means:
"Once the button is pressed, the LED light turns on when the Stick is on the charger and stays on when charging the Stick. (It will turn off when it is done charging.) For MeatStick X / MeatStick MiniX chargers, the charger will switch into Xtender mode (Stick range extender mode). This will be designated when the LED is slowly flashing once the Stick has been removed....If there is a Stick on the charger, the LED status for charging (solid green) will take priority over the LED status of Xtender mode (flashing green). If charging is completed and Xtender mode is still active it will begin to flash green. If another Stick is placed on the charger (no button press), then the charger will continue to be in Xtender mode and not charge the Stick. Once the button is pressed it will start charging the Stick that’s on it and continue Xtender mode. As such LED status will change to solid green instead of flashing green."
Now let's take a look at some photos of the chargers:
MeatStick: Here are some photos of the MeatStick charger. Note that this charger does not have the extender function. You can see the charging electrodes that hold the probe and make the electrical connections for charging. Also, you can see the battery compartment for the 2 AA batteries that power the charger. Finally you can see the button and the LED.
As for physical dimesions, the MeatStick charger is 6-7/16" x 1-5/8" x 1" (164mm x 41mm x 25mm). It weighs 3.1 ounces (89g).
MeatStick Mini: And here are some photos of the MiniX. Note that this charger does have the extender function, as indicated by the "X" appended to the name. You can see the charging electrodes that hold the probe and make the electrical connections for charging. Also, you can see the battery compartment for the 2 AA batteries that power the charger. Finally you can see the button and the LED.
The MeatStick MiniX charger is 5-13/16" x 1-9/16" x 1" (148mm x 40mm x 25mm) and weighs 1.5 ounces (70g).
The Bluetooth Repeater
The Bluetooth repeater formerly was a separate unit from the charger. Now with these new probes
and chargers, the repeater function has been
incorporated into the MeatStickX and MiniX chargers. So there are now four possible chargers: one for each probe type,
with and without the Bluetooth repeater. The chargers with the Bluetooth repeater are now called
the MeatStickX and the MiniX. (Note that the WiFi Bridge can also be used as an extender/Bluetooth
repeater. We'll cover that in the next section.) When you order the WiFi Pro Set from MeatStick,
your repeater will be in the charger for the MeatStick Mini. Here's a photo of the MiniX charger:
Essentially, a Bluetooth repeater is just that. It receives the Bluetooth signal from the probe and repeats it using a more powerful transmitter than is in the probes. Obviously, the probes have limited space for a battery and must operate with low power. The chargers with the extender function have more power and thus more range. You simply place the charger/extender near your cooker so it can receive the signal from the probe. It then repeats this signal with more power to your smart device. This allows you to wander farther afield and still maintain a connection with your smart device.
To turn the extender on, you simply press the button on the charger. This will both turn on the extender as well as start charging the probe, if one is present. If the probe is charging, the green LED will stay on solid. Once the probe is fully charged or if you remove it from the charger, the green LED will start a slow blinking to show that the extender is on. When the MeatStick App running on your smart device connects to the extender, you will see a pop-up appear as well as the icon in the upper right corner of the screen, shown here circled in red:
One extender can connect to 8 MeatStick probes, so you only need one charger with an extender in it.
With the old Extender, you had to remember to turn it off when you were done. With these new chargers/extenders, the Extender will turn itself off when it no longer sees any connections with probes.
The Wifi Bridge
The last major component in the MeatStick lineup is the WiFi Bridge. This unit is placed near your cooker
so as to connect to any probes via Bluetooth. The WiFi bridge then can also connect to your WiFi network so that
it can connect to the cloud and make your probe's readings available to you anywhere you have internet access.
The MeatStick Wifi Bridge is a small charcoal-colored plastic box with an LCD display, a "next" button, and a WiFi antenna. Here are some photos:
Here's a photo of the WiFi Bridge display:
Here is a table listing somee of the major features and characteristics of the MeatStick WiFi Bridge:
| Housing | Charcoal-colored plastic box with backlit LED display and single "next" button. |
| Power | Micro-USB cable. No on/off switch, simply plug/unplug the micro-USB cable. |
| Controls | A single "next" button on top of the unit. It can be used to move the display from one probe to the next, control the backlight, activate Extender mode, silence current audible alarm and reset the device. |
| WiFi Antenna | Typical external screw-on Wifi antenna. |
| Display | 54mm x 29mm (2.1" x 1.1") backlit LED display, viewable from up to 8' away. Probe temperature uses larger characters viewable from 12' away. |
| Data Presentation | Screen shows all data for one probe, must use 'next' button to scroll from probe to probe. |
| Startup Speed | Takes about 1 minute 45 seconds to boot and recognize a probe. If there is no wireless network available, it will display the "Check App" message. At this point you can press the "Next" button to change to Xtender mode and connect to a probe. |
| Connectivity Modes | Connects to your smart device via the cloud where you can monitor your probes using the MeatStick App. Can also be switched to Xtender mode instead of WiFi in the App or by pressing the "Next" button. If there is no network available, the WiFi Bridge turns into an Xtender allowing you to monitor your probes with the App from a greater distance than just Bluetooth alone would permit. (To manually switch the WiFi Bridge to extender mode, turn the bridge on and wait for it to display "Check App". Then press the "next" button to get it to switch to Xtender mode.) |
And finally, here is a table showing you all the different combinations of beeps produced by the WiFi Bridge and what they mean. These beeps cannot be disabled, but you can silence the current alarm by quickly pressing the top button on the WiFi Bridge.
 | Long Beep | Cook has been added or edited. |
| — — — | Three beeps repeating | Early Warning alert has been reached. |
| — — — — — —... | Constant beeps | Target temperature has been reached. |
| — — | Two beeps repeating | Ambient temperature too high or too low. |
| – – | Two short beeps repeated every 5 seconds | Bridge has lost connection with the Stick. |
| – | One short beep repeated every ten seconds | The Stick is low on power. |
The Case
You can order MeatStick components individually, but if you order one of the combos, all the components of the
combo will come packaged in a nice zippered case. As you can see in the first photo on the left, there are custom
cutouts for each of the chargers and the WiFi bridge. The second photo on the right shows how there is a center
flap which flips over to reveal a place to store the WiFi Bridge's antenna and the micro-USB cord. You can also
store a few extra probes here.
You can support this website by shopping at The Naked Whiz Website Store and Amazon.com
|
