A note to people who are new to long outdoor cooks: consider probes with a low temperature alarm. I've seen many posts on social media sites stating their cooker stopped (electrical failure, out of pellets, etc.), they didn't know about it, and the meat is cool/cold. Having a low temperature alarm helps prevent the meal from being ruined.
David, I discovered your channel several months ago and have learned to appreciate it. This specific video was spot on. By disclosure, I own the original Meater, the Meater +, the original Yummly, the ThermoPro SpikeTemp, ThermoPro SpikeTemp +, the ThermoPro Spike Temp + (2 probe model), the original Chef IQ, and the ThermoMaven P2 (which is essentially a different branded Typhur). I also have the ThermoWorks Smoke and Smoke 4 wired systems (which I love for their accuracy). From my experience, I agree completely with your data re: ambient temp accuracy (or lack thereof). Because of the lag time, I always use my Thermoworks ambient probe as my control. Range from the probe to the base unit has not been an issue for me. What has been an issue is the range from the base unit to my phone, tablet, etc. I have had issues with losing signal with just about all of the above and have to reposition the phone/tablet - with one pleasurable exception - while using the ThermoMaven P2, I still had connection at a local Sam's Club which is about 5 miles from my home. All of this said, when I feel I really need to nail a smoke, I rely on my ThermoWorks Smoke systems. I have learned that purchasing the Yummly was perhaps a waste of money.
Combustion has been excellent for me and I will be receiving the 2nd gen thermometer that withstands up to 900 degrees. I believe it is also the thinnest of the probes and didn't think the video explained well what the food safety option of Combustion really does, i.e., you don't cook chicken to 165 and then pull (way overdone). Instead, you can set a temperature such as 150 and the app will tell you if its already safe to eat per the USDA standard. Rationale from what I understand is that food safety is based on two factors, temperature food reaches and the time it took during the cook to reach said temperature. Carryover is not something available with Combustion yet, and believe others claiming carryover, is not accurate from what I have read. Other comparisons such as the prediction capability of its accuracy of when reaching the desired set cook temperature would occur for a cook, would have been nice to see how each thermometer did.
I tried and returned about 3 thermometers before I settled on the Typhur. The internal probe matched my instant read thermometer and the range was pretty good on a closed smoker. The app is very user friendly and it comes with 2 probes.
I have to say, I've been so fed up with my Meater Block that I've been looking at whether I wanted to invest in a Fireboard 2 and Pulse and this video solidified my decision! Thank you!
Nice job on the tests. I have the Meater and also a set of probes with wires to a wireless sending box that transmits to a box I can move anywhere reasonable without fail. You asked about which features we like or don’t like. All these probes leave a large unsightly hole in the protean where the other probes leave a small hole. That’s the main reason I don’t use the Meater.
The Meatstick 4 has been the one that has given me the most trouble; they do not like high heat at all; I have burned up 4 of them. I have switched to the RFX unit and so far, so good.
Another great video. I really enjoy your comparisons. I have several of the thermometers you reviwed and I wanted to add a few of my observations. My current favorite is the Combustion and I just received my RFX, but I haven't had a chance to try it. I don't have a problem with a wired ambient probe. My experience with ambient sensors in the end of a probe is that they are useless. Being so close to meat they are not even close to accurate. If I really want to monitor the actual temp in my pit or grill, I will always use a wired probe. That's one of the reasons I ordered an RFX. It would be ideal to have a wireless one, but until then, it's wired. You mentioned that several of the probes had multiple internal sensors, but I I want to emphasize how important that is. With a single sensor it is tricky to get it exactly in the true core, with 7 in the Combustion it is easy and it selects the right one for you. The safe cook feature on the Combustion is really great as well. Especially if you are cooking low and slow you can be sure you have reached a food safe temperature early enough not to have to worry about carry over cooking carrying over too far. Combustion just anounced an updated version 2 that includes WiFi which should extend the range. I have one on order so I will see how it goes (yes, my wife would say I have a thermometer problem).
Great review and testing! I have been waiting for a comparison on all of these wireless probes! Thank you for doing it! I am a huge fan of thermoworks so I was quite certain the rfx would be my choice. This video just confirmed my choice for what I am looking for.
Writing this early in the video. This is the perfect topic for BBQ Lab. I've purchased three different brands (all of which are featured here) and I still don't feel I have the best one. I'm eager to see if I need to spend more money 😮 My feature priorities in descending order: range, battery life, app usability. I don't need the app to dance and sing, but it does need to be intuitive because I don't use a wireless thermometer often enough to become an expert. Also I don't want to bring out the probe and the battery is dead.
Wired ambient probe is perfectly fine. I often don’t even care about the ambient temperature, as I can set up my smoker (WSM), light it, and then it hums around 250° all day. I have Billows, so if I want to be extra, I can use RFX to control it, but I bought the wireless probes for hanging ribs and rotisserie, to techniques that aren’t finicky about ambient temperature. RFX for the win.
You're supposed to keep the combustion display around the grill and it repeats the signal to your phone. So it's not really appropriate to take it that far away
Just for later videos it would be nice to see the meat cut open to see how close each one got to being cooked to the right temperature. To see how accurate the sensors in the probe are. By showing the cutting of the meat and showing that it’s not too overcooked or undercooked. But other than that it was a great and informative video. Thanks 36:47
Great channel and great reviews. I use the Meater Brick and think it shines on reverse sear cooks for a roast or turkey. By far the feature I appreciate the most is the predictive time to done, and telling me when to pull the meat to accommodate for the carry over cook. The carryover estimate is generally off by 4-5 degrees but it’s consistent off so I can accommodate for it. Keep up the great work on the channel.
I really applaud your effort. Thank you for that and the video which was on the whole, well communicated. I would offer some constructive feedback on how you might have improved the consistency of the data on these, that being trying your level best to keep conditions as similar as possible, including a disclaimer for those that were supplied by a sponsor or loaned, vs purchased by you, but more importantly, the method of communication with each probe. For example. The meater Pro can work via WiFi and Bluetooth. Range and penetration tests aren't particularly useful without that information. The gold standard for this type of presentation, and I highly recommend a watch of a couple of videos, is Project Farm here on RUclips. Lastly, what would have been super awesome, is if your results were sent to the manafacturers in case they wanted to comment. I still enjoyed the video and hope you keep doing what you are doing.
Never had an issue with combustions notifications. It will give you when USDA safe temp is reached (safeguard temp) usually is 150’s for poultry. And then another notification a few minutes before it’s done and then when it’s done. It does not predict carryover…probably for good reasons since different pieces of meat carry over from a few degrees to over 10 like a fat Picanha. Overall the Pulse and combustion are my favorite. ThermoWorks app is weak and Meaters app good but I find my two Meaters always overestimating temp by quite a lot more than I can ever find with my Thermapen so I don’t use them often.
I've been using a Meater Block for the past 4 years and am very pleased. It has certainly upped my bbq game. I would love to upgrade to the new Pro with it's higher temp range, but the original just works so well I can't justify it yet. Eventually I will be in the market again and it is great to see that there are many more options now. BTW, I leave the Block right next to the grill. I don't understand why anyone would put it inside the house or on the other side of the house.
I have the previous version of the tempspike. You can definitely customize the pre-warning and also you can enter custom temps if you don't like the default for the type of meat you are cooking.
So bummed you didn’t do all the testing with the typher I understand it showed up late but would be great to see how it stacked up. I am in between it and the rfx love the videos and would have been great to see them both in full testing.
I was in the same situation. Love thermoworks but went for typhur, just for the fact that i wanted these to sear meat to perfection and i like the ideo of connection when you take them out of the console. They are the same width and also have the same tolerance for direct heat. Besides 4 probes are 100buschs cheaper and i like that they are all collected in one unit
I have the Typhur Quad and love it. The Gold version came out a few months after I got mine but, to be honest, I don't see the value in the better wireless connection of the Gold when mine has wifi.
Assuming accuracy of the temperature readings, the thing I most care about is being able to monitor my cook inside the house, and even if I'm away from the house.
Just for later videos it would be nice to see the meat cut open to see how close each one got to being cooked to the right temperature. To see how accurate the sensors in the probe are. By showing the cutting of the meat and showing that it’s not too overcooked or undercooked. But other than that it was a great and informative video. Thanks
I’ve had a TempSpike and ordered the thermoworks. love my thermapen and assume it will be great. once you learn why they did the wired ambient probe it makes a lot of sense.
With Chef IQ Sense, once you have selected your protein, you can either follow the recommended guidelines for cooking (i.e Beef, Steak, Sirloin, 1.5” thick, cooking method (Grill), rare) it will show lowest setting of 125 but remove from heat of 115) however, you can under the “what are you cooking” select manual setup, then select Beef, and then manually set the temp on the temp dial to as low as you want such as 115 or lower and not be constrained to the recommended min. Temp of 125 in the auto select option.
Regarding the wired ambient probe for the RFX... When you first mentioned it, I scoffed, as what's the point of wireless if you still have to have a wired probe anyway? Then I remembered... I already own an OG Meater Block. One of my main complaints about it when I first got it, was that I usually like to let my grill/smoker get up to temp before I put the meat on. By having the ambient temp built into the probe, I can't really do that with that unit as I'd need something to stick it into to hold it while the grill comes up to temp. (Yes, I could just lay it on the grate or stick it into a ball of foil or something, but I didn't like those solutions either.) So, I would resort to pulling out one of my other, wired probes, until I was ready to put the meat on. But at that point, I might as well just use the wired probe for the whole thing! As a result, the Meater has been relegated to rotisserie use only. By having the ambient probe be wired, that issue is avoided. Now, I've had some other issues with Thermoworks remote probes in the past (OG Smoke + Gateway never seemed to work right for me), and I've since switched to Fireboard for all my remote monitoring needs. (Still use the ChefAlarm, and several Thermopens though, they're great!) So, I'm still torn about which of these to get, or if I just want to stick with my OG Meater Block, which does still work. I'm leaning that way for now, given how seldom I use something like this anyway.
You know what, this was a very useful comment for me. I have only ever had wired thermometers and have been curious about whether I should make the jump to one of these stick styles for convenience. I had just about talked myself into the combustion predictive thermometer and just being okay with the inaccuracy of the ambient probe but you know what, it'll totally be annoying to get my charcoal all up and running without an ambient probe in place before the meat goes in. I also have such a high view of thermoworks and wanted to like their product that best. I just had a phenomenal experience with their customer service and I don't want to support anyone else.
@@steffananGlad I could help! Also to be fair, I believe the OG Meater only rates the food end of the probe for up to about 212°F, so leaving it out in the smoker while it comes up to temp isn't really possible anyway. These newer ones don't seem to have that limitation, so maybe it's a moot point. Agreed on Thermworks support, they've always been phenomenal for me too.
I am surprised how you passed over the deficiencies in the RFX Meat's app. I have both Meater and RFX and I love the RFX Meat probes, but I think the app falls way short as it is missing several things such as cook setup process, being able to see multiple probes in one graph, having to reset the session every cook, and just the general fit and finish of the app. I love the probes and am happy with my RFX Meat purchase, but the app needs a LOT of work yet in my opinion.
I agree with you...the RFX hardware is great (although one of the probes I received is defective, but Thermoworks customer service is excellent and they are sending a replacement). But yes, the app is an absolute mess. Thermoworks says they are currently working on it, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that their next iteration is more polished.
I have the TempSpike. You can adjust the ambient warning, and you can do a custom meat/cook and set it below 125. I have a sear station and I am NOT nice to the probe - it has held up for over a year so far without a problem. Weird you had a range problem, I bring the base in the house with me and it works fine - I wonder if the probes were interfering with each other? I only have/use 1 so I can't really test that.
I have had two tempspikes the vew model tp 970 and the probes do NUT hold a charge ywo hours is all i can get out of them and they should last a minimum of 18
Great video. Once thing you didn't show and I would have like to have seen is how was the ckn actually cooked? Was the temp the probe showed the actual temp of the meat. Some of these can be off by a lot and that's a waste if your trying to get a large roast MR
When looking at ambient temperature, you need to understand the distance from surface because as food cooks, it lets off water vapor and creates a boundary layer around the hunk of meat. This boundary layer shrinks the later the cook goes, as the water content evaporates from the meat. This can be disrupted by air movement, hence why you feel colder in a windy day, and why convection cooks faster than non-convection ovens at equivalent air temps. So you'll need to control distance from the meat as a variable, to determine if the ambient temperature is truly inaccurate. Ideally you would place the probe just hanging in the air with nothing touching a grate as that can introduce conduction into the measurement and you only want to measure air temp. That removes the variable of the boundary layer to see if the ambient sensor is accurate.
What was the ambient temperature showing on the RFX when you did the range test in front of your house? Or even 6' away? Lol. I think that little detail was missed. Pretty good review though.
My biggest dealbreaker is not having WiFi (or connecting to something that does). If it's a Bluetooth only system, it's garbage. That's why I consider the MEater+ garbage and the Meater Block their only acceptable product. The Fireboard one should likely be fine, because the probe connects to my Fireboard 2 Drive, which has WiFi.
I have a typhur and it works very well. I don’t know if it’s better or worse than others,but I can say from my own practical use,typhur has worked for me very well. Just my 2 cents worth of free advice.
Epic comparison. Great work! I'm getting my RFX 4 probe set in a couple days and very excited. I can't recommend staying away from Meater enough. 4 of my meater probes are falling apart but stay connected, the two meater plus/pro ones won't stay connected. Just my own experiences with over a year using them.
I am impressed with your testing and methodology of wireless probes. My two main concerns with wireless probes are the diameter of the probes and longevity of their operation. I have owned a Meater and it lasted approximately 6 months (and their customer service sucks). My hope is that future models will will improve.
This is very interesting and I truly appreciate your thorough scientific approach and data points and sharing this information with people who may be interested in this kind of technology but I cook meat like a caveman (wood firing, ground baking and smoking, the way we’ve all been doing it up until very recently and it comes out amazing. I do always err on the side of undercooking as I do not like dry meat and I have never had had food poisoning. Cool these products are available now for replicating more accurate results on long cooks. Makes me wonder if our primitive ancestors ever had barbecue competitions and what their results would have looked like in comparison to modern barbecue.🎉
Hey David. Ambient temperatures: Clearly hours 4-11 were more accurate for most of the probes. Did you average the variance of each probe and see which are the most accurate in general? I looked at the data but can't tell from the PDF without re-entering all the numbers in a spreadsheet
I’m a big fan of the FireBoard eco system. So easy to mix & match wireless & wired probes. Plus the app is very easy to use & the WiFi range is practically unlimited.
thanks for all the work on these probes! I have an interesting dilemma, I am almost completely blind and have to consider accessibility of the apps and these pros as well, would also like to use them for candy making and baking. Currently have the signals as well as thermal works talking pro but the response time is quite slow 15 seconds on the talking thermometer and I believe it’s 10 seconds on the signals. I’m wondering if the RFX would work from inside an oven and it may be my best option as I am already familiar with thermal works. thanks for any and all suggestions and once again great video thanks for this.
FYI, The Meater wireless cannot send data across VLANs on your network, even if there are firewall rules specifically allowing it to. I dont know if this is an issue on other brands as I havent tried them, but for anyone with a modern network that segregates IoT devices this is a major problem and makes Meater useless.
While I am not sure about Meater but some wireless APs /routers will allow you to enable features to forward AirPlay protocol (and the Android equivalent) across VLANS
Ambient temperatures start to get more accurate because the probes are experiencing less evaporative cooling from the meat. As the meat loses moisture, the surrounding air gets closer to actual grill temp. It's why this test looks so bad.
I have owned two meat stick probes for about a year and over the long term. They are horrible. They lose connectivity from time to time, and both of them have started to disintegrate. Never again. I am going to try the Thermo works. As a sidenote, I typically use these when I am running a piece of meat on the rotisserie, otherwise I would use a wired probe or just stick it with my Thermo works pin manually Thanks for a great video.
Loved the video. I'm a bit of a Thermoworks snob so the RFX piques my curiosity. Any idea how the probes would handle a sear burner cook, like you would get with the Northfire Inferno? 1500 degrees?
You need to try one that requires the food to be turned. I like the Chef IQ because it talks to me and tells me when to turn the food. I'd like to see how the others notify the cook.
My last electronic thermometer went crazy whenever it accidentally touched the pan on an induction stove. Which makes me wonder - how are these products with induction stoves?
Just bought the IQ one I believe it was the first one you showed. I got it at Costco and this video couldn’t have came at a better time. It’s my first time with wireless thermometer so I’m gonna try to search for a torture video of this device as I want to know how much I can push it before I start seeing damage
As I’m sure you know 150° let it sit in a sealed tub with weight on top for a couple of minutes and it will hit 155° ,,only restaurants by law have to cook their chicken breast 165° ..
I will probably get the Fireboard since it integrates into the full Fireboard system. They also support S1G, which has far superior range over Bluetooth and none of these ither thermometers support this. Most have Bluetooth spec 2 which is limited to about 30ft.
So if you have a Spark you can connect the pulse to that via blue tooth and then the spark connects to wifi? Or is the spark connecting to the pulse via a different transmission method to give it longer range?
Most important factor is wireless with both wifi and bluetooth, thinest diameter probe, and obviously accurate internal temp. A warning that its almost time to remove food is nice for distracted pit master like myself. I really don’t care much about the ambient temp feature.
Would have loved to see a rotisserie cook going on. That's where I am most frustrated with my meater pros. They disconnect a lot more while they are rotating than during static cooks.
Interesting. We shot a rotisserie cook as a part of this video, but it hit the cutting room floor because it was already incredibly long. I didn’t notice anything different from the distance tests during that test since we left the receivers 1 foot from the grill. Rotation didn’t seem to change connection for us, but that was just 1 chicken with brand new probes.
@TheBarbecueLab thanks. Not sure if I noticed much of a difference when they were new, but it's definitely got bad with the meater. I have the 4 probe block they connect to that, which stays on the worktop of my weber performer, so within about a foot of the probe. That connects to my wireless and I've had nothing but issues with them staying connected to the base after like the first year of use. With a static cook it's not frequent but with a rotisserie it's just constant disconnects reconnects on each probe like every 5 to 10 minutes
I had some connection issues and scrubbed the probe which had some charred gunk on it, worked great. Never really had any connection issues with my MEATER.
I had the meat stick for year and half then threw it in the trash. Worked great at first as I used it wanted to update then got harder and harder to link with phone and updates failed too. Taking 30 minutes or more to link to the phone. Now it's taking trash temps.
I think the testing of distance whole house should have not been done with taking the receivers with you. It should have been left behind. Practically speaking I wouldn't take the receivers with me only phone.
Trying to test this many is difficult. I have recently been using the rfx wireless and on a long cook the battery is dying at about 8 hours which falls short on a brisket cook. I also have signal issues on the recteq grill transmitting to the gateway. I have moved gateway all over my grill and through stainless it doesn’t transmit well.
I’m having the same issue with the battery on the RFX. I may only get closer to six hours out of mine. I purposely let it die completely hoping maybe a new battery cycle would help, but no change. I haven’t reached out to ThermoWorks yet. I don’t have transmission issues with mine though. So far I’ve used it in my KJ classic 2 and my PBC with no issue. I do love its functionality, other than the battery life.
I just got the ThermoWorks 1 probe, I have been waiting for this product just shipped. I spent a lot of money on the Meater it did not work with my Yoder 640, steel is to thick. I don't really care about the ambient temp since my Fireboard all ready has that but I like that is not on the probe. I have one question will this connection go through the Green Egg, I want to buy this as a gift for someone.
I need a wireless that will go into a enamal coated dutch oven and work while inside of a gas oven. Any tests on that or an opinion if anything will work ?
@@TheBarbecueLab Ended up buying the Typhur Sync gold duo on Black Friday week. It is fantastic. Only real complaint I have on any of these wireless ones would be the thickness and amount of probe insertion depth for thin meat cooks!
Have the MEATER and so far I am only somewhat satisfied. Just cooked 2 10lb standing rib roasts and the predictive algorithm was inaccurate. That is like buying a basketball with a catastrophic air leak rendering it unplayable (terrible analogy), however, I bought the MEATER for…accurate predictive analysis and it does not do what is supposed to so my rating is 2.5 stars. The iPhone app interface is pretty but that alone doesn’t justify the purchase.
Unless it is reliable!! I've only tried one wireless, and I've had a 30% failure rate on them - those are the Tappecue Air Probe II's. Which interestingly, you did not review.
A note to people who are new to long outdoor cooks: consider probes with a low temperature alarm. I've seen many posts on social media sites stating their cooker stopped (electrical failure, out of pellets, etc.), they didn't know about it, and the meat is cool/cold.
Having a low temperature alarm helps prevent the meal from being ruined.
Oh, your advice is well received. I never considered this before.
David, I discovered your channel several months ago and have learned to appreciate it. This specific video was spot on. By disclosure, I own the original Meater, the Meater +, the original Yummly, the ThermoPro SpikeTemp, ThermoPro SpikeTemp +, the ThermoPro Spike Temp + (2 probe model), the original Chef IQ, and the ThermoMaven P2 (which is essentially a different branded Typhur). I also have the ThermoWorks Smoke and Smoke 4 wired systems (which I love for their accuracy). From my experience, I agree completely with your data re: ambient temp accuracy (or lack thereof). Because of the lag time, I always use my Thermoworks ambient probe as my control. Range from the probe to the base unit has not been an issue for me. What has been an issue is the range from the base unit to my phone, tablet, etc. I have had issues with losing signal with just about all of the above and have to reposition the phone/tablet - with one pleasurable exception - while using the ThermoMaven P2, I still had connection at a local Sam's Club which is about 5 miles from my home. All of this said, when I feel I really need to nail a smoke, I rely on my ThermoWorks Smoke systems. I have learned that purchasing the Yummly was perhaps a waste of money.
Thermoworks RFX has changed my life. Love it so much. I use a billows so I don't mind the wired ambient probe
Combustion has been excellent for me and I will be receiving the 2nd gen thermometer that withstands up to 900 degrees. I believe it is also the thinnest of the probes and didn't think the video explained well what the food safety option of Combustion really does, i.e., you don't cook chicken to 165 and then pull (way overdone). Instead, you can set a temperature such as 150 and the app will tell you if its already safe to eat per the USDA standard. Rationale from what I understand is that food safety is based on two factors, temperature food reaches and the time it took during the cook to reach said temperature. Carryover is not something available with Combustion yet, and believe others claiming carryover, is not accurate from what I have read. Other comparisons such as the prediction capability of its accuracy of when reaching the desired set cook temperature would occur for a cook, would have been nice to see how each thermometer did.
I tried and returned about 3 thermometers before I settled on the Typhur. The internal probe matched my instant read thermometer and the range was pretty good on a closed smoker. The app is very user friendly and it comes with 2 probes.
I have to say, I've been so fed up with my Meater Block that I've been looking at whether I wanted to invest in a Fireboard 2 and Pulse and this video solidified my decision! Thank you!
Nice job on the tests. I have the Meater and also a set of probes with wires to a wireless sending box that transmits to a box I can move anywhere reasonable without fail. You asked about which features we like or don’t like. All these probes leave a large unsightly hole in the protean where the other probes leave a small hole. That’s the main reason I don’t use the Meater.
The Meatstick 4 has been the one that has given me the most trouble; they do not like high heat at all; I have burned up 4 of them. I have switched to the RFX unit and so far, so good.
Another great video. I really enjoy your comparisons. I have several of the thermometers you reviwed and I wanted to add a few of my observations. My current favorite is the Combustion and I just received my RFX, but I haven't had a chance to try it. I don't have a problem with a wired ambient probe. My experience with ambient sensors in the end of a probe is that they are useless. Being so close to meat they are not even close to accurate. If I really want to monitor the actual temp in my pit or grill, I will always use a wired probe. That's one of the reasons I ordered an RFX. It would be ideal to have a wireless one, but until then, it's wired. You mentioned that several of the probes had multiple internal sensors, but I I want to emphasize how important that is. With a single sensor it is tricky to get it exactly in the true core, with 7 in the Combustion it is easy and it selects the right one for you. The safe cook feature on the Combustion is really great as well. Especially if you are cooking low and slow you can be sure you have reached a food safe temperature early enough not to have to worry about carry over cooking carrying over too far. Combustion just anounced an updated version 2 that includes WiFi which should extend the range. I have one on order so I will see how it goes (yes, my wife would say I have a thermometer problem).
Great review and testing! I have been waiting for a comparison on all of these wireless probes! Thank you for doing it! I am a huge fan of thermoworks so I was quite certain the rfx would be my choice. This video just confirmed my choice for what I am looking for.
Writing this early in the video. This is the perfect topic for BBQ Lab. I've purchased three different brands (all of which are featured here) and I still don't feel I have the best one. I'm eager to see if I need to spend more money 😮
My feature priorities in descending order: range, battery life, app usability. I don't need the app to dance and sing, but it does need to be intuitive because I don't use a wireless thermometer often enough to become an expert. Also I don't want to bring out the probe and the battery is dead.
Wired ambient probe is perfectly fine. I often don’t even care about the ambient temperature, as I can set up my smoker (WSM), light it, and then it hums around 250° all day. I have Billows, so if I want to be extra, I can use RFX to control it, but I bought the wireless probes for hanging ribs and rotisserie, to techniques that aren’t finicky about ambient temperature. RFX for the win.
You're supposed to keep the combustion display around the grill and it repeats the signal to your phone.
So it's not really appropriate to take it that far away
Just for later videos it would be nice to see the meat cut open to see how close each one got to being cooked to the right temperature. To see how accurate the sensors in the probe are. By showing the cutting of the meat and showing that it’s not too overcooked or undercooked. But other than that it was a great and informative video. Thanks 36:47
i’ve been wanting to purchase a wireless probe but have been hesitant due to mixed reviews. thanks for putting them to the test
You didn't show a Typhur cook after you received the probes!
Great channel and great reviews. I use the Meater Brick and think it shines on reverse sear cooks for a roast or turkey. By far the feature I appreciate the most is the predictive time to done, and telling me when to pull the meat to accommodate for the carry over cook. The carryover estimate is generally off by 4-5 degrees but it’s consistent off so I can accommodate for it. Keep up the great work on the channel.
I really applaud your effort. Thank you for that and the video which was on the whole, well communicated. I would offer some constructive feedback on how you might have improved the consistency of the data on these, that being trying your level best to keep conditions as similar as possible, including a disclaimer for those that were supplied by a sponsor or loaned, vs purchased by you, but more importantly, the method of communication with each probe. For example. The meater Pro can work via WiFi and Bluetooth. Range and penetration tests aren't particularly useful without that information. The gold standard for this type of presentation, and I highly recommend a watch of a couple of videos, is Project Farm here on RUclips. Lastly, what would have been super awesome, is if your results were sent to the manafacturers in case they wanted to comment. I still enjoyed the video and hope you keep doing what you are doing.
Never had an issue with combustions notifications. It will give you when USDA safe temp is reached (safeguard temp) usually is 150’s for poultry. And then another notification a few minutes before it’s done and then when it’s done. It does not predict carryover…probably for good reasons since different pieces of meat carry over from a few degrees to over 10 like a fat Picanha. Overall the Pulse and combustion are my favorite. ThermoWorks app is weak and Meaters app good but I find my two Meaters always overestimating temp by quite a lot more than I can ever find with my Thermapen so I don’t use them often.
I've been using a Meater Block for the past 4 years and am very pleased. It has certainly upped my bbq game. I would love to upgrade to the new Pro with it's higher temp range, but the original just works so well I can't justify it yet. Eventually I will be in the market again and it is great to see that there are many more options now. BTW, I leave the Block right next to the grill. I don't understand why anyone would put it inside the house or on the other side of the house.
I have the previous version of the tempspike. You can definitely customize the pre-warning and also you can enter custom temps if you don't like the default for the type of meat you are cooking.
Just picked up a temp spike. How did you find accuracy ??
Why not update the PDF with the Typhur, now that you have received it?
So bummed you didn’t do all the testing with the typher I understand it showed up late but would be great to see how it stacked up. I am in between it and the rfx love the videos and would have been great to see them both in full testing.
I was in the same situation. Love thermoworks but went for typhur, just for the fact that i wanted these to sear meat to perfection and i like the ideo of connection when you take them out of the console. They are the same width and also have the same tolerance for direct heat. Besides 4 probes are 100buschs cheaper and i like that they are all collected in one unit
I have the Typhur Quad and love it. The Gold version came out a few months after I got mine but, to be honest, I don't see the value in the better wireless connection of the Gold when mine has wifi.
Assuming accuracy of the temperature readings, the thing I most care about is being able to monitor my cook inside the house, and even if I'm away from the house.
Just for later videos it would be nice to see the meat cut open to see how close each one got to being cooked to the right temperature. To see how accurate the sensors in the probe are. By showing the cutting of the meat and showing that it’s not too overcooked or undercooked. But other than that it was a great and informative video. Thanks
I’ve had a TempSpike and ordered the thermoworks. love my thermapen and assume it will be great. once you learn why they did the wired ambient probe it makes a lot of sense.
With Chef IQ Sense, once you have selected your protein, you can either follow the recommended guidelines for cooking (i.e Beef, Steak, Sirloin, 1.5” thick, cooking method (Grill), rare) it will show lowest setting of 125 but remove from heat of 115) however, you can under the “what are you cooking” select manual setup, then select Beef, and then manually set the temp on the temp dial to as low as you want such as 115 or lower and not be constrained to the recommended min. Temp of 125 in the auto select option.
@@kaivonmortazavi8656 good tip!
Regarding the wired ambient probe for the RFX...
When you first mentioned it, I scoffed, as what's the point of wireless if you still have to have a wired probe anyway? Then I remembered... I already own an OG Meater Block. One of my main complaints about it when I first got it, was that I usually like to let my grill/smoker get up to temp before I put the meat on. By having the ambient temp built into the probe, I can't really do that with that unit as I'd need something to stick it into to hold it while the grill comes up to temp. (Yes, I could just lay it on the grate or stick it into a ball of foil or something, but I didn't like those solutions either.) So, I would resort to pulling out one of my other, wired probes, until I was ready to put the meat on. But at that point, I might as well just use the wired probe for the whole thing! As a result, the Meater has been relegated to rotisserie use only.
By having the ambient probe be wired, that issue is avoided. Now, I've had some other issues with Thermoworks remote probes in the past (OG Smoke + Gateway never seemed to work right for me), and I've since switched to Fireboard for all my remote monitoring needs. (Still use the ChefAlarm, and several Thermopens though, they're great!) So, I'm still torn about which of these to get, or if I just want to stick with my OG Meater Block, which does still work. I'm leaning that way for now, given how seldom I use something like this anyway.
You know what, this was a very useful comment for me. I have only ever had wired thermometers and have been curious about whether I should make the jump to one of these stick styles for convenience. I had just about talked myself into the combustion predictive thermometer and just being okay with the inaccuracy of the ambient probe but you know what, it'll totally be annoying to get my charcoal all up and running without an ambient probe in place before the meat goes in. I also have such a high view of thermoworks and wanted to like their product that best. I just had a phenomenal experience with their customer service and I don't want to support anyone else.
@@steffananGlad I could help! Also to be fair, I believe the OG Meater only rates the food end of the probe for up to about 212°F, so leaving it out in the smoker while it comes up to temp isn't really possible anyway. These newer ones don't seem to have that limitation, so maybe it's a moot point. Agreed on Thermworks support, they've always been phenomenal for me too.
I am surprised how you passed over the deficiencies in the RFX Meat's app. I have both Meater and RFX and I love the RFX Meat probes, but I think the app falls way short as it is missing several things such as cook setup process, being able to see multiple probes in one graph, having to reset the session every cook, and just the general fit and finish of the app.
I love the probes and am happy with my RFX Meat purchase, but the app needs a LOT of work yet in my opinion.
I agree with you...the RFX hardware is great (although one of the probes I received is defective, but Thermoworks customer service is excellent and they are sending a replacement). But yes, the app is an absolute mess. Thermoworks says they are currently working on it, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that their next iteration is more polished.
I have a small lump Kamado style cooker and got the 2 probe iQ system. I really like it with 4 cooks successful now.
I have the TempSpike. You can adjust the ambient warning, and you can do a custom meat/cook and set it below 125. I have a sear station and I am NOT nice to the probe - it has held up for over a year so far without a problem. Weird you had a range problem, I bring the base in the house with me and it works fine - I wonder if the probes were interfering with each other? I only have/use 1 so I can't really test that.
I have had two tempspikes the vew model tp 970 and the probes do NUT hold a charge ywo hours is all i can get out of them and they should last a minimum of 18
Great video. Once thing you didn't show and I would have like to have seen is how was the ckn actually cooked? Was the temp the probe showed the actual temp of the meat. Some of these can be off by a lot and that's a waste if your trying to get a large roast MR
When looking at ambient temperature, you need to understand the distance from surface because as food cooks, it lets off water vapor and creates a boundary layer around the hunk of meat. This boundary layer shrinks the later the cook goes, as the water content evaporates from the meat. This can be disrupted by air movement, hence why you feel colder in a windy day, and why convection cooks faster than non-convection ovens at equivalent air temps.
So you'll need to control distance from the meat as a variable, to determine if the ambient temperature is truly inaccurate. Ideally you would place the probe just hanging in the air with nothing touching a grate as that can introduce conduction into the measurement and you only want to measure air temp. That removes the variable of the boundary layer to see if the ambient sensor is accurate.
What was the ambient temperature showing on the RFX when you did the range test in front of your house? Or even 6' away? Lol. I think that little detail was missed. Pretty good review though.
My biggest dealbreaker is not having WiFi (or connecting to something that does). If it's a Bluetooth only system, it's garbage. That's why I consider the MEater+ garbage and the Meater Block their only acceptable product. The Fireboard one should likely be fine, because the probe connects to my Fireboard 2 Drive, which has WiFi.
Can you pressure cook with these too?
I have a typhur and it works very well. I don’t know if it’s better or worse than others,but I can say from my own practical use,typhur has worked for me very well. Just my 2 cents worth of free advice.
Thx u for your video. I purchased a MEATER Pro Duo before finding your channel/video.
Have you seen the Thermomaven P2? I've only been using it for a few weeks but extremely impressed so far.
You can set a lower manual temp on the ChefIQ.
Epic comparison. Great work! I'm getting my RFX 4 probe set in a couple days and very excited.
I can't recommend staying away from Meater enough. 4 of my meater probes are falling apart but stay connected, the two meater plus/pro ones won't stay connected. Just my own experiences with over a year using them.
I am impressed with your testing and methodology of wireless probes. My two main concerns with wireless probes are the diameter of the probes and longevity of their operation. I have owned a Meater and it lasted approximately 6 months (and their customer service sucks). My hope is that future models will will improve.
This is very interesting and I truly appreciate your thorough scientific approach and data points and sharing this information with people who may be interested in this kind of technology but I cook meat like a caveman (wood firing, ground baking and smoking, the way we’ve all been doing it up until very recently and it comes out amazing. I do always err on the side of undercooking as I do not like dry meat and I have never had had food poisoning. Cool these products are available now for replicating more accurate results on long cooks. Makes me wonder if our primitive ancestors ever had barbecue competitions and what their results would have looked like in comparison to modern barbecue.🎉
I'd love to know what a caveman used to know if their meat was done or not. I'm sure there was some stick poking that was a part of it...
I would love to see a Sous Vide test !!
Chef IQ: Can get a two probe set for $80.00 usd at costco at the moment. Normally 60-65 I believe on amazon for just 1 probe.
Hey David. Ambient temperatures: Clearly hours 4-11 were more accurate for most of the probes. Did you average the variance of each probe and see which are the most accurate in general? I looked at the data but can't tell from the PDF without re-entering all the numbers in a spreadsheet
I’m a big fan of the FireBoard eco system. So easy to mix & match wireless & wired probes. Plus the app is very easy to use & the WiFi range is practically unlimited.
The most important thing for me is, does it work through heavy duty aluminum foil or a Dutch oven?
My main question is which would be best to be used with a rotisserie?
Maybe I missed it but did you check for temp accuracy?
On the meter thermometer, if you click on the temperature for what the meat is at, it will show you all all of the temperature probes temperatures
thanks for all the work on these probes! I have an interesting dilemma, I am almost completely blind and have to consider accessibility of the apps and these pros as well, would also like to use them for candy making and baking. Currently have the signals as well as thermal works talking pro but the response time is quite slow 15 seconds on the talking thermometer and I believe it’s 10 seconds on the signals. I’m wondering if the RFX would work from inside an oven and it may be my best option as I am already familiar with thermal works. thanks for any and all suggestions and once again great video thanks for this.
FYI, The Meater wireless cannot send data across VLANs on your network, even if there are firewall rules specifically allowing it to. I dont know if this is an issue on other brands as I havent tried them, but for anyone with a modern network that segregates IoT devices this is a major problem and makes Meater useless.
While I am not sure about Meater but some wireless APs /routers will allow you to enable features to forward AirPlay protocol (and the Android equivalent) across VLANS
Asked St. Nick for the chef IQ based on your findings. He (my wife) delivered. I'm looking forward to its first use!
ThermoWorks makes a superior product but I’ll wait 2 years when they come out with a wireless cook chamber monitor for the RFX.
Ambient temperatures start to get more accurate because the probes are experiencing less evaporative cooling from the meat. As the meat loses moisture, the surrounding air gets closer to actual grill temp. It's why this test looks so bad.
Agreed use the probe on a big roast in a convection oven and ambient probe is within 5 degrees of an external probe within 10 minutes.
Right, but that's won't work if you want to control a fan.
I have owned two meat stick probes for about a year and over the long term. They are horrible. They lose connectivity from time to time, and both of them have started to disintegrate. Never again. I am going to try the Thermo works. As a sidenote, I typically use these when I am running a piece of meat on the rotisserie, otherwise I would use a wired probe or just stick it with my Thermo works pin manually
Thanks for a great video.
I have the ChefIQ probes with 3 probes and love it
My Thermoworks Temp Spike failed and I got a second under warranty. After several months it doesn’t keep a charge more than 2 hours.
Distance is important
is that the first or second generation Combustion thermo?
First Generation, Second Generation doesn’t ship until January
Loved the video. I'm a bit of a Thermoworks snob so the RFX piques my curiosity. Any idea how the probes would handle a sear burner cook, like you would get with the Northfire Inferno? 1500 degrees?
They will melt, they can withstand inly 1000degf
Great video, I’m here because of the bbq central show
You need to try one that requires the food to be turned. I like the Chef IQ because it talks to me and tells me when to turn the food. I'd like to see how the others notify the cook.
My last electronic thermometer went crazy whenever it accidentally touched the pan on an induction stove. Which makes me wonder - how are these products with induction stoves?
Just bought the IQ one I believe it was the first one you showed. I got it at Costco and this video couldn’t have came at a better time. It’s my first time with wireless thermometer so I’m gonna try to search for a torture video of this device as I want to know how much I can push it before I start seeing damage
Were you able to get the Chef IQ sense to give you an audible alert on the app? What apps did give an audible alert?
They don't interfere when put so close together?
I wanted to use a wireless thermometer with a temp controlled fan. RFX was the only option.
Chef IQ Sense 2 probe system is $99 at Costco (bluetooth and wireless and one of the thinnest probes).
Combustion inc is working great for me
I own the meater II plus, I absolutely love it and would not change it. Looking forward to the meater block but can’t afford it yet.
It needs to reach into the house from the smoker. In my case, that’s about 50-60ft.
Any problem using these probes with a PK 360 grill? Any signal interference with the thick aluminum housing?
Would the Meater test performance improve with the charging base right next to the smoker?
Didn't see any calibration on these, are you taking on faith that they are calibrated from the factory or did you calibrate them prior to use?
As I’m sure you know 150° let it sit in a sealed tub with weight on top for a couple of minutes and it will hit 155° ,,only restaurants by law have to cook their chicken breast 165° ..
Which one has the longest distance on just Bluetooth? For areas where WiFi is not available
I will probably get the Fireboard since it integrates into the full Fireboard system. They also support S1G, which has far superior range over Bluetooth and none of these ither thermometers support this. Most have Bluetooth spec 2 which is limited to about 30ft.
So if you have a Spark you can connect the pulse to that via blue tooth and then the spark connects to wifi?
Or is the spark connecting to the pulse via a different transmission method to give it longer range?
Most important factor is wireless with both wifi and bluetooth, thinest diameter probe, and obviously accurate internal temp. A warning that its almost time to remove food is nice for distracted pit master like myself. I really don’t care much about the ambient temp feature.
Would have loved to see a rotisserie cook going on. That's where I am most frustrated with my meater pros. They disconnect a lot more while they are rotating than during static cooks.
Interesting. We shot a rotisserie cook as a part of this video, but it hit the cutting room floor because it was already incredibly long. I didn’t notice anything different from the distance tests during that test since we left the receivers 1 foot from the grill. Rotation didn’t seem to change connection for us, but that was just 1 chicken with brand new probes.
@TheBarbecueLab thanks. Not sure if I noticed much of a difference when they were new, but it's definitely got bad with the meater. I have the 4 probe block they connect to that, which stays on the worktop of my weber performer, so within about a foot of the probe. That connects to my wireless and I've had nothing but issues with them staying connected to the base after like the first year of use. With a static cook it's not frequent but with a rotisserie it's just constant disconnects reconnects on each probe like every 5 to 10 minutes
I had some connection issues and scrubbed the probe which had some charred gunk on it, worked great. Never really had any connection issues with my MEATER.
I had the meat stick for year and half then threw it in the trash. Worked great at first as I used it wanted to update then got harder and harder to link with phone and updates failed too. Taking 30 minutes or more to link to the phone. Now it's taking trash temps.
No test of the Ink Bird probes.
Great video! I have the same LSG cabinet. Any way to connect it's Fireboard controller to the low frequency antenna?
Not that I’m aware of, but that’s a great question for Chris over at Lone Star.
Need a long distance wifi
I think the testing of distance whole house should have not been done with taking the receivers with you. It should have been left behind. Practically speaking I wouldn't take the receivers with me only phone.
My ideal probe characteristics are accuracy and range.
Trying to test this many is difficult. I have recently been using the rfx wireless and on a long cook the battery is dying at about 8 hours which falls short on a brisket cook. I also have signal issues on the recteq grill transmitting to the gateway. I have moved gateway all over my grill and through stainless it doesn’t transmit well.
I’m having the same issue with the battery on the RFX. I may only get closer to six hours out of mine. I purposely let it die completely hoping maybe a new battery cycle would help, but no change. I haven’t reached out to ThermoWorks yet. I don’t have transmission issues with mine though. So far I’ve used it in my KJ classic 2 and my PBC with no issue. I do love its functionality, other than the battery life.
I did talk to ThermoWorks and they said if the refresh rate on the probe would make a difference on the battery life.
I just got the ThermoWorks 1 probe, I have been waiting for this product just shipped. I spent a lot of money on the Meater it did not work with my Yoder 640, steel is to thick. I don't really care about the ambient temp since my Fireboard all ready has that but I like that is not on the probe. I have one question will this connection go through the Green Egg, I want to buy this as a gift for someone.
Getting the fireboard next
I need a wireless that will go into a enamal coated dutch oven and work while inside of a gas oven. Any tests on that or an opinion if anything will work ?
I'm wondering the same thing. The RFX with its use of low frequency supposedly does this, but I've love to see a trusted reviewer demonstrate
Probably should have included the Typhur sync gold.
It was delivered halfway through testing, so it’s in the second half of the video.
Should have probably finished the video, thanks.
@@TheBarbecueLab Ended up buying the Typhur Sync gold duo on Black Friday week. It is fantastic. Only real complaint I have on any of these wireless ones would be the thickness and amount of probe insertion depth for thin meat cooks!
They are the same thichness of the rfx, meater is the thinner but is also the one with connectivity issues
You could have measured the accuracy of the probes. The tests were very helpful.
I had 4 thermo pro temp spikes, they all died at 1 year almost to the day. They expired right after the warranty 😕
Just out of curiosity, are you at all aware of how many times you say "go ahead and..."?
Have the MEATER and so far I am only somewhat satisfied. Just cooked 2 10lb standing rib roasts and the predictive algorithm was inaccurate. That is like buying a basketball with a catastrophic air leak rendering it unplayable (terrible analogy), however, I bought the MEATER for…accurate predictive analysis and it does not do what is supposed to so my rating is 2.5 stars. The iPhone app interface is pretty but that alone doesn’t justify the purchase.
The leave a huge hole in the meat. I just stick with wired.
How about InkBird’s new WiFi probe?
We didn’t have access to the Inkbird for this roundup.
@@TheBarbecueLab Ahh okay. It definitely a competitor. Thank you for the great video reviews! 🍻
Unless it is reliable!! I've only tried one wireless, and I've had a 30% failure rate on them - those are the Tappecue Air Probe II's. Which interestingly, you did not review.