I'm a Former Chef, and My Go-To Wireless Thermometer Is on Rare Sale for October Prime Day

I’ve been enamored with meat thermometers for my home cooking in ways that border on obsessive. I like to know exactly what my food’s current temperature is as well as the ambient cooking temperature — whether I’m using a grill, a smoker, or an oven. Obviously, this helps me track when the food finishes cooking, but it also helps me stave off potential problems that might arise from too high or low of a cooking temperature. 

I’ve used several wired and wireless thermometers over the years and recently got to test the Meater Pro. I have to say, I’m quite thrilled with the new features and advantages this updated model brings to the table. And if you’re preparing for holiday gifting or cooking, I recommend grabbing it now while it’s on sale for Amazon Prime Day.

Meater Pro Meat Thermometer

The Meater Pro is a completely wire-free thermometer. Many wireless thermometers are actually wired to a base unit; simply being able to step away from the thermometer and check its status on a remote or phone is what makes them “wireless.” Meater thermometers, however, avoid wires entirely, which means no no tangling or damage to their internal conductors. The probe connects to the base unit via Bluetooth, and, in turn, the base connects to a phone app. I also like that it uses a single AAA battery for power, as I often reach for my rechargeable thermometers (yes, I have several) and find they’ve lost their charge while sitting in the drawer.

At this point, I should mention that the Meater Pro is entirely app-dependent for operation. This dependency may be a downside for some, but it also extends battery life by not lighting a display on the base. The app is easy to install and configure — it’s just a matter of downloading and connecting via Bluetooth. 

The features are comprehensive, too. There are presets for different kinds of meat, fish, and poultry, and from there, the app asks for the type of cut and how you’ll cook the food (grill, oven, and so on). The app also factors in a rest period, as the food continues to cook after you remove it from the heat, and tells you when the rest period is over.

At this point, some particularly cool improvements and innovations to previous Meater models kick in. The probe has five food temperature sensors, which talk to each other to determine the lowest temperature of your food. And while some temperature capacities limit some models, the Meater Pro withstands a maximum temperature of 1,000° F, which makes it useful for live fire cooking when temperatures can become quite intense.

Meater also improved this thermometer’s Bluetooth range, which lets you step away further from the probe without the signal dropping. With earlier Meater thermometers I tested, as well as some from competitors, the range cut out about 25 feet from my kitchen — thick walls and nails in the plaster interfere with Bluetooth signals. So, I was impressed that I could have the base in the back of my house and sit on my front porch with only the occasional signal drop.

The only real drawback? I found that the display never showed the correct ambient temperature when I started cooking on the stove and finished in the oven — it was still counting up. But that didn’t matter so much for long cooks on my grill and smoker.

Meater has always rated well in our tests against other thermometers, but the feature updates in the Meater Pro really make it stand out from its competitors. In fact, we tested the Pro in the Food & Wine lab recently and it earned the top title of Best Overall. I’ll be keeping this thermometer on hand for many of my cooking projects, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to invest in a top-notch thermometer, especially while it’s on sale for October Prime Day. 

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At the time of publish, the price was $100.