REVIEW – Last year I reviewed both the MEATER and MEATER+ smart wireless meat thermometers. I have used them many times over the past year, even purchasing a few as gifts for family and friends. As the story goes, MEATER announced the Block around the middle of last year but has taken over a year to bring it to market. The Block enables you to monitor the internal temperatures of four pieces of meat simultaneously. Allowing you to precisely cook each piece (hopefully) exactly as desired. Let’s see if it was worth the wait .

What is it?

The Block unites four (4) MEATER wireless probes under one control unit. The Block communicates with each of its numbered probes then passes that temperature data to your smartphone helping you cook your food to perfection. Not only is the hardware very well done but so is the MEATER app and ecosystem, all working together to cook your meal with much less worry or guessing.

What’s in the box?

• 4x MEATER probes
• 1x MEATER Block charger
• 4x AA batteries

Hardware specs

• Store and charge your MEATER probes
• 50 hours of continuous cooking with 4x AA batteries
• Real wood to match any kitchen or outdoor decor
• Crisp OLED display with touch capacitive control
• Built-in speakers for audible alerts
• Max outdoor operation temperature: 140°F
• Dimensions: 132mm L x 39mm W x 157mm H

Design and features

The MEATER Block combines four (4) MEATER+’s into a single device that not only stores, charges, and monitors each probe but can also acts as a standalone, disconnected wireless thermometer and cooking assistant. While surprisingly minimalist, the control screen does a solid job of bringing the MEATER ecosystem to you even when disconnected from the App or Net.

The build quality of the Block is excellent, made from the same bamboo as the MEATER and MEATER+. The designers have embedded the control screen into the right side of the Block and a stainless steel foldout stand for propping the Block upright on your counter or BBQ.

Like the original MEATER and MEATER+, the Block’s probes are wireless with dual sensors created with the sole job of helping you cook your food to perfection. The probes are made from stainless steel and hardened, heat resistant plastic. Best I can tell, the probes themselves have not changed, much if at all, since the original MEATER was released last year.

Probe Specs

• Stainless steel, water resistant and easy to clean
• Wireless up to 165 feet (50 meters)
• Bluetooth 4.0 wireless connection
• MEATER Sense: 2 temperature sensors in 1 probe
• Maximum internal temperature: 212°F (meat)
• Maximum ambient temperature: 527°F (cooker)
• Rechargeable: Over 24 hours of continuous cooking
• Dimensions: 130mm length and 6mm diameter

The part of the equation that has changed/been improved from the original is the bamboo charger (both the Meater+ and the Block) also acts as a repeater to boost the signal from the probe and thus the overall range.

Each of the probes is numbered, enabling you to keep better track of doneness of each piece of meat. As you can see, the numbers go from 1 thru 4 and are machined into the base of each probe.

Each of the routered slots securely hold and charge the probes.

The MEATER Block is powered by four AA batteries, providing 50 hours of continuous cooking before needing to be replaced. The back cover is held in place by small embedded magnets.

The MEATER Block probes have to be inserted into the meat beyond the line machined into the metal casing to protect the main sensor from damage due to high temperatures.

The ambient sensor is meant to monitor the cooking temperature of the oven or BBQ. It is located in the black plastic end of the probe.

Setup

Alright Houston, we have a problem…as this review saga goes, I had struggled to and discovered a relatively large stumbling block setting up the MEATER Block.

No matter how much/hard I tried, I could not, for the life of me, get the Block connected to our WiFi router. I confirmed our password, attempted to log the Block into our network countless times, moved the Block to within a few feet of our router, put in fresh batteries, reset the device, etc. After all of that, I consulted the MEATER support page and found that Asus routers often have issues with products like the Block using the IoT. The support page suggested turning on an unlocked guest network to see if the Block could connect to that…sadly that was a failure as well. Plus I purchased the Asus router specifically because it was more secure and really did not want to punch holes in that security just to get the Block connected. To confirm I didn’t get a bad review unit or that I was doing something wrong, I connected the Block to several other routers and all of them connected quickly and easily, just as expected.

Performance

Well, this setback forced me to dive deeper into the MEATER Block’s standalone mode. The standalone mode allows you to use the Block when there is no WiFi or smart device connection. The Block communicates with all four of its probes via Bluetooth and the tiny screen displays the cooking status of up to all four pieces of meat.

The black control panel with its tiny OLED screen enables you to program each of the probe’s cooking profile just like the MEATER app on your smartphone. You select the type of meat (beef, chicken, pork, etc), cut of meat (filet, prime rib, loin, etc), and doneness (rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, well) and the built-in MEATER database leads you thru the cooking process, similar to the App. That said, while the built-in interface works well enough and is a great backup plan, the App is easier, quicker, and more intuitive to use.

Like the App, the Block’s screen shows a status bar/doneness graphic while on the grill, when to remove/rest the meat, and when the meal is ready to eat. I set one probe to rare, medium-rare, and the third for medium. the latter two turned out perfectly but the rare one was a bit over done.

What I like

• Well made and thought out design
• Monitors four (4) pieces of meat @one time
• Truly wireless
• Excellent range (improvement over the original)
• Water resistant, dust-proof, easy to clean
• Built-in dual sensors
• Excellent app/ecosystem/standalone mode

What I’d change

• Won’t connect to my router/limits functionality

Final thoughts

Even with the struggles and very frustrating time I had trying to get the MEATER Block fully operational, this well done, wireless multi-probe thermometer system came through. The MEATER ecosystem is excellent and I wish I could have gotten it working. But I am glad I was able to try out the standalone mode as a backup since I have used the App quite a bit over the past 18 months. Just bad luck that I recently purchased a router that does not play nicely with the Block. Overall, I would still recommend MEATER products and ecosystem to those wanting to take the stress out of cooking and grilling. The Block is a nice upgrade/enhancement in the MEATER lineup, enabling you to monitor multiple pieces of meat vs just tracking one and guessing on the rest.

Price: $269
Where to buy: The BLOCK is available directly from Meater.com and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by MEATER.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Cooking, Food, Grilling

MEATER Block wireless meat thermometer review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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REVIEW – Take your charcoal grill on the road! This week we’re checking out the Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill, It’s a lightweight & portable design made for transporting to the campsite, the beach, or the park. How does it hold up to the testing? To the review!

What is it?

It’s an open-styule portable charcoal grill.

What’s in the box?

You’ll get the grill with a full-length charcoal basket, 2 grill grates, 1 griddle plate, 2 removable side baskets, and 4 detachable legs.

Hardware specs

• Dual vent design
• 14.65 pounds
• 31.6” by 12.6” by 27” tall fully assembled

Design and features

The Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill is a lightweight portable cooker. Weighing in at just under 15 pounds with detachable legs, the 31.6″ by 12.6″ by 6″ footprint (with the legs removed) is very packing friendly. You con’t find any assembly instructions, but you won’t need them. There are 10 total parts to the unit. You have 4 legs that use spring-tabs to pop into the leg brackets on each corner of the fire box:

A pair of wire side baskets hook into each side of the grill: 

Drop the aluminum charcoal tray into the fire box, and add your grill grates and/or griddle tray, and you’re in business. With about 2 minutes of work you’ll have almost 400 square inches of cooking area to work with. I’m estimating that to handle 8-10 burger patties, 8 decent sized boneless chicken breasts, or a whole heap of hot dogs.

There are some quality issues that come with grills on the cheaper end of the scale, and you’ll find them here. The shot below is from the underside of the firebox, which has a two-part floor. See how the two floor components don’t line up? It doesn’t impact performance, but it’s a bad bit of quality control.

Here’s another weird bit. The charcoal tray was covered with a blue film to protect it during shipping. It looks like that film was put on before finishing the seams of the tray, so you can’t completely peel it off. I got most of it with a knife, but had to burn the rest off before the first cook.

Despite those issues, it looks like a fairly solid camp grill. Let’s fire it up and see what happens!

Performance

So we moved the grill down to the patio to get cooking. Even though it’s a lightweight build, it’s surprisingly stable when set up. Those legs brackets with the spring post locking mechanisms are tight, and the legs are splayed slightly to add a bit of extra stability. Rubber feet on the bottom of the legs provide a bit of extra grip, too. I wouldn’t want the kiddos or pets running around it, but it’s stable enough for safe use on unstable surfaces like grass, sand & dirt.

The side baskets are useful for holding your assorted accessories, and the inclusion of two baskets is a nice touch. I really like that there are 6 hooks (3 on each side) for hanging tools and gloves.

We fired up a chimney of lump charcoal for purposes of our test. For those that don’t know, lump charcoal burns hotter and faster than composite briquettes. Our chimney gave us a thin layer of charcoal across the length of the fire basket.

For this cook we’re using the griddle to saute up some green beans & peppers marinated in olive oil, melted butter, and garlic. The griddle is firmly nestled in the firebox, so it’s not prone to slipping around during use. It’s also got a nice thickness to it, so it distributes the heat evenly. Note that the griddle does have ridges, so it’s not ideal for frying eggs or pancakes.

We grilled some chicken breasts dry-rubbed with a blackening spice on direct heat using the grill grates. The grill grates are aluminum, and typical of what you see in lower cost grills with respect to thickness. I think they’ll hold up just fine with proper care. They don’t lock in tightly like the griddle does, however, so you’ll want to be careful moving your food around, or the grill grate could slide on you a bit. I’d probably want to figure out a modification to fix this for long-term safety.

We finished things off with some toasted garlic bread over the coals, switching out the griddle for the other grill grate.

Here’s the finished product. While I only used one chimney of charcoal, the grill has nice venting on the sides to help maintain heat. The griddle side was plenty hot enough to provide a steady saute for 15-20 minutes to let the beans cook through without burning. We got good grill marks on the chicken on a relatively slow cook as well.

Once cooking was done, we took a look at how the grill held up. Cleaning is a problem because that two-piece bottom creates a big seam down the middle. I was able to get to a lot of it with my brush, but there’s no port to catch ashes. You’ll need to turn it over to get all the corners cleaned. The lack of a trap for collected grease (like what you’ll find when you do burgers) is also an issue. If the coals don’t catch it, it will be difficult to clean.

The charcoal insert is showing some discoloration after one grill session, but held up pretty good to one chimney of coals.

And the griddle held up surprisingly well. Not a burn mark or discoloration to be found.

Overall I am pretty happy with the Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill as a light duty, occasional use grill. If you’re looking for something you can toss in the car for a weekend adventure I think you’ll find this be a great solution. But we do need to talk about the fact that it’s not designed for heavy use.

All of the materials in the build are relatively thin, and there’s no buffer between the charcoal chamber and the sidewalls. I’ve seen some reviews pointing to the paint on the firebox flaking off, as well as corrosion and warping. One particular review reported an incident where the leg brackets actually melted. Given their positioning next to the side vents, I could absolutely see this happening if you completely loaded the firebox end-to-end with charcoal. That would also make the side baskets unusable as well due to the intense heat.

It’s a light-duty cooker, and won’t take the intense heat. If you fill the thing with coals soaked with lighter fluid, you’ll kill it pretty quickly (you’re not using lighter fluid to light your grill anyway, right?). But if you’re putting a chimney or two in there and loading your coals with space for the vents, I think it will last a couple of seasons with care.

What I like

• Easy to assemble
• Stable
• Nice baskets & hooks for accessories
• Good for light duty use

What I’d change

• Construction quality has some flaws
• Grill grates can slide around a bit
• Difficult to clean ashes & grease out of the firebox without a trap
• Lightweight design will not hold up to heavy heat or extended use

Final thoughts

For an occasional use outdoor grill, the Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill is a fine solution. It’s got decent cooking area, and some nice features with side baskets and hooks that benefit you when you’re at a location where table space is at a premium. The legs are well planted and stable for use on rough surfaces, too. Just keep in mind that the construction is lightweight and not designed for high heat or regular use like a backyard grill.

Price: $65.99
Where to buy: But it on Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Uten.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Cooking, Food, Grilling

Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 11, 2019 at 1:28 pm.

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