There is a specific anxiety to a holiday turkey or a reverse-seared steak: the oven door opening every fifteen minutes, instant-read probe leaving puncture wounds, carryover heat guessed from experience that fails when the roast is bigger than last time. Wired thermometers help — until the cable ...
There is a specific anxiety to a holiday turkey or a reverse-seared steak: the oven door opening every fifteen minutes, instant-read probe leaving puncture wounds, carryover heat guessed from experience that fails when the roast is bigger than last time. Wired thermometers help — until the cable catches the grill lid or melts near the coals. Wireless probes promised liberation. Early ones dropped signal constantly and cooked unevenly from bulky tips.
The MEATER Plus is the probe that largely delivered on the promise for home cooks. A single stainless probe measures internal meat temperature at the tip and ambient heat near the handle — data that matters in smokers and ovens alike. Bluetooth relays to your phone through a charging dock with extended range. The app estimates cook time and alerts you before dinner crosses from perfect to plywood. It is not flawless. For many Canadian backyard cooks and Sunday roast makers, it is still the easiest way to stop guessing.
The snapshot
| MEATER Plus | |
|---|---|
| What it is | Wireless Bluetooth meat probe with dual temperature sensors |
| Range | Up to ~165 ft via charging dock relay (real-world varies) |
| Sensors | Internal tip + ambient near handle — critical for smokers and ovens |
| App | Cook guides, rest timers, finish-time estimates, alerts |
| Charging | Bamboo dock with AAA battery; probe charges when stored |
| Probe size | Thicker than wired probes — needs ~5 cm (2 in) insertion depth |
| Real price (CAD) | ~$96–120 on Amazon.ca (list ~$150; frequent ~20% sales) |
What buyers on Amazon are saying
The MEATER Plus holds 4.5 stars on Amazon.ca with over forty-five thousand ratings — enormous volume for a cooking gadget. Amazon’s review summary and long-form Canadian reviews tell a consistent story with one loud caveat.
Cooking results and ease of use lead the positives. Reviewers describe perfect medium-rare steaks, finally confident turkeys, and rotisserie chicken without opening the lid every ten minutes. The app guides — select protein, insert probe, follow alerts — earn praise from experienced cooks and nervous beginners alike. “Best roast I ever made” appears across prime rib, pork shoulder, and salmon mentions.
Accuracy when connected gets strong marks. Internal readings match instant-read verification in most happy reviews; ambient sensor helps identify hot and cold zones in BBQs and ovens — a feature wired single-sensor probes lack.
Build and giftability matter too. The magnetic bamboo case charges the probe and sticks to a fridge — a thoughtful package for Father’s Day and housewarming gifts that actually get used.
The friction is equally well documented:
- Bluetooth connectivity — The largest negative cluster. Metal grill lids, oven walls, and distance drop signal. Many satisfied owners leave a phone or tablet near the grill as a relay; many frustrated owners expected 165 ft through a closed smoker and got silence. This is physics and Bluetooth, not always defect.
- Probe thickness — Too fat for thin chicken breasts, wings, or fish fillets in some cooks’ experience. Works best on roasts, thick steaks, turkeys, and pork shoulders with adequate mass.
- Reliability over years — Most long-term reviews stay positive; a minority report probe failure after a year or chronic disconnects that warranty swaps did not fix. MEATER support replacements appear in both success and failure stories.
- Price — At roughly $120 CAD on sale or $150 list, it costs more than wired two-probe setups. Believers say worth it; sceptics prefer ThermoPro or wired instant-read simplicity.
Honest shape of opinion: cooks who set up a relay device and cook roasts thick enough for the probe tend to love it; cooks who expected set-and-forget monitoring through closed metal from inside the house sometimes return it.
What it's actually trying to do
Perfect doneness is a moving target. Meat continues cooking after it leaves heat — carryover matters. Ovens spike and drop. Grill zones differ by centimetres. A single instant read at one moment misses the curve.
MEATER’s probe stays embedded, sampling continuously. Internal tip tracks food; handle end tracks ambient — the air your roast actually experiences. The app maps both against target curves and predicts finish time, accounting for rest. That prediction is imperfect but beats opening the smoker and losing heat every check.
Wireless matters most where wires fail: rotisserie, kettle BBQ, crowded oven. One probe, no cable snagging.
Dual sensors — why ambient temperature is not a gimmick
Smoker users care deeply about ambient readings — stall detection, fire management, hot spots. Oven users learn whether their “350°F” dial lies. A probe that only measures meat tells you when you are done; ambient tells you why you are behind schedule.
Canadian BBQ season is short; wasted hours on a stalled brisket hurt. Ambient logging justifies part of the premium for serious outdoor cooks.
Range, relays, and the closed-lid problem
Bluetooth struggles through metal and water vapour. MEATER’s charging block acts as a repeater — place it near the cooker with line-of-sight to your phone. Many Amazon.ca reviewers keep an old tablet on the patio as a dedicated hub.
Expect reliable monitoring nearby — on the deck, in the kitchen with the door open. Expect intermittent monitoring through walls and closed smoker lids unless you add MEATER’s Wi-Fi block or a relay device. The 165 ft claim is laboratory-adjacent; backyard reality is shorter.
Probe size and insertion depth
The MEATER Plus probe is wider than a wired thermocouple. It needs roughly two inches of meat depth for the sensors to sit correctly — fine for turkey breast away from bone, thick striploin, pork butt. Tricky for skinny cuts.
Workarounds exist — angle into thick sections, choose different cuts — but wing night is not this probe’s strength. Keep an instant-read for verification and thin proteins.
What it gets genuinely right
- Wire-free rotisserie and kettle BBQ — the use case that still feels magical years later.
- Guided app cooks — lowers anxiety on turkey and prime rib without culinary school.
- Dual temperature story — ambient plus internal in one device.
- Elegant charging case — magnetic bamboo dock that actually gets used.
- Rest timer integration — reminds you carryover is part of doneness.
- Strong accuracy when connected — matches verification probes in most owner tests.
Who should buy it — and who really shouldn't
This is your thermometer if you're:
- Smoking or roasting large cuts where opening the lid hurts results
- Running a rotisserie and tired of cable tangles
- Cooking turkey, prime rib, or thick steaks a few times a year and wanting confidence
- Willing to keep a phone or tablet near the cooker as a Bluetooth relay
Walk away if you're:
- Mostly grilling thin chicken, wings, or fish — probe geometry fights you
- Expecting flawless Bluetooth through closed metal from across the house — wrong tool without Wi-Fi block
- On a tight budget — a good wired probe and instant-read combo costs half as much
- Unwilling to charge the probe before cooks — dead battery first use frustrates
The decision, in three honest questions
- Do I cook roasts, smokers, or rotisserie often enough to value continuous monitoring? If yes, MEATER earns its keep. If you mostly pan-sear thin cuts, simpler tools fit.
- Can I place a relay device near the grill or oven? If yes, connectivity complaints drop sharply. If you need remote monitoring from blocks away through walls, consider MEATER Block with Wi-Fi or competitors with stronger radio.
- Will I still verify with instant-read the first few cooks? If yes, you will calibrate trust and catch insertion errors. If you expect perfection day one without learning insertion depth, frustration follows.
A few questions worth answering
How far does Bluetooth really reach?
With the dock relay and line-of-sight, many owners monitor from inside the house with the patio door open. Closed metal lids and walls shorten range sharply — plan a nearby relay device.
Can it stay in the meat the whole cook?
Yes — that is the design. Do not use it above rated heat limits; follow app guidance for maximum ambient temperatures by cook type.
Does it work through foil?
Poorly — foil shields Bluetooth. Avoid wrapping the probe or block.
MEATER Plus versus MEATER Block?
Plus is single-probe Bluetooth with dock relay. Block adds Wi-Fi and multiple probes for serious multi-meat cooks — higher price, better remote monitoring.
What does it cost in Canada?
Budget $96–120 CAD on sale (often ~20% off list); list price near $149.95. Sales cluster around holidays — verify Amazon.ca before buying.
Looking for buyer guides that tell you the trade-offs, not just the highlights? More honest, Canadian-focused gadget coverage lives at celmin.ca.
Discussion
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