Meater Pro XL Review

Design

• Four individual probes
• USB-C charging
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

If you think that the Meater Pro XL looks familiar, it’s because it’s an updated version of the Meater Block, which we reviewed way back in 2019. Both devices have four individual wireless probes, which plug into the bamboo dock for charging, but the Pro XL has advantages over the original.

First, its dock ditches the four AA batteries, replacing them with a rechargeable battery, topped up via the USB-C port on the back. It’s a smart choice, and makes the Pro XL more convenient to use.

Also updated are the temperature probes. The old Meater Block used the 6mm probes, but the Pro XL uses the newer 5mm probes, which are easier to insert. They also handle higher temperatures: 550°C for the ambient sensor and 105°C for the meat sensor.

While you’ll never want to cook any meat to 105°C, the high ambient temperature means that the Meater Pro XL is safe to use practically anywhere: BBQs, ovens, frying pans and even deep fat fryers.

Features and Performance

• App control
• Standalone mode available
• Good range

Once the dock’s internal battery is charged, it powers the probes, charging them for a cook.

Although the probes are Bluetooth, they use this connection to talk to the dock; the dock can then connect to Wi-Fi. The idea is that you place the dock close to where you’re cooking, and then your phone monitors the cook from wherever you are.

It’s useful not having to be within Bluetooth range of the probes, particularly for a longer cook, such as smoked food.

Each of the probes has a number etched on its end (one to four), so you know which is which. That works alright at the point you’re holding the probes, but once they’re inserted in food and there’s smoke from a BBQ around, you can’t see the numbers. It’s worth being thoughtful about how you place the numbers, so you know which probe is which while cooking.

That’s because when a probe is removed from the dock, the app only knows it by a number. Similar to the Meater 2 Plus, the app walked me through setting up a cook: I had to pick the type of food, such as chicken thighs), the type of cooking (charcoal grill in my case), and then the target temperature.

For the latter, you should stick with the recommended target temperature for pork and chicken, but you get flexibility where it’s available, such as for choosing how well done you want a steak.

There’s a neat diagram showing how to insert the probes into meat, far enough in to cover all of the lines. Due to the depth of the probe, this can be tricky on some food types. For example, a chicken thigh or bit of steak is easy, as there’s a lot of surrounding meat; if you’re dealing with chicken kebabs, it can be a bit fiddly to get the probe through enough chicken, without pointing the tip out along the way.

Once done, repeat for any additional probes, and you’re ready to start cooking.

The beauty of the Meater system with multiple probes is that you can monitor different food types at the same time, so each one gets removed at the right time. And, without a cable in sight, food is much easier to turn and move around than, say, with the Ninja Woodfire Pro Connect XL Electric BBQ Grill & Smoker OG901UK.

It’s easy to keep track of the cook via the app, which starts by calculating the estimated cooking time. This can take up to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the food you’re cooking, and the heat source.

Having this cooking time is a useful indicator, particularly if you want to time sides to finish cooking at the same time.

The app then continues to monitor the cook. After getting used to the Meater 2 Plus, which is Bluetooth only, I was impressed by the Meater Pro XL’s Wi-Fi connection, as it made it easier to monitor a cook from anywhere, and I didn’t need to be physically near the probe.

Range is pretty good, but with the BBQ at the end of the garden, I did have to move the base station from the kitchen to outside to maintain the Bluetooth connection to the probes.

Rather than cooking meat right up to the target temperature, the Meater Pro XL calculates an early removal time, understanding that meat will continue to rise in temperature after the heat source has gone.

Cooking chicken thighs on a BBQ was a little nerve-wracking, as taking chicken away before it’s cooked doesn’t feel like a good idea; however, shortly after, the probe clarified that the food was cooked.

At this point, the probe can be left in the food, while the app monitors resting time. Once the notification comes through, the food is ready to go.

It’s all very impressive. All too often food can be dried out when cooked on a BBQ, but the Meater Pro XL helped me get to the exact cooked temperature, leaving my food perfectly cooked and still quite moist.

Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours per probe, so they’ll easily handle long cooks, such as smoking ribs on the Traeger Woodridge.

As well as the app mode, there’s a standalone mode, which works offline. Using the small, but responsive touch controls, I could set a probe to a specific target temperature (the same choices of meat type are available as in the app), and then get cooking.

This mode works well, but it’s a little more basic than using the app. For example, the screen shows a progress bar to give an idea of how far through the cook is, but you don’t get a time in minutes. I could use the cursor keys to move through the options to view the internal and ambient temperatures, which is quite useful.

At the end of a cook, the main unit beeps loudly to say it’s ready, and then follows up with a resting timer.

Standalone mode is a nice addition to have, if you happen to go somewhere else without Wi-Fi, such as having a beach BBQ, but I would stick with the app for the widest range of features. 

Should you buy it?