Rib Roast on the Rotisserie

[tony b]

Plan is for a tri-tip tomorrow. It won't be on the rotisserie, just a standard reverse sear with the split basket for 2 zone. Will report back on how well the Meater worked.

[tony b]

@Gnomatic - had just about given up hope, but the last several updates sounded like a light at the end of the tunnel, so I got enthusiastic again. Even more so now that I have it in my hands! 

[Bruce Pearson]

Looking forward to your report if it's a good report I'm going to order one for myself

[tony b]

Well, after the 1st use of the Meater, I'd have to say that it met my expectations. Was easy to set up the cook. Was fun to watch the displays (there's even a time vs temp graph display). The meat thermometer end tracked along with my Thermopen, so it's pretty accurate. Unfortunately, I forgot to hook up my Maverick along side it to see how well the "ambient temperature" probe (on the opposite end) tracked. It was reading 325F at equilibrium, and I had the dome thermometer reading 375F. Makes sense, as the meat was on the "cool side" of the basket splitter. The one thing - the ambient temperature reading is very slow. While it finally reached equilibrium, it took quite a while to do so - like 15 minutes (but, the KK wasn't heat soaked, so it might have still been coming up to temp, as well for part of that time.) That was also true of the "Time Remaining" display. It took maybe 5 minutes after starting to begin to give an actual time (probably due to the algorithm that they use to do the calculation.) On most cooks where you would use the Meater, these time delays shouldn't be an issue. And, to be on the safe side, I pulled the Meater probe out of the tri-tip before I put in on the direct (hot) side of the grill to reverse sear, as I dropped down to the lower grate for that part of the cook. 

Like I said before, the jury is still out on a final verdict until I get a few more cooks under my belt with it to see how reliable it is under different conditions, like direct heat in a rotisserie cook. I also need to use it in a very long cook (10+ hours) to see how well the Meater stays charged. Would hate to have it peter out before the end of a brisket or pork butt cook. Per the instructions, it takes about 3 hours to fully recharge, so that could be a major flaw if it doesn't last long enough. One would think the designers would have thought of that and made sure the battery they chose would do the job. We'll see.

[Keith B]

48 minutes ago, tony b said:

Well, after the 1st use of the Meater, I'd have to say that it met my expectations. Was easy to set up the cook. Was fun to watch the displays (there's even a time vs temp graph display). The meat thermometer end tracked along with my Thermopen, so it's pretty accurate. Unfortunately, I forgot to hook up my Maverick along side it to see how well the "ambient temperature" probe (on the opposite end) tracked. It was reading 325F at equilibrium, and I had the dome thermometer reading 375F. Makes sense, as the meat was on the "cool side" of the basket splitter. The one thing - the ambient temperature reading is very slow. While it finally reached equilibrium, it took quite a while to do so - like 15 minutes (but, the KK wasn't heat soaked, so it might have still been coming up to temp, as well for part of that time.) That was also true of the "Time Remaining" display. It took maybe 5 minutes after starting to begin to give an actual time (probably due to the algorithm that they use to do the calculation.) On most cooks where you would use the Meater, these time delays shouldn't be an issue. And, to be on the safe side, I pulled the Meater probe out of the tri-tip before I put in on the direct (hot) side of the grill to reverse sear, as I dropped down to the lower grate for that part of the cook. 

Like I said before, the jury is still out on a final verdict until I get a few more cooks under my belt with it to see how reliable it is under different conditions, like direct heat in a rotisserie cook. I also need to use it in a very long cook (10+ hours) to see how well the Meater stays charged. Would hate to have it peter out before the end of a brisket or pork butt cook. Per the instructions, it takes about 3 hours to fully recharge, so that could be a major flaw if it doesn't last long enough. One would think the designers would have thought of that and made sure the battery they chose would do the job. We'll see.

This is good news.  I ordered the Meater block back in January 2016.  I know the block has been delayed but it is good to get a report from somebody here who has received the probe.  Thanks for the review, Tony.  I look forward to hearing your experiences as you get more cooks with the Meater probe.

[Bruce Pearson]

Thanks for the meater  critique looks like there's one in my future.

 

[Keith OctoForks]

I know a lot of people that was thinking this was a fake and never materialize.   Now that myth is busted things should get interesting!    

Edited June 9, 2017 by Keith OctoForks

[tony b]

Did the second cook last night with the MEATER. Bacon wrapped boneless beef ribs on the OctoForks. While the MEATER did a good job on the meat, the ambient temperature (and corresponding cooking time) were all over the map. The KK dome temperature was 300F and the MEATER ambient temperature reading was coming up slowly like before. Then, all of a sudden it turned over and started going down, a lot (70F)  - HUH???  So, I went out to check on it and everything seemed OK. My first thought was - DAMN, the thing has burned out already!!! The ambient end of the probe was sticking out of the end of one rib (inserted long ways to ensure minimum depth - the probe has a scored line and the probe needs to be inserted to at least that depth), which put it near the coals on each rotation (i.e., pointed straight down at the basket). Then, all of a sudden, the temperature reading started increasing again and finally reached near the KK thermometer. I was baffled, but let the cook go on, as the meat temperature was behaving normally and that's what really mattered. Well, when I took the Fork off at the end of the cook and brought it inside and pulled the MEATER probe out of the rib, I could see what had happened. The bacon had dripped fat onto that end of the probe and coated it. There was a black crust all over the end of the probe. I guess what happened was that initially it acted like insulation, causing the reading to drop. Then, once the bacon rendered out and the fat burned off the end of the probe, the reading started going up again. Interesting for sure! Now, I just have to figure out what the next "test cook" will be??

[Keith OctoForks]

On 6/5/2017 at 10:49 AM, tony b said:

 

Like I said before, the jury is still out on a final verdict until I get a few more cooks under my belt with it to see how reliable it is under different conditions, like direct heat in a rotisserie cook. I also need to use it in a very long cook (10+ hours) to see how well the Meater stays charged. Would hate to have it peter out before the end of a brisket or pork butt cook. Per the instructions, it takes about 3 hours to fully recharge, so that could be a major flaw if it doesn't last long enough. One would think the designers would have thought of that and made sure the battery they chose would do the job. We'll see.

I'm sure you would but I'd be cautious on where to put the  probe on a rotisserie cook.  I'd hate to see the probe work loose and fall into the fire.   I'm probably being paranoid but better safe than sorry.    How much of the probe can go into the meat?

[tony b]

On this cook, it was inserted past the minimum mark - probably close to 3 inches. I had to tug pretty good on it to get it out at the end of the cook and it was a chore inserting it at the beginning, so I wasn't worried about it coming out! 

[Keith OctoForks]

12 minutes ago, tony b said:

On this cook, it was inserted past the minimum mark - probably close to 3 inches. I had to tug pretty good on it to get it out at the end of the cook and it was a chore inserting it at the beginning, so I wasn't worried about it coming out! 

Awesome!    With regards to the battery I wonder if it's replaceable?  

[tony b]

Probably not. It's a sealed unit. 

[Keith OctoForks]

34 minutes ago, tony b said:

Probably not. It's a sealed unit. 

Too bad.  I'd assume it could be made with an O-ring and twist n seal.      Did you say you checked distance yet?

Edited June 9, 2017 by Keith OctoForks

[Aussie Ora]

Awesome tony 2 years wait wow I would have forgot I order it lol

Outback Kamado Bar and Grill

[tony b]

On 6/9/2017 at 6:47 PM, Keith OctoForks said:

Did you say you checked distance yet?

Not as an actual "test," but i moved my phone, which was running the app, from the kitchen counter (within 6 ft of the KK) to the living room about 15 ft from the KK, and I lost the signal. So, I had to move the phone back to where it was. It sync'ed itself right back up. Was a good spot for it anyway, as that's where the phone charger is plugged in, so I just left it there to recharge.

They say if you want more distance, you need the Block version (which isn't in production yet), or to otherwise connect it to WiFi, using an old phone (don't ask me how to do that - I maybe an Engineer, but I'm computer hardware stupid - not my field at all!)

[Bruce Pearson]

Tony do you recommend this product? It would be nice to not have wire cables hanging out all over the place.

[tony b]

@Bruce Pearson - jury is still out before I unconditionally endorse this gadget. But, so far, it's done a respectable job. The reason that I jumped on this in the Kickstarter was the fact that you could use it with the rotisserie because of no wires to get wound up. 

[Bruce Pearson]

Yeah Tony I like that idea too thanks for the info.

[Bruce Pearson]

Tony I just ordered a meager and according to them it should ship out at the end of August. Looking forward to trying it out.

[Gnomatic]

@Bruce Pearson very nice!  By the sounds of it you'll get your meater before I'll get my block.