This Smart Meat Thermometer Is the Secret to My Dad’s World-Famous Steaks

My dad is an excellent cook. But if there’s one thing he’s famous for, it’s his steak. He doesn’t butter-baste, he doesn’t marinate, he keeps things simple. They are always the same: New York strip, purchased from Costco, lightly salted and peppered, and thrown on the grill. Served medium-rare, there’s something in the simplicity of it: I’ve tried to replicate it at home and can’t come close. 

In order to achieve a perfect medium-rare, my dad would stand by the grill, poking his steaks with an instant-read thermometer every few minutes. But recently, he added a new tool to his technique. It’s a Food & Wine Fave, and in my opinion, it’s the epitome of a dad-gadget: a Bluetooth meat thermometer. 

To buy: Meater Plus, $100 at amazon.com

The Meater Plus is a little metal probe you can insert into proteins of any kind, and it connects to your phone via an app. In order to start cooking, insert the metal probe into your protein, and select the type you’re cooking. You can choose between options like rib-eye, filet mignon, flank, and of course, New York strip, but can also select other proteins like chicken, turkey, and more. Once selected, the app will prompt you to select how well you want it cooked, and tap start. 

Once inside on the grill (or in a pan), the Meater will start a countdown, showing you how much longer you have left to cook it. It produces cool visuals, like line graphs of the ambient temperature and internal temperature (a feature my scientist-father loves), and because it has a 165-foot wireless range, my dad can sit in his office, looking at other graphs for work while his steaks cook to perfection. 

Best of all, the Meater sends you notifications when it’s time to take your steak off the heat, and then sets a new timer for how long you should let it rest for. In addition to all of this fancy technology, it's easy to clean by just running under the sink with warm water and soap. And it comes with a wooden holder that is magnetic, perfect for storing on the fridge, and even charges the Meater when it’s not in use. 

My dad uses it for everything at this point. From beer-can chicken to lamb chops to Thanksgiving turkey, there is rarely a time he cooks without it. And his food has never tasted better, and according to him, it’s never been so easy to cook dinner, either.

If you want to level up your steak-game at home, add the Meater Plus to your kitchen today. For just $100 on Amazon, it’ll make each steak you cook taste like one you’d get at a restaurant. 

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