Yummly Smart Thermometer Review and Rundown!

Wireless pit thermometers have been around for a while in lots of different form factors. From wireless rf style thermometer setups with dedicated receivers to Bluetooth and wifi models that allow you the ability to monitor your pit from your phone or tablet anywhere in your home. The thing all these pit thermometers have in common is that they may be able to be monitored wirelessly, but they all have a wired hub of some sort that needs to be at the smoking or grilling location.

The true holy grail of thermometer tech in my opinion would be the ability to monitor my barbecue wirelessly from my phone from anywhere in my yard or house without a bulky thermometer setup. A sleek, single probe that could transmit the current temperature of my Q while it's sitting in the smoker is the dream, and in a lot of ways, the Yummly Smart Thermometer is well on its way to making it a reality.

While there is still a ways to go before we have a wireless thermometer probe that can spend 8-12 hours in the pit and continuously provide up-to-the-minute temperature info, the Yummly Smart Thermometer is a good start. If you're looking for a new type of wireless temperature monitoring and you don't mind a slightly lower battery life, the Yummly Smart thermometer will help you produce more consistent, high-quality barbecue.

Yummly Completely Wireless Thermometer Review.

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What we liked

• Sleek design
• Charges quickly
• Great battery life
• Measures internal and ambient temperatures simultaneously

What we didn't like.

• Wireless range isn't great
• The probe diameter is quite large
• Only measures internal meat temperatures up to 210°f

Look and feel.

I've had the privilege to test and review a lot of different pit thermometers, but the Yummly Smart Thermometer is one of the first thermometer probes that felt like a departure from traditional thermometer designs.

While barbecue/pit thermometers vary in function and form, they all retain some similarities across different models and brands. Yummly has very little competition when it comes to design, and the only other meat thermometers I'm familiar with that resemble this model would be the Meater or the Meatstick.

Out of the box, I was very impressed with the packaging and overall feel of this thermometer. The probe itself is quite short at only 6.5 inches, it has a stainless steel finish and a hard black plastic top piece that houses the ambient temperature probe as well as the Bluetooth transmitter.

The charging base comes in white or black and has a clear plastic top that helps secure the probe within. On the back of the charging base/thermometer case, you'll find the battery compartment that houses the two AAA batteries as well as a convenient thermometer handle that allows you to easily insert or remove the probe when hot.

At the top of the base, you'll find two indicator lights and a singular button that is used to pair the thermometer with your phone or tablet. While the probe is a fully wireless tool, the base acts as the Bluetooth transmitter and needs to stay close to the probe during operation.

Compared to most pit thermometers, the Yummly Smart Thermometer is definitely pretty spare in the accessories or cables department and that is definitely the point. This is a sleek and compact alternative to traditional pit setups and it was refreshing to see a new take on a very crowded field of in-oven thermometers.

Features:

• Cooking temperature range
• Maximum internal temperature: 210° Fahrenheit (99° Celsius)
• Maximum ambient temperature: 572° Fahrenheit (300° Celsius)
• Rechargeable internal battery with up to 25 continuous hours of cooking
• Water-resistant probe thermometer IPX4 rated (resistant to water splashes from any direction)
• Bluetooth wireless connected

Using the Yummly Thermometer.

Once I unpacked the Yummly Smart Thermometer I popped the batteries into the thermometer base and allowed the probe to charge for an hour. While the probe was charging I got my smoker lit and started to prepare my testing materials.

For this testing session, I decided to smoke up some beef Culotte, a cut from the top round that has a nice thick fat cab and a rich grain similar to tri-tip. You can cook Culotte one of two ways, you can either reverse sear it and rest it to a nice medium and then slice against the grain for a great steak/roast, or you can smoke it to just over 200°f for a brisket style experience.

This particular day I was in the mood for some melt-in-your-mouth barbecue, so my plan was to cook the Coulotte at 275°f for 4-5 hours for a super speedy brisket-style culotte extravaganza.

Once the pit was ready and my Culotte had been rubbed and slathered, I popped them into the smoker and worked on getting my Yummly Probe connected to my Yummly app. Once the thermometer was connected the firmware in the probe needed to update which took another minute or so.

After I was sure that the probe was fully connected to my phone, I placed the thermometer base next to my smoker and opened the pit to insert the probe into one of the two Culottes I was smoking.

The probe is quite thick, much thicker than most pit thermometers or instant-read probes, and it punched a sizeable hole in my Culotte, it's not a deal-breaker but it was a little annoying. Once the probe was secure, I closed up the smoker and started to monitor the app.

Through the Yummly app, you can adjust cooking settings and create custom programs that inform you when your temperatures fall or rise above specific levels. One immediate frustration was with the temperature settings for the internal temperature reading/preferred doneness setting.

While most grilling temperatures don't need to go above 200°f barbecue often needs to hit 206°f and above before it's ready. Sadly the Yummly app/thermometer tops out at 210°F which means you'll have to guestimate the finishing point for any larger barbecue or cooking projects you intend to take beyond the 210°F range.

One thing I noticed off the bat, was how long it took for the Yummly meat thermometer to finally reach a stabilized temperature reading. Maybe it's because of the thickness of the probe, or maybe it's just not a super-sensitive thermocouple, but it took 30 seconds or so for the thermometer to stabilize.

Once the temperature stabilized fully it was easy to monitor both the ambient grill temperature and the temperature of my Culottes as long as I was close to my smoker. Though the range on this thermometer is fairly large, it's not as doesn't reach quite as far as my regular pit thermometer setup. That being said, as long as I was in my backyard and within eyesight of my smoker, I was able to track the temperature. I only started to have issues when I went inside or upstairs.

Over the course of the 5-hour smoking session, I never once ran out of battery and as long as I was in the range of the thermometer base I was able to monitor my barbecue's progress through the Yummly app. I was seriously impressed with the battery life given how small the probe is and how quickly it charges. Of the few completely wireless meat thermometer probes I've seen, the Yummly definitely has the best battery life

The estimated cooking time function within the Yummly app was incredibly convenient. It compares the ambient cooking temperature, the rate of temperature increase over the course of your smoking or cooking session, as well as the desired internal temperature and then provides an up to the minute estimate for the remaining cook time. While things like the stall or opening your pit to check the barbecue may change this estimate over the course of your cook, it's a convenient feature for timing your finishing point.

Once I was happy with the internal temperature of my Culottes I used the thermometer handle located in the bottom of the thermometer base/receiver to remove the hot thermometer probe from the meat. I gave the thermometer a wipe with a damp rag and returned it to the thermometer base to charge until my next smoking session.

Is the Yummly Wireless Meat Thermometer right for you?

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Using the Yummly Smart Thermometer was a lot of fun, and though it isn't perfect, it's pretty close to the gold standard for a completely wireless thermometer probe. The free Yummly app makes it easy to quickly set preset programs as well as temperature ranges to track the progress of your barbecue. That being said this thermometer probably isn't perfect for everyone.

Even though the idea of a completely wireless thermometer probe is attractive to me, I still like the ability to expand to multiple probes as well as the ability to measure temperatures beyond 210°F. If you are planning on doing lots of smoking, or you want the ability to expand into other cooking processes like brewing, candy making, or deep-frying, then the Yummly Smart Thermometer might not be the ideal choice for you.

On the other hand, if you are doing a lot of grilling and the occasional smoking session, or planning on using this probe to keep track of your holiday turkey or roast in your conventional oven, then there really isn't a better option in terms of temperature measurement. With no wires or connections to worry about and a super clean app interface it's incredibly easy to quickly track the progress of your barbecue, grilled meats, or large cooking projects using the Yummly Smart Thermometer.