Thermoworks has finally launched its version of a Wireless Thermometer: The RFX MEAT and RFX GATEWAY and we were honored to be the first to put it to the test.
With so many competitor products on the market like Meater, MeatStick, ProTemp Plus, TempSpike, I've been eagerly waiting to see what Thermoworks would do with this category of food thermometers.
We have now completed 6 different cooks in 5 different cooking appliances, testing the wide variety of capabilities and limits of this wireless thermometer. From charcoal grilling to pizza ovens to sous vide, we've tested it all.
RFX MEAT 101
To start, here are the components:
RFX MEAT Probe
This is the RFX MEAT probe. It's 5.4 mm thick and reduces to 2.8 mm in the tip. The probe is 4.75" long. It has a temperature range from 14 to 212°F (-10 to 100°C). The operating range (meaning the environment temperature of the grill, oven, what have you...) is 0 to 1000°F (-18 to 538°C). Yes, you read that right. This is a wireless thermometer than can operate in high heat environments like pizza ovens and searing stations.
Something completely unique about the RFX Meat is that it has 4 internal sensors in this little probe.
Starting at the tip of the probe there are 4 sensors that all measure internal temperature. While 1 sensor at the tip might be enough for those of us who can nail the perfect center of a steak or brisket every time, 4 sensors allow the RFX Meat to check all 4 sensors for the lowest temperature and report back from the true center, which is what we're all after. I love this about the RFX Meat, and it's a huge selling point for me.
RFX MEAT Charging Block
This is the RFX Meat Charging Block. This functions as the dock for the RFX Meat, and the first thing I want to point out is THERE'S A MAGNET ON THE BACK!
You can hang the dock anywhere a magnet will stick, and it holds solid. We haven't had any issues with it sliding, falling, or dropping on any of the surfaces we've stuck it to.
There are three points of contact from the dock to the probe. The first two are the metal prongs that lock the probe into place, and the third is at the back of the probe where the charging takes place. The dock runs on a single AAA battery and will charge the probe to 80% in just 10 minutes.
Did you just read that? So all those times I wash the probe and leave it on the counter to dry and forget to stick it back in the charger overnight before needing it the next day... I only have to wait TEN MINUTES for it to charge up enough to use it again.
RFX GATEWAY
The RFX GATEWAY is the connection point from the RFX MEAT to the internet, and from there to your mobile device.
It has a removable and foldable antenna, so whether it's sitting on a table or attached to your grill you can always point the antenna up. And yes, I did say attached to your grill because the GATEWAY also has MAGNETS on the back. I love that this whole system is magnetic, since I am prone to leaving things all over the place. I like to be able to stick it and know where it's going to be.
There are two connection ports on the GATEWAY. First is a Thermoworks thermometer Probe port that you can use any of the standard wired probes with. More on that in a minute. The last port is a USB-C power connection for charging. The GATEWAY has an internal battery and can run without power for around 24 hours straight according to the build specifications.
What's Different About the RFX System?
You've seen the new gear, but let's talk about what's different between this and other wireless probes.
Radio Waves
The RFX MEAT uses low-frequency radio waves to transmit. Almost every other probe uses Bluetooth standard, which has a very limited range. Low-frequency radio means two things:
First, the range of the RFX Meat is MUCH higher than what we currently see in probes using Bluetooth.
Second, it also means there's no way for the probe to connect to your mobile device or the internet on its own. The RFX GATEWAY is what gives you the ability to connect your RFX MEAT to your mobile device. Our mobile devices are set up to connect to Bluetooth waves, not the low-frequency band Thermoworks is using, so the GATEWAY is the necessary go-between.
External Ambient Temperature Monitoring
Thermoworks has decided not to include the ambient temperature monitoring on the RFX MEAT probe itself. I was on the Thermoworks campus a few weeks ago and they talked about seeing inaccuracies on competitor probes when it came to ambient temperatures. What they told me is they saw a 20-40 degree difference between the internal oven or grill temperature, and what was being reported.
Thermoworks decided to take that function off the RFX MEAT probe itself and add an air temperature port to the GATEWAY to get that information.
Getting Started with Thermoworks RFX Wireless
In just a second we're going to test the RFX Meat cooking chops, steak, chuck roast, salmon and more, but before we can cook with it, we first need to sync it, and here's how it works.
Once you download the Thermoworks app, the first step is to add the GATEWAY to the app. Just click add device, Select the RFX GATEWAY, turn on the power and watch for the blue light, enter your wifi information and once that light turns from blue to green, you're good to go.
Once you have the RFX GATEWAY synced, getting the RFX MEAT probe connected is as easy as taking the RFX MEAT probe out of the charging block. Once it's out of the Charging block and the RFX GATEWAY is powered on and synced, the RFX MEAT will automatically be added to your account. It's incredibly easy to install these probes.
Cooking With The Thermoworks Wireless Thermometer
Marinated Pork Chops in a Pizza Oven
We've been testing the Ooni Koda 2 Max pizza oven over the past few weeks, and I wanted to test the upper limits of the RFX Meat. We marinated a pork chop in Sati Babi, so we were only running this oven around 450-500° to prevent burning the sugars in the marinade. I inserted the RFX MEAT and put it on the pre-heated Ooni Grizzler plate for a high-heat sear.
Once the chop reached about 100 degrees internally, I flipped it over and put it back in the oven. It took a couple more minutes to get to the final doneness we wanted, and the Thermoworks app gave us the updates we needed to keep it from overcooking. No problems in a 450-degree pizza oven for the RFX MEAT.
Indirect Chicken Thighs in a Kamado
We have the Primo XL kamado installed in our outdoor kitchen, and for dinner we cooked up a package of bone-in chicken thighs. We cooked these indirectly by setting up a fire on the right side of the grill and putting the chicken thighs on the left side with no charcoal underneath. We put the RFX MEAT inside one of the thighs and set the high alarm to 175. We plugged the air temp probe into the GATEWAY and put it on the grate next to the thighs so we could get an accurate grate temperature level, and let the grill run 500-600 degrees. After about a half hour, the chicken was done, and the RFX had no problems with an indirect grilling setup.
Grilled Salmon in a Kamado
For lunch one afternoon, we picked up some Alaskan Salmon to also cook indirect on the Primo XL. Same setup, but this time in some delicate fish. What I like about the RFX MEAT and fish is that I can place the probe horizontally across the filet and let the 4 internal sensors tell me when the middle is done. That's one of the most annoying things about cooking fish for me, and the RFX MEAT probe just made it simple.
Reverse Sear Filet Mignon in a Kamado
Next I wanted to test an indirect cook with a finishing high-heat sear. I grabbed a couple of beef filet steaks from the freezer, thawed them in the sous vide and put the RFX MEAT into the larger of the two steaks. The fire is on the right side of the Primo XL again, and the filets went on the left side of the grill to come up to temperature and pick up a little smoke from the hickory chunks I added to the fire. The high alarm was set to 120 degrees, and after about 20 minutes we were close, so it was time to put the sear on both sides. About a minute on each side gave us the sear, and the RFX MEAT took the direct fire like a champ. No issues here.
Sous Vide Steak with High-Temp Sear
This cook actually tackled two tests in one: can the RFX wireless work while vacuum sealed in a sous vide? And can the RFX MEAT handle a high-heat sear over hot charcoal?
We vacuum-sealed a ribeye steak with the RFX MEAT already inserted in the meat and then dropped it into our sous vide set for 120°F for 2 hours. I set the RFX Wireless to transmit data every 30 seconds to conserve battery life, knowing that this is a slower method of bringing up internal temperature.
Once my Thermoworks app let me know the ribeye had reached 120°F, it was time to sear on our Renaissance Cooking System Charcoal Grill, one of the highest heat grills we own.
Knowing that the internal temperature would move quickly now on this high heat, I changed my settings to get notified every second so that I wouldn't overcook this ribeye. I took the steak off the sear at 130 and let carry over take it the rest of the way.
We got a gorgeous sear, and the intense heat didn't kill the probe, so all good on a high-heat charcoal sear with lump charcoal.
Smoked Chuck Roast in a Pellet Grill
For one of our low and slow cooks I broke out the Weber Searwood and smoked a chuck roast. After letting it smoke for about 6 hours I transferred it to a dutch oven with some beef broth, potatoes and baby carrots. I left the RFX probe in for the roast for the first 6 hours of smoke as well as the last 4 hours of braising. I didn't have any problems with the probe transmitting through a porcelain-coated dutch oven with a lid that was in the Weber Searwood. Low Freqency radio waves for the win here, even submerged in beef broth half of the time.
How Much Does RFX Wireless cost?
There's one more thing to talk about, and that's what we've all been waiting for.... the price. How much is one of these bad boys going to set you back?
The RFX MEAT is currently priced at $89. The RFX GATEWAY is currently priced at $79. You can get a 1 Probe starter kit for $159, which gives you a $9 savings over buying them separately. AND if you're wanting 4 probes, that's where you can really save some money. A 4 probe starter kit is priced at $349 for the bundle.
The important thing to understand is that for the RFX MEAT to work, you have to have a GATEWAY. But once you have a GATEWAY, you can add basically as many MEAT probes as you want and can afford.
Ronald Ulrich
November 5, 2024 8:13 amI had a very difficult time getting the gateway to sync with my iPhone. I finally had to use the systems icon to bring up the status of the gateway. There it had two items: bluetooth and Wifi. I had to select bluetooth first and establish a connection, then move to Wifi and it worked 1st time. Before going through the out of box method was painful. I must have tried 20 times, I don’t give up easy. You could see the blue light blink, as if it were connecting but eventually stopped and the iPhone continued to spin for a very long time until it showed “no connection”. I am very surprised that one has to put the SSID into the setup. Almost all things I have connected have shown a list of possible SSID’s to include close Wifi’s. Setup is not described as I finally connected my gateway. I have not used mine yet but thank you for the process you use.
Ronald Ulrich
November 5, 2024 8:15 amI had a very difficult time getting the gateway to sync with my iPhone. I finally had to use the systems icon to bring up the status of the gateway. There it had two items: bluetooth and Wifi. I had to select bluetooth first and establish a connection, then move to Wifi and it worked 1st time. Before going through the out of box method was painful. I must have tried 20 times, I don’t give up easy. You could see the blue light blink on the gateway, as if it were connecting, but eventually stopped and the iPhone continued to spin for a very long time until it showed “no connection”. I am very surprised that one has to put the SSID into the setup. Almost all things I have connected have shown a list of possible SSID’s to include close Wifi’s. Setup is not described as I finally connected my gateway. I have not used mine yet but thank you for the process you use.