I tested the Cosori meat thermometer for a week, and I barely made it out alive

When it comes to meat, there are no shortcuts to check that the protein has reached the correct temperature. Whether you prefer your red meat well done or rare, serving up protein at a safe temperature is paramount.

Even though you might feel confident to judge when the meat is properly cooked yourself, you can never be too sure. That’s why we always recommend using one of the best meat thermometers to check when your protein is ready.

I recently tested the Meater Pro XL, which is based on using a probe that constantly sits within the meat, with the temperature readings given either on the standalone unit or within an app. This is quite different from the Thermapen One by ThermoWorks, which requires more hands-on work. But now I’ve moved on to testing the Cosori smart meat thermometer, which works similarly to the Meater Pro XL and the recently launched Ninja ProChef Wireless Thermometer, although it can only be used through an app in the same way as the Ninja model.

I was excited to try the Cosori smart meat thermometer because I’ve been happily using a Cosori TurboBlaze Air Fryer for several months. Still, the first time I used it, I was disappointed with the results. However, not one to give up, I continued to test the meat thermometer to see how it performed.

Cosori smart meat thermometer: Price and availability

The Cosori wireless meat thermometer is available from Amazon for $69 and directly from Cosori at the same price. It’s similar in design to Ninja’s ProChef Wireless Thermometer, which retails directly from Amazon for $89.

Cosori is known for its small kitchen appliances, such as air fryers, electric kettles, and toaster ovens. This is the first time that Cosori has launched a meat thermometer. It seems to be joining Ninja in its journey to provide accessories for its cooking appliances.

Cosori smart meat thermometer: Design and set-up

The Cosori wireless meat thermometer is presented in a smart box and comes with a user manual and quick start guide. It’s battery-operated, so there is no charger included; you just need to remove the tag from the battery case to allow it to charge for two hours before use. The battery has a 72-hour life.

The meat thermometer is mounted in a black plastic stand with magnetic discs on the reverse, allowing it to be placed on a metallic surface. My instinct was to store it on my cooker hood, and it sat firmly without shifting. While the casing isn’t as elegant as the bamboo version of the Meater 2 Plus, you’ll save $60 by foregoing the privilege.

What I like about this meat thermometer is that it’s wireless and can be stored easily without becoming tangled with other kitchen gadgets.

Cosori smart meat thermometer: Getting started

I automatically expect a product to be charged and ready to go — I think I’m just hopeful! However, with the Cosori meat thermometer, you’ll need to remove the insulation tab from the battery to charge the device, and then it will need to be left for two hours before you can use it. You’ll also need extremely good eyesight to read the instruction manual — even with my glasses, I struggled to focus on the tiny font.

While it’s charging, you can download the free VeSync app. If you don’t already have an account, you’ll need to set one up and log in.

Then you’re ready to go. Removing the thermometer probe from the case will activate Bluetooth pairing. The app will then take you through the stages to add the device to complete the set-up. The instruction manual doesn’t tell you much more, so you’ll have to use the app to navigate everything else.

Cosori smart meat thermometer: The ice challenge

The most important part of a meat thermometer is its accuracy, so I conducted an ice test to check how the Cosori meat thermometer responded. It’s a basic test you can do at home, involving a mug, ice, and a splash of water. Before placing the thermometer into the ice, it registered at 67°F then once in the ice and left for a few seconds, it reduced to 33°F before the app sent a warning, stating: ‘Careful! Remove thermometer from frozen food to avoid damaging it’.

With freezing point at 32°F, I was perfectly happy with the precision of the meat thermometer and that I received the warning to remove it from the ice.

Cosori smart meat thermometer: Performance

First attempt: Cooking a whole chicken
The app allows you to pair the thermometer with other Cosori appliances. Unfortunately, the model of Cosori air fryer I own is unsupported.

Despite this minor setback, I went through the ‘Set Up Cooking’ stages within the app, selecting the option for chicken and whole chicken before choosing the ‘doneness’ I required. The app also gave me the option to get a ‘flip reminder’ and a ‘rest’ reminder, which I activated. Then, before starting the cooking process, the app reminds you to insert the probe correctly so that a sufficient amount of the probe is inserted into the protein. The whole process is easy to follow.

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Once the cooking starts, the app displays two temperatures: the internal temperature within the meat and the ambient temperature surrounding it.

The app presents real-time data during the cooking process, and you can see the temperature rising as the meat cooks. It also gives you an alert 5 minutes before the cooking is complete, and you can set up extra optional alerts to remind you to turn the meat and remove it to rest.

However, the optional alerts were a bit hit-and-miss and didn’t always work. This led me to intervene without the app’s assistance, which defeated the object.

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I can’t say using the Cosori meat thermometer to cook a whole chicken was a great success. The cooking program was set up for the internal temperature to reach 165°F. However, I didn’t receive an alert to turn the chicken over, which I would normally do when cooking a whole chicken in an air fryer. When I did receive an alert to remove the chicken to ‘rest’ it was only 48 minutes into the cooking time — far earlier than I would normally remove it. Then, once I removed the chicken, I received an alert a few minutes later that I should flip the food.

Having left the chicken for some minutes to see if the desired temperature would be reached, I was disappointed when it was not. So, in an effort not to give my family food poisoning, I had to throw the meat away.

Second attempt: Cooking a whole chicken
To give the meat thermometer a second chance, I tried cooking another whole chicken, but the results were equally disappointing. I received an alert just 25 minutes into the cooking time that my food would be ready in 5 minutes. The internal temperature was still at 118°F — a long way from reaching the target temperature of 165°F. However, I did receive a reminder to flip the food after 27 minutes, 2 minutes after the previous reminder had told me that the meat was nearly ready for resting. When the alert told me that the meat was ready to be removed and had reached the resting temperature of 155°F, I tested the internal temperature of the meat with another device. It gave the reading of 121°F — a long way off being safe to eat.

Cooking hotdogs
My second attempt was cooking hot dogs. Again, I used my air fryer rather than turning on my broiler. The cooking process was more successful this time, but I switched to the ‘custom’ setting and set the desired internal temperature to 170°F. I received an alert 5 minutes before the cooking was complete, but as before, I didn’t receive an alert to flip the food. Once again, I had to intervene. However, unlike the chicken not properly cooked, the hot dogs were perfect.

Cooking a chicken breast
On my third attempt I cooked a chicken breast and used the pre-set program within the app, with the target temperature set to 165°F. Once it reached 158°F, I received an alert to remove the meat to allow it to rest, and within a few moments the internal temperature had reached its target. And this time, I received an alert to flip the meat.

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Cosori smart meat thermometer: Cleaning

There’s not a great deal to clean up, apart from wiping over the case and washing up the probe, which is dishwasher safe. However, it’s no big deal to wash it up by hand. Also, with other similar probes that stay within the protein for the whole cooking process, it doesn’t need to be cleaned in between uses.

Cosori smart meat thermometer: Verdict

The Cosori meat thermometer is a neat gadget. It’s handy to have a device that is wireless and can be left in the meat throughout the whole cooking process. This allows you to get on with other tasks without constantly remembering to check the progress.

However, although it performed well on small protein sizes, it was disappointing when cooking chicken, and the result was that it had to be thrown away.

Despite this issue, the app was easy to use, and it was helpful to have a real-time reading of the meat’s internal temperature. However, the alerts were inconsistent, leaving me having to intervene and manually check the meat’s progress, and it left me feeling I couldn’t rely on it.

When you purchase a meat thermometer, you expect it to give reliable and consistent results, as you don’t want to give yourself, your family, or any guests food poisoning. Therefore, for this reason, the Cosori smart meat thermometer doesn’t make it into our meat thermometer buying guide.

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