Customer Reviews

Oregon Scientific AW131 Grill Right Wireless Talking Oven/Barbecue Thermometer, Red

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(79)

 

 

I happened upon the "Talking Wirless Grill Thermometor ("TWGT")in Lowes $29). Being a gadget guy I could not pass it up. Got it home, put in the batteries and it worked perfectly. It immediately measured room temp within 1 degree of my digital room thermometer. I Cooked "Beercan Chicken" on the patio grill that weekend. Put the probe into the thigh as directed and placed the base unit on my kitchen counter about 40 feet away. Opened a cold beer and watched the info on the base unit as I prepared other food in the kitchen. No need to periodically go out to the grill and check the chicken. Instead I watched football and the unit as it measured temp up and up. When it was time, it told me "It's almost done." Headed to the patio when the unit told me "It's done". The TWGT worked great. I was so impressed I went and bought a second one to give as a gift.

Then I tried to use it a second time. I had steak marinated and ready for the grill. Football on TV. Turned the TWGT on but the base was not getting a signal from the probe. I changed batteries, hit the reset button on the probe, shook it, cursed it, prayed. Nothing made it work. I even opened the one I had bought to give as a gift - it did not work either. Both units and probes were on but not communicating with each other. I gave up and cooked the steak the old way by trying to time it, lifting the grill and testing it. Very dissappointing.

Fortunately for me, I love gadgets and did not give up. Later, I kept experimenting, trying to figure out what was wrong. I went to Amazon.com and read a review saying you have to hit the reset button, but I had already tried that too many times without success. Then I figured it out. When you turn on the units, if they do not talk to each other, you have to press the reset buttons on BOTH THE PROBE AND THE MAIN UNIT. I'd never noticed the main unit also has a reset button. I turned on both units, pressed both reset buttons one after the other and --SUCCESS! Both units and their probes started talking. Again they were within 1 degree of room temp. I cannot wait to grill out this weekend! Maybe on Sat. for the Gators and on Sun. for the Bucs.

Summing it up? Yea. It would be a good idea for OS to put a troubleshooting section in the manual to cover this problem. As it is you need to either figure it out or call OS. I suspect many of these amazingly fun grill gadgets are lying unused in some dissappointed owner's junk drawer. But, if you know the secret (you can probably get the secret if you call OS customer service)this thermometer is fun, and convenient. I won't grill without it. In fact, I will now use both units at the same time for different foods cooked simultaniously (so much for the gift idea). BTW. The unit's voice is female and she speaks multiple languages. My advice - set her for French. I don't speak the language but she sure sounds good. :)

We bought this from a local hardware store. Our previous thermometers were the analog instant read types and they've died. We use this 3 to 4 times a week for cooking fish, hamburgers, steaks, poultry and have been extroardinarily pleased with the results each and every time. Now, if I don't use it, I can tell the difference. The fish flakes apart perfectly, the poultry is absolutely not bloody, and the hamburgers and steaks are cooked to temperature. There is a setting to set your own temperature if you don't like the presets.

Make sure to put the probe into the meatiest part of the meat and not touching any bones. Also, don't put the probe directly over the flame (the manual says these things). I angle it towards the front of the grill so that it is almost under the cover. That way I can close the grill but it is not over direct flame. I've cooked from low BBQ temps to High grill and had no trouble with it. It's made making dinner much less of a hassle.

We've not used it in the oven, though it says you can. We had one issue where the base unit lost track of the remote unit. The temperature reading started flashing and it couldn't reconnect. I turned off the base unit and turned it back on and it reconnected with no further problems.

We like ours so much that we bought another one as a gift.

This is my third wireless thermometer. I use them on my grill which can easily destroy regular kitchen types. This one has held up great and is much more durable in its construction.

I've used this product for almost two years now and really enjoy it. However, I've had problems getting the two parts to sync up, especially after I hadn't used it in a while. There's a really good review in here that walks you through the process of hitting the reset buttons (under the batter cover) on BOTH units, but even this didn't always work. I was ready to go back to a hardwired unit when I found a solution -- remove the batteries in both units, wait a few minutes and reinstall. This has worked for me every time. I now store the units with the batteries removed (good idea anyway) and it has worked with no trouble when I reinstall the batteries. Give this a try before you give up. This issue is why I didn't give it 5 stars.

One other thing to be careful about. Keep water away from where the cable enters the probe. Incorrect temp readings can come from water contamination. From other sites, this seems to be a common problem with these wireless thermometers. I clean the probe with a cloth and rinse under the sink, never letting water touch anything but the part of the probe below the loop that enters the meat.

Hope this helps.

For those people that are worried about overcooking meat and fish and creating potential carbon causing cancer, this is this device for you. The voice message announcing "almost done" and "done" is very loud. The overcooked alarms sound from as far away as 50 feet inside the house. For those of you not wanting the voice, there is a less expensive version available from Oregon Scientific.

The AW131 worked perfectly fine the very first time, even the synch up between the probe and the display worked just fine. I measured cooked meat to be 70 Celsius and it got it right, it was perfectly done. The second try - a few weeks later, same thing, started at firdge temperature, then within a few minutes went up to 90 Celsius - the meat was not even warm were the probe was sitting. Sure, empty batteries was also my first guess, so I replaced both sets of batteries with brand new ones (all measured slightly below 1.6 V) and then the fun started. The display showed a room temperature of 210 F and I could not convince it that it was only about 70. No reset, no battery out, wait a minute, battery back in has worked. The only thing I have not tried yet (but getting ready to....) is the sledge hammer.
I had high hopes and was really happy with it after the first use - now I would not buy it again. I expect a thermometer/probe in that price range to be reliable - the one I got is a piece of junk...

Tom

The disparity in opinion on this unit is interesting. I can understand it based on my own experience. I couldn't get the transmitter to sync with the base unit. I fooled with it for awhile and finally got it working. I saw a lot of information on the internet related to trouble syncing the unit, so I took the batteries out again and then could get it to sync again. I was at the point of throwing up my hands and sending it back with a nasty note, but finally realized the following:

The user's manual is terrible, but here is how I finally got the transmitter/base unit to talk:

1. With no batteries in the transmitter, install the batteries in the base unit.
2. Turn on the base unit.
3. Press LANG to select the language.
4. At this point, the base unit should be working fully. There will be ---- displayed as the current temperature on the base unit.
5. Install the batteries in the transmitter.
6. Press the RESET inside the battery cover on the transmitter.

Consistently, the transmitter and base unit synchronized, but it had to be done in this order. The RESET on the base unit or when the temperature probe was plugged into the transmitter did not seem to affect the sync process. The above procedure is consistent with the user's manual, but the manual does not convey how sensitive the process is to the order of the steps.

This is my experience, hopefully it will help others because the manual certainly does not.

I have purchased and used several remote thermometers before. When they work, they are fantastic. What lazy cook, especially when entertaining, doesn't appreciate being able to throw something into the oven or onto the grill and then be able to do other cooking chores or just hang out with your guests, and get an audible signal that your main course is done, perfectly? I've used several of the others that have a maximum temp. of 392 or so, with great results. Until I burned out their probes because I was doing true roasting in the oven, or grilling, which require higher temps.

I had high hopes for this. Not because of the secondary unit you can take with you for a distance that talks to you in a robotic female voice saying: "it's almost done" and then, "it's done", I bought it because Oregon Scientific claims the max temp is close to 500 degrees, so I thought it might work for roasting and grilling.

I had a hard time getting it going. The manual doesn't explain that you may need to "Reset" when you first get it, if it doesn't work. Which it didn't. Bad manual. I had to email tech support to figure this out, although they were very helpful.

I tested this on several simple tasks. Like grilling a 3.5 lb. chicken on indirect heat; the cooking temperature was not accurate. When "she" told me it was "done", even at standard (high) 180 degrees, the bird was still bloody. I would have done better just clocking an hour for a 3.5 lb. chicken.

I don't know. Maybe it's me. I gave it my best shot. But I'm kinda disappointed.

Open the battery compartments on both the sender and receiver and press the reset buttons at the same time; that solved this problem for me. Thank you Amazon for product reviews.

I had the older model, worked well several times then stopped. It ended up having an "accident." A year later I saw this newer model at Bass Pros. It worked for three tri-tips then the crazy 210 and 32 degree reading came on when it was not hooked to anything. Replaced batteries, went through the reset process...nothing. Emailed company, told I would recieve a response in three days...nothing. Emailed again and was told the probe needed replaced. I went to their site, replacement probe $12.95, shipping $9.95. Cost almost as much to ship. I will NEVER buy from this company again!!!!