Home Assistant meets Meater: smart grill automation

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Barbecuing is getting smarter, and you're right in the middle of it! Imagine enjoying a drink with your guests while your grill communicates with your Meater via Home Assistant and tells you when the food is perfect. With this guide, I'll show you how to integrate your Meater into Home Assistant and set up an automation that lets you know via Alexa or text-to-speech when it's time to turn or serve the food.

For detailed instructions and an explanation of all configuration options, I recommend the YouTube video linked below. In this video, every single setting is explained in detail so that you receive comprehensive instructions for the exact setup. You can find any code from the video in this article so that you can use it directly without having to type it in.

What is Home Assistant?

Home Assistant is an open source platform for home automation that aims to connect and centrally control all devices in the home. It is designed to provide a unified user interface and simple, flexible control for a variety of smart home devices from different ecosystems. Here are some points in favor of Home Assistant:

1. CompatibilityHome Assistant supports thousands of devices and services from various manufacturers, including lighting, air conditioning, heating, cameras, weather sensors, voice assistants and more.
2. Local controlUnlike many commercial smart home platforms that rely on cloud services, Home Assistant runs locally on your network. This means increased privacy and reliability, as your smart home devices work even without an active internet connection.
3. Automation and scenesOne of the main features of Home Assistant is the ability to create complex automations and scenarios. For example, you can have lights switch on automatically when it gets dark or turn on the heating when the temperature falls below a certain level.
4. Simple user interfaceHome Assistant offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to monitor and control devices. This interface is fully customizable.
5. Integration with voice assistantsHome Assistant can be integrated with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to enable voice-controlled control of your smart home devices.
6. Open source and community-drivenSince Home Assistant is open source, it is supported by an active community that is constantly developing new integrations and improving existing ones.
7. Data protection and securityAs a locally running platform, Home Assistant has the advantage that the data remains within its own network. This protects privacy and increases security compared to cloud-based solutions.

In summary, Home Assistant is a powerful and flexible solution for those who want to design their own smart home and control their devices centrally, regardless of the manufacturer or ecosystem.

Requirements

• Integration for Alexa or a device with text-to-speech function
• Meater Smart Thermometer
• Home Assistant with basic configuration

Integrate Meater into Home Assistant

To enable your Meater to communicate with Home Assistant, you need to add it as an integration. This is how it works:

1. Seeking integration:
   • Open Home Assistant and navigate to the Settings.
   • Choose Integrations and click on the +-symbol at the bottom right.
   • Search for "Meater" in the list of available integrations.
2. Connect meater:
   • Make sure that your Meater and Home Assistant are in the same network.
   • Follow the instructions on the screen to pair your Meater. You may need to enter your Meater Cloud credentials.
3. Check sensors:
   • After successful setup, you will see the Meater sensors in your Home Assistant. These include, for example Core temperature, Ambient temperature and the Cooking status.

With these steps, your Meater is ready for automation!

MEATER Plus | The wireless, smart meat thermometer with a range of 50 m For oven, grill, pan and rotisserie Perfect meat enjoyment via app in German*

by MEATER

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Amazon

MEATER Pro / 2 Plus: The next generation smart meat thermometer | Heat-resistant up to 550°C | High range, 100% waterproof, multi-sensor technology | Kitchen, BBQ, and grill*

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by Apption Labs

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Amazon

Last updated on 7. January 2025 at 22:41 - Image source: Amazon Affiliate Program. All statements without guarantee.

Automation in detail

Here is an example of a Home Assistant automation that informs you via Alexa or push notifications when your meat is almost done or completely done. The automation uses different states of the Meater sensor:

alias: Monitor - Meater (when meat is ready)
description: Meater TTS via Alexa & text notifications for cooking.
triggers:
  - value_template: >
      {% if states('sensor.meater_probe_remaining_time') not in ["unknown",
      "unavailable", "", none] %} {{ ((
      states('sensor.meater_probe_remaining_time') | as_timestamp - utcnow() |
      as_timestamp) / 60) | round(0, 0) 
        {% if states('sensor.meater_probe_cooking') not in ["unknown",
        "unavailable", "", none] %} {{ states('sensor.meater_probe_cooking') }}
        {% else %} {{ "meat" }} {% endif %}
      messages:
        five_minutes: 5 more minutes until {{meat}} has to rest.
        ready_for_resting: >-
          {{meat | capitalize }} is cooked. Please remove from the heat and
          leave to rest.
        resting: "{{meat | capitalize }} is now resting."
        done: "{{meat | capitalize }} is ready. Enjoy your meal!"
      message: "{{ messages.get( trigger.id ) }}"
  - data:
      message: "{{ message }}"
      target:
        - media_player.saschas_echo_dot_kuche
        - media_player.saschas_echo_dot_living_room
        - media_player.fire_tablet
    action: script.message_uber_alexa
  - condition: trigger
    id: five_minutes
  - data:
      title: Meater - Meat is almost ready
      message: "{{ message }}"
      data:
        notification_icon: mdi:food-steak
        timeout: 1800
    action: notify.mobile_app_sm_g990b
mode: single

Explanation of automation

1. Trigger:
   • The automation starts when certain states or values of the meater sensor are reached. Examples:
     • Remaining time under 5 minutes
     • State changes such as "Ready For Resting" or "Finished".
2. Variables:
   • The message automatically adapts to the respective event. For example: "5 more minutes until the meat needs to rest."
3. Actions:
   • The notification is played via Alexa or sent to your smartphone as a push message.
   • You can easily replace the Alexa notification with a normal media player by replacing script.message_uber_alexa the service tts.google_translate_say uses:

Expansion options

• Further triggers: Add states such as "Core temperature reached".
• Visual signals: Switch on a smart light when the meat is ready.
• Multimedia: Play a playlist to celebrate the barbecue moment.

YouTube video implementation

Conclusion

This automation makes barbecuing smarter and more relaxed. You can concentrate on your guests while Home Assistant and Meater ensure that your meat is cooked to perfection. Have fun trying it out and bon appétit!

Interested, but lack time or knowledge?

No problem. Contact me and we will discuss your requirements. No matter if business or private.