Setup Guide: Combustion App
Visualization that will change the way you cook.
The Combustion App lets you control settings for your Predictive Thermometer, monitor temps, see predictions, and a whole lot more.
Use advanced mode to see (and graph) temps at all 8 sensors. Seeing how the heat moves through your food can give you a whole new perspective on cooking.
Use the Combustion Inc App to update your tools with the latest firmware.
Featuring SafeCook™ (new) and MeatNet™ Cloud (new)
Do this first!
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Download the app
Links in the site footer. The app is available for iOS and Android devices (phones and tablets).
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Update firmware
IMPORTANT: Enable Bluetooth when installing the app.
The most important functions of the Predictive Thermometer are software-controlled. (There’s a teensy computer inside the Predictive Thermometer!)
Updating the onboard software (aka firmware) improves the everyday performance of all the basic stuff.
It can also unlock new, advanced cooking features. It's like a free upgrade!
The app tells you when new firmware is available.
To update your firmware, tap the Combustion logo in the app, then select "update devices."
You'll need to remove your (charged) thermometer from its charger (or Booster). If updating the thermometer, be sure to turn other Combustion tools off (hold the button on the Booster or Display, place any other thermometers back into a powered charger).
Important! Please recharge your thermometer fully before applying a firmware update.
Then: choose the tool you want to update and tap the update button.
After updating firmware on the Predictive Thermometer, please recharge it (updating uses a lot of battery).
Update your Combustion Tools one at a time!
It’s best to power off all the tools you are not currently updating.
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Predictive Cooking with the App
Be sure Bluetooth is active on your phone and the app has permissions.
- Remove the CPT from the charger or booster.
- Insert your CPT into the food up to at least the minimum insertion line.
- Tap Predict
- Set your temperature
- Tap Begin Prediction
- Begin cooking
- About ⅓ of the way into cooking, the app will tell you the estimated remaining cook time.
- That time will adjust itself, becoming more accurate as the cook continues.
- Wait for the alarm, remove from heat.
- Slice immediately to prevent carryover cooking. (More about that on the main start page)
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Graph your cook
Graphs will only appear when a thermometer is on and connected to the app.
- If the graph is not visible, tap one of the temperatures. Voila!
- To hide the graph, tap the settings icon (three vertical dots) and select "hide graph."
- To show/hide the lines from any sensor, tap the color-coded circle below the temp.
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Virtual sensors
The "virtual" sensors (core, surface, ambient) override the "T" sensor markers.
One of the lower sensors (T1-T4) will almost always be labeled "core." That's the lowest internal temp. And it tells you when things are mmmmwah... done!
With the thermometer inserted, one of the sensors will be labeled "surface." That's the actual applied cooking temp, and it shows the rate heat is transferring into the food! Super-useful, especially for slow-cooking. The internal temp will never exceed the surface temp. Hold that surface temp steady for edge-to-edge perfection.
The "ambient" measurement shows you the temp near the food. This will often be significantly lower than the set temp of your cooking appliance. That's not an error!
Food creates its own "weather" system because of the water evaporating - there's an invisible cloud of steam that surrounds the food, called the "boundary layer." With larger foods (e.g. roasts), this boundary layer can easily cover the T8 sensor.
The boundary layer is your friend - it steadies the temp, keeping the food near the surface from drying out or overcooking.
The fan in a convention oven will disturb the boundary layer - that's also why convection ovens cook stuff faster and create a crispier exterior.
The risk of convection – especially with large foods – is that the food will tend to become overcooked near the surface. It's great for french fries though.
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SafeCook™
The Combustion App now includes a streamlined food safety setting (SafeCook™). It runs in parallel to the “ready-in” target temp prediction.
You can set your target temp (“predict”) before or after setting SafeCook.
How to SafeCook:
- Turn on your CPT
- Open the Combustion App (and be sure Bluetooth is enabled)
- Tap “Predict” and set your target temp for perfect doneness
- Where it says “Safeguard this cook with SafeCook” tap “Add”
- Toggle SafeCook on (the toggle will turn red)
- Choose your meat type (the default is “Poultry”)
- Choose the form that best describes your prep (for instance “intact cut” for a steak)
- Tap “apply”
- This activates SafeCook
- When your food is safe*, your app will display a green SafeCook badge
*According to USDA/FDA/FSIS standards combining time and temperature. The complete documentation is nearly 800 pages.
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MeatNet Cloud
LINK APP TO THERMOMETER:
- Install/update the Combustion app on both mobile devices (there’s a link to the apps in the page footer)
- Follow app instructions for linking CPTs to your account
- Look for the “link this device” button
- Follow the instructions to link
- Link all of your CPTs to your device
THEN USE MEATNET CLOUD:
- Create a MeatNet Cloud account. You can sign in with email (+password), Google ID, or Apple ID* (*on Apple/iOS devices only)
- Sign into to your account on both devices
- Once you’ve set up your Cloud account, the list of “linked” CPTs gets synched to any device using that account
- Cook with the CPT as you normally would - your “home” mobile device (in MeatNet range) will stream data to the cloud and you can download that anywhere with internet
Note: you may already have an optional Combustion Store account. That account is unrelated (and is only used for shopping/order history). Create a new login for the Combustion MeatNet account, and don't autofill using your previously saved password. Thanks!
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Advanced mode
View (and graph) temps from all 8 sensors using Advanced Mode.
- You'll find advanced mode in the settings menu (3 vertical dots).
- You can toggle each sensor's display on/off by tapping the color-coded circle beneath each sensor.
- Sensors are labeled from T1 (closest to the tip) to Ambient/T8 (the sensor on the handle, under the screw).
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Debug Mode
Inside the settings menu (three vertical dots), you can find debug mode. There's a lot of confusing stuff in there!*
But if you're having trouble with one of your tools, or the network, you may find some answers.
*If you're an engineer, you'll probably love it. For instance, signal strength is shown as a negative number (dBm). For reference: -50 is fantastic, -80 is OK, -90 is marginal, and so on.
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