GOYOJO Water Activity Meter, small plant moisture mete tools, Adopt non-conductive humidity sensor, ±0.02aw high-precision measurement, Precise Analysis for Agriculture Fast Testing &Reliable Results

I will add photos and update later, but I wanted to post the review while it was still fresh on my mind. I got the Monitor about a month ago before my dehydrator even came in. While you can measure moisture of things other than dehydrated foods, it was my mane use to use with a dehydrator. Since I'm new to dehydrating, I wanted to be sure I wasn't creating a problem for myself in the future by packaging food that was not sufficiently degydrated.The recommendations are that available moisture (Aw) in foods has to less than 0.60 so that microorganisms cannot survive. This is why you can buy dehydrated meal packs (like mountain hosuse which I like) and have something that will not go bad for decades. However, if you look at the current prices for commercial dehydrated foods, you quickly realize that it may be better to buy your own dehydrator and make your own recipes of foods that will last a long time. Having spent several thousand on a dehydrator, the additional cost of a moisture monitor - to give you that peace of mind that your dehydrated foods will last for a very long time without bacteria can only come if you test your foods before packaging them - just like the commercial companies do.Using this tool - I was able to get that peace of mind and have visual proof that my dehydrator is working properly.So far no problem and it's very easy to use, just load in the sample, push a button and wait for it to analyze.

A simple in use tool. Really useful with big household and all the products I like to keep in my pantry. I did verify quality of rice and Buckle as too favorite foods the big family uses. A single start button. Everything else works just by inserting small amount of product in plastic container.Tool is expensive, but totally worth it! Accuracy and Precision for Measurements of the product I like.Absolutely Recommend It!

Lue inspector didn't approve it .Also it didn't come with batteries as declared.Secondly for aW of above .95. It takes an hour .Loved this unit for home food preparation but not manufacturing

This measures the water activity in your food to determine if the amount of water is high enough for bacteria to grow which will cause your food to spoil. If you dehydrate or freeze dry foods, this is a great way to confirm if the food is dry enough for packaging for long term storage. If you are a chef, this device is also important for food quality as water activity is linked to texture related aspects of food, such as clumping, crunchiness, chewiness, etc.I think one reviewer posted on the wrong product because this is not a pH meter and doesn't have any contact probe. Food is put in included petri dishes, the aluminum base is split in half and the dish is put inside and then sealed. The meter has no contact with the food at any point. It basically senses the humidity the food gives off, which indicates the amount of free unbound water molecules in the food, which could be used by microorganisms. Note that water activity is not the same as water moisture level. This is why if you use a cheaper water meter such as what is used on measuring water content in 2x4 wood pieces, you won't have success in detecting food safety levels like you would with this device.In theory you don't need this meter as you can calculate water activity, however this requires accurate knowledge of your food's contents. If you are buying this to confirm commercial food safety (which has nutritional facts with the percentages of protein/carb/etc) then calculation is possible, but it is still much slower than this meter which provides a reading in 5 min. Most people just trust the safety of commercial food. This really is for home preserved food. While one could add up nutritional content of the ingredients to make the calculation, there is a very large margin for error compared to using this device.A lot of people have issues with similar water activity meters but I believe it is just user error. An important factor for accuracy is ensuring the air around the meter is consistent in humidity and temperature. This could be the reason some people report drifting measurements months later (because the seasons change). The device does have a thermometer which can help identify any temperature irregularities. The device does have a calibration adjustment, although it is much simpler to just record the difference and add that to whatever reading you get, as this will be easier to keep track of drifting measurements from environmental changes. The first reading you should do is with deionized/distilled (pure) water, which should have an aw of 1. Note that any reading above 0.8 or below 0.3 requires waiting an additional 20min, by which point the reading should be 0.95 or higher, which requires waiting an additional hour (note the auto shutoff will engage after 20min, but turning it back on continues the meter, it won't restart from the base reading). This only really needs to be done once to confirm the accuracy of the meter, because in practice any reading above 0.6 is concerning for food safety (defined as the Aw where osmophilic yeasts grow in optimal conditions), and any reading less than 0.3 is irrelevant because the food is very dry and safe at that point without any concern for spoilage. So in practice readings will only take the 5 minutes to perform, and it beeps every 5 min to help remind you a reading is done.This doesn't have the level of accuracy of meters used industrially which have 4 digits or more, but this meter also doesn't cost several thousand dollars either. For home use, this is more than accurate enough to determine food safety. In my water calibration I got 0.91aw repeatedly, so I just know to add 0.09 to any values I get. The stated precision of +/-0.01aw is correct (this can easily be confirmed by the user retesting the same sample repeatedly) and ultimately precision matters more than accuracy when comes to a device like this, as water activity is essentially a constant magnitude, assuming one doesn't heat or wet the sample in-between readings.I was not able to get bluetooth to work and USB connection seems to require a special 2.5mm TRS jack which was not included. However, computer connectivity really isn't relevant since the reading is only three digits and this is easy to type if one is recording data for some kind of experiment.

Bought it for beef jerky. Before bought this item, can't control the amount water in the beef. it affect the taste and the length of storing time. with this item, I can control exactly amount water left in the beef. it make the whole process a lot of easy. at the same time, it also helps to make dry fruits. It's worth the money.