Water Activity Meter Smart Food Water Activity Tester for Jerky Dried Fruit Grain Vegetable Aw Moisture Mete Tools Adopt Non conductive Humidity Sensor, 0-1.0AW ±0.02AW Water Activity Analyzer Monitor

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.

This water activity meter is a convenient and reliable tool for checking moisture levels in jerky, dried fruits, grains, and more. It delivers quick readings with a solid accuracy of ±0.02 AW, which helps ensure food stays safe and shelf-stable. The non-conductive humidity sensor works well and doesn’t require complicated setup. Its digital display is clear, making the results easy to read even in low-light environments. The device feels lightweight and portable, great for home use or small food businesses. Calibration is simple, and the meter maintains consistent performance over time. It provides a good balance between price and functionality for everyday moisture testing. Overall, a dependable tool for monitoring water activity and improving food quality control

I tried calibrating it and it is just not possible. I used NaCl saturated solution for 0.75 point and distilled water for 1.0 With highest correction distilled water cannot reach 1.0 - with the highest correction it is 0.97 at most. And if I calibrate it to 0.75 then distilled water reads at 0.94. So its readings are useless and cannot be trusted. I tried contacting support over email - no response. Over whatsapp they asked me to contact them on different email but nobody replied. UPDATE: after this review they finally answered. They requested me to take endless videos recording device in measuring process. Asked that I take uninterrupted videos (suggests that I was swapping samples off camera). 5 minutes measuring time? Lie! From their own words "For 0.75 Aw calibration solutions, a waiting time of at least 30 minutes is required to reach thermal and humidity equilibrium. Five minutes is insufficient." I bought calibrated Aw solution and it was measuring 0.72 with highest correction applied. This is just garbage. They declined to admit that device is defective and kept pulling tricks on me just to not replace the device.

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.

I been useing these thang for a year i have it adjusted out to 0.75 to calibrate with salt 36 grams and 100ml of destealed water and 0.73 all can go because you cant adjust more then 0.5 in any direction in beginning meter was perfect at calibration but over time it’s sliping out of range at these time its 0.2 of which i can live with cause its in 0.2 range of era aloud for meter but i cant adjust any more cause its is adjusted all the way out these is a 500 dollor tool so i would say just pay more money and buy a more reliable tool after all if your useing to test food you freeze dry then how much is your life worth after eating something five or more years later and the meter gets it wrong say you will be dead and wished you got the 1000 dollar meter

Very impressed with this unit so far, it does what I need it to do. I have a farm and have grains/corn stored in large containers and I use this to make sure the humidity is right. No complaints so far I will update review if there are any

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!

This product seemed great at first and was very easy to use. Sadly, mine is no longer working and I've used it less than 5 months. It won't turn on anymore. At first, I thought maybe the replaceable batteries died, but I replaced with fresh batteries and it's still not working. This is a huge hit for me as this machine was over $400. Very disappointed. Edit: After leaving my initial negative review, the company contacted me via WhatsApp and asked for pictures and videos of the broken instrument. They then sent a replacement and it has been working fine so far. They were very easy to work with via the WhatsApp and I truly appreciate them replacing the broken one.

Got this for testing water activity in dehydrated foods to prevent mould issues. I really like the compact design, which makes it extremely convenient for travel and it does not take up much space to store between uses. It was very easy to calibrate using a homemade testing solution (they have a video in the advertisement showing you how to make your own solution and how to adjust the machine) and after doing so, it has been providing consistent readings for food and when testing again with the solution. Testing the water activity with this machine is extremely straightforward. In the same video that shows you how to make your own solution instead of buying it, which can be quite costly, they also show you how to perform the testing. The build quality is good and it comes with three testing containers plus a decent storage case. Very pleased with this selection.

good tester for quality control. Fairly easy to use