Review: Will this smart grilling hub boost your backyard barbecue skills?
Speaking from experience, it’s not always easy to grill backyard barbecue favorites like burgers and steaks to the perfect temperature, inside and out, every single time. Variables include what type of grill (gas, charcoal) you’re using, fine-tuning the heat and other factors.
If you burn the meat, that’s wasted money. On the flip side, undercooked could spell even worse trouble and make someone sick.
Temperature probes have long been a way to grill without all the question marks, but you might not be aware that one is a little smarter than the others with features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity — and it comes from a very well-known brand. The question is whether this smart grilling hub is worth the added expense.
Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub
The Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub isn’t exactly a brand-new product, as it first hit the market in January 2020. The hardware hasn’t changed in those two-plus years, with the purpose of turning any grill into a smart one and being your grilling assistant. Here are the product highlights:
- Consists of a smart grilling hub, two temperature probes (for food and grill, respectively), a USB-A to Micro-USB charging cable.
- Connects to companion smartphone app remotely via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
- The app provides flip-and-serve notifications, readiness countdowns, recipes, and step-by-step grilling instructions.
- Alerts are customizable based on grilling preference (rare, medium-well, etc.).
- Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub retails for under $140 but does go on sale from time to time.
- Add up to two additional food temperature probes for under $18 each.
- Optional accessories include the Storage & Travel Case and 6-piece Mounting Kit, for around $40 each.
Add in a little extra time for setup
Weber sent the grilling hub and travel case for review. Unboxing was the easy part, and you can see everything below.
The hub isn’t very large, coming in at about four inches by three inches. The two temperature probes are even smaller. The charging cable, with its Micro-USB connector, seems a little dated.
From there, it was time to download the Weber Connect app. That’s where the setup process took a little longer than I expected.
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