Everyone loves BBQ season… except perhaps the poor person stuck tending the grill. A new wave of smart grills looks set to change all of that, but Brisk It's Origin is one of the first we've seen to use generative AI as a cooking assistant. One whose attention won't wane, and who won't get tipsy and burn the sausages as the afternoon wears on.
The design offers automatic temperature adjustment, achieved via a selection of heat probes and a PID algorithm. Set a desired temperature and it'll manage the fuel for you, to keep your food cooking at a stable temperature, with no tinkering required.
For the ultimate in hands-off hosting, the Origin comes with a range of presets – so you can press a button and leave it to do its thing, whether that's searing steak at super-hot temperatures or going low-and-slow for pulled pork.
This smart grill can learn your personal preferences and respond to what the brand intriguingly refers to as 'unexpected surprises'. We're assuming things like temperature swings, rather than, for example, the dog running into the BBQ and setting fire to the garden, but we have asked Brisk It to clarify.
If you prefer to be more involved, you can also control the Grill It Origin yourself. Similar to the likes of the Ninja Woodfire Pro Connect XL (which ushered our Lifestyle Ed into her grill master era), it comes with a companion app that provides real-time updates and notifications and can be used to control the grill without having to hop up from the table every 10 minutes. You can even ignite it remotely.
It's entirely fueled by wood pellets, so expect that authentic smokey flavor that can be missing with gas or electric BBQs. The Origin-580 Grill is big enough to fit four chickens, five rib racks, or four pork butts and there's an even bigger Origin-940 option if you're feeding a bigger party (or have very hungry friends).
There's mention of the Origin taking care of pre-cook prep, although reading between the lines, we think that just means it'll walk you through the steps required. It's not quite advanced enough to be getting your meat out of the fridge and whipping up a marinade. Yet.
Brisk It says there are more AI features in the pipeline, with upgrades available over the cloud. But if the current feature lineup is enough to convince you that a Brisk It should be part of your summer plans, their Origin-580 is currently $150 off at Home Depot, taking the price down to $699.
Smarter BBQing
Although it's still pretty rare, this isn't the only smart BBQ to dabble in AI – Seer Grills won an Innovation Award at this year's CES for its AI-powered Perfecta grill. That one looks a little less like a grill and a little more like a futuristic multi-cooker that someone has dragged outside (and it's electric/gas-powered, so no smokey flavor from pellets), but its functions are undoubtedly impressive.
The gadget senses the thickness of your food and promises fully automated, dual-sided cooking, in double-quick time (a burger in a minute and a half! A pizza in under three minutes!). Either way, it looks like we could be heading for a far less labor-intensive future when it comes to BBQing.
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