Brisk It Origin Is the Best Smart Grill I’ve Ever Used.
I’m hardly a noob when it comes to smoking meat on the grill, but I’ve never owned a real smoker, and certainly not one that talks to me. But after a month of testing smart smokers on everything from meat to cheese, vegetables and fish, I realized that using smart smokers can take all the uncertainty out of smoking your food. I’d go so far as to say that a smart app and a good smoker are the perfect combination of technology and features, and the Brisk It Origin 580 Smart Grill with AI is the best and most feature-rich smoker I’ve ever used.
This grill offers the most control, recipe options, temperature range, and smokiness of any smart grill I’ve tested, with the least amount of intervention required. It can make smoking an everyday, weeknight activity, all for the relatively reasonable price of $899 on Amazon (though it’s currently on sale for $629 if you order directly from Brisk It ).
The grill body is durable, but some parts are more fragile.
Like every other grill I’ve tested, the Origin requires assembly, which took me about an hour. The “brains” of the grill, like the pellet hopper, are located on one side, and there is a folding tray in front. The grill itself measures 580 square inches between the active grill space and the additional grate on top. Brisk It decided to ditch the traditional under-rack cabinet, but I didn’t miss it that much.
The steel body construction feels solid and durable, although I found that some accent pieces, like the stainless steel handles, broke and wobbled easily no matter how hard I pulled the screws, and got hot quickly. The grill also comes with adhesive-backed foam that you use to line the lid so it closes quietly, but the heat quickly dissolved the adhesive so all the foam came off during my first cook, although it didn’t seem to affect performance. grill anyway. Lastly, the metal on the side trays seemed to get dirty easily. These issues aside, I am still pleased with the durability of the grill.
Wood pellets, not charcoal
Instead of charcoal, this grill uses wood pellets, which you can purchase from Brisk It (mine came with the grill for testing) or buy a range of flavors from any other supplier. After using Masterbuilt , which adds charcoal and hardwood chunks by hand, I spent a lot of time trying to decide if I preferred a smoke made from solid wood pellets. The pellets earn points for ease of use: they are fed to the grill via an auger and require no intervention other than occasional refills. This is a relatively small grill by Brisk It standards, but it holds 22 pounds of pellets and I’ve never had to add more while using it. Compared to charcoal, pellets provide a much smokier cooking experience throughout the entire process.
While I didn’t miss holding charcoal in my hands or having to manipulate things on the cooktop to cover the wood, if you’re looking for a more hands-on approach that allows you to play with different woods, charcoal grills offer more flexibility. If you prefer to take the easy route, here it is.
The smartest smart grill app I’ve ever used.
Without a doubt, Origin’s smart functionality puts it ahead of others I’ve tested. Brisk It offers the most functional and feature-rich application. The grill quickly and easily paired with the app and then updated itself, all from the full-color screen located on the grill (though note that it’s not a touchscreen). The screen makes it easy to set the temperature, fire up the grill and walk away, but you’ll probably want to use it when you’re actually cooking. This is the first grill to integrate Brisk It’s Innogrill and Vera AI technology. Vera is an artificial assistant that you can talk to through the app about everything related to grilling, including what you can cook with the ingredients you have, what level of cook you are, how much time you have for grilling. Vera can make suggestions – which I generally find helpful and helpful – and send them to the grill to cook for you.
During testing, I asked Vera for a simple recipe for smoked ribs, and she provided a recipe that took about four hours, three steps, and few ingredients. The smoking part had three phases, all at different temperatures and smoke points. I usually have to keep an eye on the grill, constantly checking the temperature and adding smoke at the right time. Instead, the grill preheated to the right temperature, I put the ribs in when he told me to, stuck the temperature probe in them, closed the lid, and walked away. The app notified me as I moved from phase to phase, and I could make small adjustments along the way (at one point I tried the “powerful smoke” button; more on that in a moment). You have the option to go through the stage faster if you want, or skip it altogether.
Four hours later, I pulled out a rack of perfectly smoked ribs with impressive bark, fantastic smoke rings and gorgeous color all around. It’s not just the AI that makes this happen—the app has a deep library of healthy recipes for you to browse, a feature promised but not delivered in any other smart grill app I’ve tried. Any of these recipes can be submitted via Innogrill to your BBQ.
An exceptional combination of technology and functionality
The Brisk It app offers a much deeper data dashboard than other apps I’ve tested, with the ability to influence even minor changes on your smartphone. You can adjust temperature and time, view historical cook data, and access temperature sensors (there are inputs for two sensors that come with the grill). You can tag your favorite chefs to easily repeat them, use the powerful smoke feature to blast extra smoke into your cook, and activate the “keep warm” feature. One of my favorite features is stall detection. If you’re new to barbecuing, you may not know that sometimes meat can remain at the set temperature for a period of time, “hanging” while cooking. With this feature, Brisk It will notify you when this happens and suggest how to fix it.
I can confidently say that using an app can quickly help you become a more confident barbecue master and free you from worrying about ruining an expensive piece of meat or whether you’re “doing it right.” Brisk It cooks for you (and tells you how it does it) every step of the way.
Easy to use (and clean)
Aside from the fancy new technology, the grill is well designed and easy to use. Although it is a small home grill, it is a reasonably sized home grill that can accommodate 2-3 racks of ribs or plenty of burgers and sausages for a party. The auto-ignition function worked flawlessly. The grill is designed to reach temperatures ranging from 165°F to 500°F, and while the Masterbuilt and Current I I tested could reach higher temperatures, they couldn’t handle the lower temperatures required for cold smoking. This is what I was able to do on Brisk It by cooking trout in an ice bath.
You can move food further away from the fire by using the top rack, or closer to the fire by pushing it toward the back of the grill. It produced more smoke than any other grill I’ve tried, whether I turned it on high or not. (Although you do need to enjoy the smoke flavor, it wasn’t overpowering in anything I did.) At higher temperatures, there was a grilling effect that Masterbuilt didn’t have, thanks to the actual fire underneath the active grilling area (the design includes Protective shield under the grate to prevent grease from reaching the flame.)
I love that Brisk It has disposable grill guards and foil pans that make the grill easy to maintain. Of all the grills I’ve tried, Origin’s stainless steel grates are the easiest to clean using BBQ cleaning spray and a wire brush. Closing the grill is as easy as pressing a button; the app notified me that the shutdown and cooling process was complete.
Impressive value for inexperienced cooks or barbecue masters.
I went into this review skeptical of the smart technology capabilities promised by Brisk It Origin. This is by far the most ambitious model I’ve tried when it comes to AI integration, but lately every company is using it in their products, often with poor implementation. But the Brisk It’s usability far exceeds any other smart grill on the market. The app and grill are easy enough to use that I felt comfortable and confident the first time I used it. I love that it’s flexible enough to accommodate both inexperienced barbecuers and grill masters; even experienced grillers can use the app to customize their cooks.
Also important: Considering the price of a BBQ with similar specs, including others I’ve reviewed, you can’t beat the price of the Origin 580. If I were going to buy a BBQ tomorrow, especially for the purpose of smoking something, it would be this one – regardless Whether I bought a smart grill or not.