CES 2025: This New Smart Barbecue Is the Technology I’m Most Excited About
I tested most of the smart grills on the market this summer, but one stood out above the rest: the Brisk It Origin . It transformed me from a casual griller to a BBQ enthusiast, taking all the hassle out of cooking outdoors. Somehow, Brisk It outdid itself at CES this year with the introduction of the new Zelos grill, which brings the same hardware to market at a more affordable price. What’s more, Zelos is equipped with the second generation of artificial intelligence that makes Brisk It great: Vera 2.0.
Brisk It grills run on wood pellets, so they allow you to smoke food with exceptional precision, as well as cook food at higher temperatures if you’re looking for a real grill without a lot of smoke. You load the grill hopper with pellets just like any other smoker on the market, and an auger inside the hopper feeds the grill. You can control the grill in two ways: manually, from the display on the grill itself, or from the app. You’ll likely end up using both options once you feel more comfortable with the grill, but I will say this: no matter which method I used, the Origin lit up every time I pressed the button this year. easily 50-60 times. I expect the same from Zelos. There’s also a certain giddiness that comes with being able to light the grill from the couch via an app.
While most AI-powered cooking devices have apps for generating recipes and cooking time recommendations, what you’ll really benefit from is the advice the Brisk It app gives you. It offers an impressively deep recipe bank, so you’ll likely find whatever BBQ recipe you’re looking for, and then it’ll tell you exactly how to cook it, and whether you followed that advice or not, it’s perfect to cook it for you. You choose a recipe and throw it on the grill. The grill will tell you when to put your food in, you insert the temperature probe and away you go. The grill will perform the perfect smoking or grilling program, raising the temperature as needed, delivering stronger smoke, and telling you when to turn food over and when to remove it. It will even turn itself off.
So how can Brisk It get better? Vera 2.0 allows you to take pictures of ingredients on your phone and Vera identifies the ingredients and then suggests recipes and of course the perfect way to prepare them. Take photos of the contents of your refrigerator, grocery cart, or pantry. It even claims that you can take a photo of cooked food you like and Vera will try to give you the recipe (I have to test this to believe it; it seems like an AI promise that often fails).
Perhaps more importantly, Zelos is made more affordable than the Origin, which, although currently on sale, typically retails for $849 and $1,099. Zelos promises to cost $399, which is significantly cheaper, but doesn’t appear to sacrifice much in the design of the grill itself. It still looks solid, and I’d actually prefer the display placement on the Zelos over the Origin (it seems to be positioned much lower on the hopper).
I named my Brisk It one of my favorite smart technologies this year – it’s one of those unique hardware technologies that lives up to the hype. Whether you’re a confident cook or easily intimidated, great technology like Brisk It can make you a more competent cook.
Zelos will be available for purchase in the next few months at Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes and BriskItGrills.com .