Weber has announced that they will be combining their Weber Connect® wireless technology into their popular top-selling Genesis and Spirit gas grill lines.
For a brand that built its reputation on low tech charcoal and gas grills, this move shows Weber are fully committed to incorporating the latest tech into their grills.
We hope that Weber has learnt some lessons from the controversial release of the SmokeFire pellet grill in early 2020.
What’s new from Weber
The new Genesis EX-315, Genesis EX-335, and Genesis SX-335, and Spirit SX-315 grills will now offer both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Through this wireless connection, you will be able to track temperatures and receive real-time updates through an integrated digital display or on your phone.
The new line of Weber Smart gas grills is expected to launch in spring this year.
The Wireless Future of Grilling
The new announcement is hardly Weber’s first foray into the world of wireless grilling. The company has been offering wirelessly connected meat thermometers as an add-on for its existing grills for years.
In 2020, they also announced the launch of their Weber Connect smart grilling hub. The hub has many of the same features that are now being integrated into the Genesis and Spirit gas grill lines, including:
- Flip and serve notifications
- Select doneness (medium-rare steak) and receive alerts when ready
- Food readiness countdown and estimated cook time
- Step-by-step assistance from setup to when it’s time to eat
Weber also already has a line of SmokeFire pellet smokers with integrated Weber Connect wireless technology.
Testing the Weber Connect system on a pellet smoker seems to have been a smart step. Pellet smokers, by their nature, are a little more difficult to control.
Being able to consistently monitor their internal temperature and make remote adjustments is a great way to get better performance without needing to be hovering over your smoker all the time.
Weber recently announced that it had acquired smart oven maker, June. Technology developed by June was used in both the SmokeFire pellet smokers and the Weber Connect smart grilling hub.
That same technology has now been ported over to Weber’s best selling line of gas grills.
What Lines Are Being Released?
The 2021 line of Genesis smart grills will include the Genesis EX-315, EX-335, and SX-335.
The Genesis grill line is designed to be Weber’s flagship line and will feature:
- Integrated Weber Connect technology
- Three industry-leading high-heat burners
- A Sear Zone
- 669 square inches of grilling space
- A LED lighting package for nighttime grilling
- A folding warming rack
- Porcelain-enameled, cast-iron cooking grates
- A porcelain-enameled lid
The Genesis EX-335 and SX-335 will come with an additional side burner while the SX-335 will have a stainless steel lid and cooking grates.
The Spirit line of entry-level mid-sized, standup smart grills will include the SX-315. The SX-315 will come equipped with:
- 529 square inches of grilling space
- A warming rack
- porcelain-enameled, cast-iron cooking grates
- A porcelain-enameled lid
- Integrated Weber Connect technology
Both sets of grills will come in stainless steel or black finishes and all models feature a 10-year limited warranty.
What does Weber Connect technology offer?
The first thing to note is that, despite acquiring June, the new range of Weber grills won’t automatically cook your food for you, as the June Oven does.
However, the integrated Weber Connect system does everything but do the grilling for you. The Weber Connect system and its app features:
- Real-time updates – Wireless temperature probes and either a digital readout on the grill or an update on the Weber app mean you don’t have to lift the lid to check how your food is cooking.
- Flip and serve readouts – You’ll now get an audible notification from the digital readout on the grill, or a push notification on your app, to tell you when it’s the perfect time to flip your food and when it’s time to serve it.
- Step-By-Step Guides – An excellent resource for new pitmasters, the Weber Connect system integrates the huge range of grilling guides on the Weber app with real-time temperature monitoring to make cooking as easy as possible.
- WiFi connectivity – Being able to monitor your grill remotely means no more long cold nights sat outside babysitting a brisket. You’ll still need to put the time in to cook the perfect brisket, but you can now do it from the comfort of your couch.
- App-based inspiration – The Weber app comes with a huge range of grilling recipes and techniques that represent an excellent source of inspiration for new pitmasters.
- Fuel level monitoring – Perhaps one of the most useful features of the Weber Connect system is that it allows you to instantly check the amount of gas or propane left in your tank on both the grill and your phone.
Is this a big deal or marketing fluff?
We are big believers in this technology for smokers. When you are cooking low and slow it makes a lot of sense.
But for grills where temps change fast and you might need to pull a steak off quickly to avoid overcooking how well is this tech going to work?
It’s hard to beat the speed a reliability of an instant-read meat thermometer like the Thermapen MK4 for that job.
Before we can make our final verdict we need to wait until we get our hands on the units for testing. It certainly promises to make the whole process more streamlined and Weber has clearly committed to making this work.
The new line of Weber Connect Smart grills is expected to launch in spring this year.
