Z Grills Multitasker 11002B Review: How Does Z Grills First WiFi Grill Stack Up?

The 11002B is Z Grill’s flagship pellet grill and has been designed to compete with the high-end offerings from brands like Weber and Traeger. 

They’ve finally added WiFi, along with a host of other improvements. There’s also a brand new design. We’ll just say that the looks appear to be highly influenced by the Weber SmokeFire. 

The 11002B also comes with a flagship price that isn’t too far off the competition. 

I’ve been cooking on the 10002B for the last month to see how it compares. 

In this review, I’ll run through the features and performance to help you make your own decision.

NOTE: At the time of publishing this review, the 11002B is sold out, with more stock expected in August.

Z Grills Multitasker 11002B overview & first impressions

The 11002B boasts 1068 square inches of total cooking space between the bottom and top racks. The racks themselves are porcelain-coated steel, which minimizes food sticking to the surface.

The 28-pound hopper gives you roughly 30 hours of continuous cooking time.

Z grills state you can fit 5 racks of ribs, but I think that’s a conservative estimate. Even without the top rack, you can easily fit six racks of trimmed St. Louis style ribs.

The cooking capacity is one the best in the price range. You get a little more space than both the Traeger Ironwood 885 and the Weber SmokeFire EX6.

You get two included meat probes that plug directly into the grill’s controller. 

One of the best features of this grill is the whole-length gasket where the lid meets the body, keeping smoke and temperature inside the cooking chamber and maximizing fuel efficiency. 

The lid not only has the aforementioned gasket, but is also double walled for superior heat retention.

The whole-length front shelf is a boon for storage and workspace and comes standard vs. some competitors.

The four rotating casters make this thing easy to navigate solo even though it’s pushing 200lbs in weight. 

The controller has added modes: Super Smoke, Prime, and Keep Warm which makes your day easier. You have a deeper smoky flavor than regular pellet grills. You can prime the auger to bring the temperature back up after opening the lid, and you can keep food warm without overcooking it.

Lastly, it comes with a cutting board that sits on top of the pellet hopper. Initially, I thought it was a kitschy add-in, but I found myself reaching for it throughout my tests, using it to prep, wrap and slice meat. Very handy!

The grill reaches your set temperature super fast and keeps it there very well.

Let’s take a look at the full specs for the 11002B:

Cooking Area	1068 sq in (693 main rack + 375 top rack)
Pellet Hopper Capacity	28 lbs
Temperature Range	160°F – 500°F (indirect heat)
Shelves and Storage	Whole-length front shelf
Construction	Coated Steel
WiFi and App	Yes
Warranty	3 years
Price	Check Latest Price

What we like:

• WiFi enabled – Z Grills first foray into WiFi capabilities is a success. Easily control the grill temperature in 5°F increments, and check the temperature of the meat with the two included meat probes.

• Lid gasket – I don’t see Z Grills advertising this, but it’s the first time I’ve seen one of their grills have a lid gasket and it works wonders. It keeps the smoke flavor and the heat inside the cook chamber, so you’re not losing precious flavor or using a tong of pellets. Huge improvement over leaky pellet grill lids. 

• Smart PID controller – The PID controller gives the 11002B excellent temperature stability. This grill stays within 5°F of its target at any given moment. Where some pellet grills are known to swing in bouts of 15°F – 30°F, the PID technology Z Grills has implemented reduces that dramatically.

What we don’t like:

• Basic app functionality – Being their first go in the WiFi segment, Z Grills app is pretty basic. You can change and monitor temperatures, but it can be a bit cumbersome to connect and customize settings.

• Light on searing – The 11002B does reach its 500°F top temperature, but searing meat can be challenging. Adding a burger or bacon press or some sort of weight to the meat helps in getting a better sear on the grates. 

The grill is built like a tank with heavy-duty coated steel. Everything fits together and seals well giving you fantastic temperature control. 

It comes with a 3-year warranty and money-back guarantee in case you had any concerns or hold-ups with purchasing.

You might also want to check the Z Grills website as they offer several package bundles you can choose from.

Grill assembly

Assembly is fairly straightforward and should take one person 30 minutes to an hour to assemble.

There are a couple instances where a second person comes in handy holding things in place, but it’s not necessary. 

You get a printed manual you can follow, but the easiest option is to refer to the manufacturer’s assembly video.

Operating the 11002B

Z Grills makes it easy to get up and grilling in no time, and the 11002B takes that to another level with WiFi capabilities. 

All you need to do is add wood pellets, turn on the unit, set your temperature and walk away. Keeping an eye on the app to make sure your meat and grill temperatures are where they’re supposed to be, and adjusting as needed. You’re freed up to go about your day more so with the app.

Yet, the grill doesn’t need to be connected to WiFi to operate. Feel free to use it as you would any other pellet grill. The added features alone make it worth it. 

All-new controller

The 11002B’s controller hosts a bevy of new modes that up the ante for pellet grill cooking.

• Super Smoke Mode – The Super Smoke mode is for those who can’t seem to get that deep, smoky flavor into their meat. It’s a long running criticism of pellet grills. Z Grills addresses this with the Super Smoke mode. Use it to boost the smoke and add extra flavor to your food with a button push. The tight seal in the cooking chamber makes sure the smoke has adequate time to infuse into the food.

• Prime Function – The Prime function reduces startup times and gets the internal temperature back up faster after you open the lid. Use it to speed up the auger and get pellets into the firebox faster for a short amount of time.

• Keep Warm Mode – There’s not much worse than mistiming your food and it getting cold before people have a chance to eat it. The Keep Warm mode combats this by lowering the temperature to 165°F like a warming cabinet would at a restaurant. Your food will stay warm while not overcooking. 

Cooking on the 11002B

I put the longevity and temperature control to the test by cooking two racks of spare ribs and a 17 pound whole packer brisket.

The temperature stayed at a steady 250°F throughout, and I didn’t have to refill the hopper at all, even pushing the 16 hour mark for the brisket. 

A water pan along with spritzing the meat every hour helped to keep moisture in the cooking chamber.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of smoke flavor infused with the meat, especially the brisket. The 11002B puts out a steady stream of quality smoke, and the super smoke mode can add to this if you prefer a heavier flavor.

Monitoring the grill temperature and the meat temperature from the app was by far my favorite feature. It ran overnight with no issues and I didn’t have to worry about getting up intermittently to check the fuel or temperature.

Testing and benchmarks

Let’s look at a couple of standard benchmarks to see how fast the grill gets to target temperature and how much variance you can expect.

Time taken to get to temp

Initial startup took the grill 15 minutes to get to 250°F per the PID controller.

From startup it took about 25 minutes to get to the maximum temperature of 500°F. With such a large cooking chamber, I thought it would take longer to heat up, but with great seals and the lid gasket it went rather quickly. 

Temperature variance and accuracy

To test temperature accuracy throughout the cooking chamber, I used the ThermoPro TP27 Long Range Wireless Meat Thermometer, and set probes at the middle, left and right sides of the grill at grate level. 

Grill Setting	Left	Middle	Right
250°F	248°F	252°F	253°F
500°F	501°F	505°F	505°F

This grill knocked it out of the park in terms of accuracy and temperature swing. The variance was negligible from each probe to the built-in thermostat.

The temperatures were stable and steady throughout the testing. I have no qualms about this grill’s performance. 

Accessories

The 11002B already comes with a slew of standard accessories that you would have to pay extra for with comparable models like the Weber SmokeFire.

Its whole-length front shelf and included cutting board are extremely useful when preparing or pulling off food, but it’s the gasket and double-walled lids that really amp up the efficiency of this model.

Combine that with the large cooking area, and you get an enormous bang for your buck.

To round out your kit, Z Grills offers a wide range of grilling and cooking accessories as well as branded pellets. From grill mats to thermal blankets, they have your cooking needs covered with their branded product offerings. 

The covers are highly recommended and almost a necessity if storing your grill outside. You’ll want to protect your investment from the elements so it will last you well past the 3-year warranty mark.

Their proprietary pellets come in a variety of hardwoods and blends. Z Grills pellets burn very clean with little to no ash flying around in the cooking chamber. I’ve used pellets that were very ashy and would settle on the food as it cooked, and you don’t get that with Z Grills’ product. 

Should you buy the 11002B?

The 11002B is one of the best performing pellet grills in its price range with better features and temperature control. 

Visually, it’s reminiscent of the Weber Smokefire EX6, but the Z Grills 11002B comes standard with features the Weber does not, such as shelving and storage space.

The app experience is a bit on the clunky side, but doesn’t deter from the WiFi capabilities, and I fully expect Z Grills to update and reiterate their app as they get more and more into the WiFi grill space. 

The 11002B with its quality build and performance is worth every penny.