Connect Smart Grilling Hub

It's practical, though the app could be more user-friendly. It comes with two sensors: one for the meat and another for the grill.

Works great. Very easy to use and accurate temperature readings. Have used 1 probe for single meat being smoked, and up to 4 probes when smoking 3-4 meats. Generally use with my pellet smoker, gas grill, charcoal grill and for indoor oven. I also take with me on family vacations.

I am now able to monitor and control all aspects of grilling and smoking on the Weber. I can maintain a consistent temperature in the grill while monitoring the temperature of the meat being cooked. So far I have smoked a turkey and a pork shoulder with excellent results and grilled some filets to perfection. A must have for serious outdoor cooking!!

I bought this grill less than a week ago and it arrived with tape all over it and when you pull the tape off the tape residue is still on like the stainless part of the grill. Not sure how to remove that without damaging it.

Having an endless supply of mesquite wood I never use charcoal and this little Smokey Joe puts out the best tasting BBQ ever!, no matter what I cook meats, poultry, seafood and veggies. It’s all perfect, maybe I’ll change my name to……Smokey Joe!!!!

Skeptical about the preset programs, but worked phenomenally! Wifi feature is amazing! Bluetooth, alone, doesn’t work well with my grill area through walls and up levels, so the wifi is awesome! Magnet on back works well. You can also flip the base unit for a better viewing angle… the display auto rotates.

I bought the connect about a month ago because I am not confident in grilling. I alway worry about not getting meat done to the right temp and needed help. This is everything I needed to build my confidence. Mission accomplished! I have grilled multiple steaks with multiple do requests at the same time with no stress because of this device. The grill heat probe was an eye opener. The difference between the surface temp and the temp on the lid temp gauge was significant. The heat probe has made a huge difference for me. The problem for me is that “turning off” the connect does not TURN OFF the connect. The battery continues to drain until it’s dead. I grilled two nights ago with it fully charged. Turned it off as Weber says and this morning it was completely dead. I have to make sure I know we are grilling so I can pre-charge it. It can’t be a last minute decision. If not for the battery drainage issue I would have given it 5 stars. As of now, I wish I would have ought a replaceable battery version where I could just pull the batteries to conserve. Photo is my morning charge of the device.

Bought my Weber Spirit almost 18 years ago. Still looks and works great. I have watched my neighbor go through three grills during this time and I still have had no problems. Cleaned it up yesterday and was so happy with the way it looked i wanted to share The only thing not working is the igniter and it is most likely something easy to fix or replace. I love this grill and if I ever needed another it would be Weber all the way.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] TL/DR: Overall, is the Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub worth buying? The hub should’ve, but didn’t, come with four probes (1 ambient temp probe and three meat probes) and doesn’t have a storage container. The probe organizers are okay, with the help of gorilla glue to keep faceplates on. The hub (well-built, with magnetic base, clear, bright LED lights, and rechargeable battery, which takes a few hours to charge) and probes (with silicone indicators that will likely fail over time) serve their purpose really well, despite only being able to monitor three pieces of meat at a time (i.e., “programs,” if you buy two extra probes). I had no connectivity problems at all. Overall setup was really easy. The convenience is wonderful. The end result for both chicken breasts and filet (separate grill jobs) was spectacular… seriously upping my grill game. The hub, on its own is four stars (because it didn’t come with more probes or storage). The app is about a four (as long as you remember to select a meat probe when using a cooking program, and not the ambient temp probe). FWIW, I’d consider the purchase... in conjunction with other options on the market. Now, for the full review. I wanted to get a grill smart hub for some time. I love to grill, but knew I was overcooking my chicken (steaks never seemed to be an issue, or so I thought) admittedly, for years. My wife always wanted me to err on the side of caution and overcook our chicken breasts -- vs undercook, like I did my first time grilling chicken breasts… 22 years ago. Yes, she remembered and was scarred for life, apparently. I used meat thermometers, watched timing, flipped often to ensure even heating, etc. But, no matter what I did, while not burnt, the chicken was still overcooked. For me, the red meat always seemed to turn our fine (med rare for me; dead chuck for my wife). But, I finally had a chance to get a Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub. What I experienced follows. There are really two parts to the hub, the hub itself (along with accessories included) and the Webber Connect app. We’ll start with what you get in the box. OOB, the basic pack comes with instructions (quick start and more in-depth), an app download QR code, other advertising info, the hub (which has a magnetic base for attaching to a metal surface to stop the hub from sliding off your grill arms when grilling), a micro USB charging cable, and two meat probes (both have organizers, one has an ambient grate clip) -- no storage container of any sort (for the price, it should have one included). You first download the app to ensure it’s ready to go. You start and connect the hub to the app. With the probes disconnected, and by pressing down on the hub, you can check battery status. For my first grill session (the chicken breast), the hub was charged to 90% out of the box, but I charged it to full capacity anyway, which took about 10 minutes on a dedicated 10W USB power brick. The second grill session (the filet) started with a dead hub (only one week from the chicken). From dead battery to full charge took four hours. Hub indicators show the battery charge and bluetooth/wifi connectivity status. You press and hold down the hub body to start BT pair mode. Pairing the device with my Android phone was simple. My phone found the hub easily, as I had the two within a foot of each other. Note: with the app, you can, optionally, switch to wifi mode (giving you a much longer monitoring range). Regarding the probes… one of them serves only to keep track of ambient (room/grill space) temperature. The other is an actual meat probe. So, if you buy two more meat probes (and given the hub has four probe ports), you only have three meat probes. Probes and the wire mesh shrouds that surround the probe cables seem built well. The organizers keep the probe housing from fraying or breaking, general good sense and care when using the probes does the rest. Organizers are stackable, “clicking” on to one another, but cheaply built. The faceplate of one popped off when I pulled one organizer off the other. Inside there was a small metal weight to give the organizer some heft. I gorilla glued the front and back plates together. That should hold it. We’ll see if the other fails and needs glued too. Each probe has a color-coded silicone indicator on it to let you know which probe is connected where, nice (in theory) if you’re using a few probes. Instructions say not to let the silicone indicators touch heating elements, flame, etc. Following the instructions (keeping the indicator up and away from the heat as much as I could), I’ve had no issues with them catching fire, but after two grill sessions, they already show signs of melting/wear. With the probes attached to the hub, quick hub taps provide a readout of probe temps. Indicator lights show which probe’s temp is showing on the hub. I wanted to see how accurate the probes were before using them on the grill. Inside the house, I plugged them in and set them on my couch arm. My internal house temp was 72 degrees. The ambient probe read 81. The meat probe read 77. Hmmm. But, I still wanted to give it a go. While the hub charged, I connected the app. Setup was easy. The app allows you to configure hub WiFi and update the hub’s software (mine had the most current out of the box). The hub and probe temps appeared on the app dashboard (and confirmed the 72/81 degree temps). You can set up to four total cook programs (red meat, pork, poultry, lamb, fish), find recipes (for the same sets of meats), set and get grill temp alerts, and set timers. Or, you can simply tap Start Grill, identify your program, find and walkthrough recipe prep and execution, and/or set alerts/timers. Note that the app doesn’t know which probe is the monitoring probe and which is the meat probe. You have to remember to select your meat probe when starting/monitoring a program. The hub and the app should have a sync’d, dedicated ambient temp probe slot. We used the hub/app, so far, to grill boneless, skinless chicken breasts and filet (on different days). One cook program only applies to one type of meat and only one piece of probed meat in that meat type/program. I don’t know why they give you four meat programs when you only have three dedicated meat probes… maybe setting one program to start after the other? Anyway, this approach seems very limiting. You’re supposed to probe the biggest/thickest piece of meat in your meat program to ensure meat “doneness.” First, you get only one meat probe with the set (for the price, the kit should've come with four probes). Second, chicken breasts (and other meats) come in different widths and lengths. This means a) you need more probes; and, b) you have to create a separate chicken/meat program for each probe (if you have more than one meat probe, but only up to the three available meat probe ports). To a degree I get the approach. Afterall, you might do chicken, burgers, and steaks and would monitor each in their own program. But, you can still only monitor one piece of meat in each program. Consistently-sized cuts will be fine. But, different cuts and sizes need more personal monitoring. And, what if you wanted to cook more than three meat types at the same time? With the limitations OOB, I could only monitor one chicken breast or one filet remotely, the largest. I wasn’t thrilled with this, as I had a sense of how the bigger pieces were faring, but had to watch continually the smaller pieces (opening the grill and losing ambient heat). If you use a cook program, the app steps you through prep, grilling, and finishing. The ambient temp probe was great in helping monitor grill temp (allowing you to keep the lid closed more, which lets the meat reach internal temp faster). And, as long as you make sure to select the right probe, when starting grilling, the meat probe works well at letting me know when to flip the chicken/filet and when they reach internal temp. Both sessions, I was nervous about letting the app monitor the grilling for me. Initially I checked more than when I normally grill. But, eventually, I settled down and let the hub do its thing. I found that the ambient and meat probe temps were off by about 5 degrees, compared to my gas grill’s built-in ambient-heat thermometer and another meat thermometer I use to check temps. However, with an eye kept on the smaller pieces of chicken/filet, my family and I enjoyed the best-tasting, juiciest, perfectly-cooked (i.e, restaurant-quality chicken breasts and filet) we ever had. We couldn’t believe how good the meat was both times… pretty much cementing the fact that I was a mediocre grill cook at best. With the help of the Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub, I just seriously upped my game. Happy grilling, all. :)

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I love my Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub. This device really does take the guesswork out of cooking on the grill. I’m able to monitor up to four pieces of food at once. Customizing different cook settings is easy. WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity is easy to connect. The step-by-step grilling assistant makes grilling easier by giving me a countdown on when food is ready to be flipped and is finished cooking. I’m not wasting time cutting into the meat to see if it’s done and opening the lid on the grill and letting heat escape. Flip and serve notifications are accurate and helpful my meat tastes so much better after using this. I’m definitely happy with this product and the delicious end results.