Traeger Grills announced this week the launch of its first Apple Watch app, which allows users to both monitor and control the cooking on its WiFire compatible connected grills.
In the press announcement, Traeger said its Apple Watch app is the first of its kind in the industry. That may or may not be true, but regardless of its place in history, it’s easy to see the utility this type of app could bring to the grilling experience. Smoking a brisket or ribs takes long hours, and the freedom of controlling the grill from your wrist anywhere you are (even when you’re out, away from your home) would definitely come in handy.
Features of the new Traeger Apple Watch app include:
- Real-time grill temperature monitoring and control even if you’re away from your house
- Probe temperature setting and monitoring
- A timer to notify cooks when to sauce, check or pull the food
- Pellet-level monitoring, to know when to re-load the hopper
- “Super Smoke Mode,” which lets users blast their food with 100 percent hardwood smoke between 165 and 225 degrees
The WiFire grills were already pretty convenient for rookie grillers like myself. With the connected phone app, I was able to make pretty great ribs and briskets without ever having done so before. This is totally a first-world problem, but moving that monitoring from the iPhone to the Apple Watch means that I don’t need to carry my phone around to check on my grilling.
Even though it may not feel like it for most of the country, spring is around the corner, which means that grilling season is not that far off. And backyard barbecues are definitely getting high-tech upgrades. Smart oven maker, June was recently acquired by Weber and its connected cooking OS has been integrated into a new line of Weber gas grills.
Even though our BBQ parties will probably still need to be socially distant this summer, with connected tech, being away from your grill won’t be a problem.
