It’s hard to put into words just how important barbecuing is to our society and civilisation. Thousands and thousands of years ago, when that first human decided to throw some raw ingredients into a fire and then eat the results, they inadvertently became the world’s first ‘cook’. The rest, as they say, is history. While there are now countless methods of cooking and preparing food, barbecuing has become an artform in its own right, with chefs and home cooks becoming near-obsessive in the different facets and intricacies of this ancient way of cooking. Barbecuing itself has become a social event as well as a cooking method, but with every memory of an enjoyable afternoon in the garden there’s one of burnt or undercooked food. Barbecuing has never really been the most foolproof cooking method, as it requires lots of attention and skill to do well. For many of us, getting the perfect level of cooking is often a case of luck, but with its latest innovative range of barbecues, Weber® is aiming to change that.

Since 1952, when George Stephen designed the original Weber® kettle barbecue, the company has been leading the way in terms of both innovation and quality and its products have continued to develop and evolve over the past sixty years. This has culminated in its brand-new range of smart barbecues – its most technologically advanced to date. Weber® barbecues have always been renowned for being ultra-reliable and user-friendly but until now this didn’t mean that even seasoned home grillers couldn’t occasionally undercook a burger or get uneven amounts of char on their vegetables. This is where the brand-new new Genesis II® and Spirit® smart barbecues come into play.

Using Weber Connect technology, which has been integrated into these models through state-of-the-art control units located on the side tables of the grills, you’ll now be able to connect your smart phone directly to the barbecue to access a range of features. This allows for a level of precision that has never before been associated with this stripped-back form of cookery, but in an incredibly accessible way. Guiding you through the process step-by-step, the Weber Connect app tells you everything from how long your meat needs to be cooked for, depending on your desired level of doneness, to when you need to flip it in order to ensure an even finish. This real-time guidance is made possible by a temperature probe that’s inserted into the meat and which provides constant updates to your smartphone, leaving nothing to chance whatsoever.

Not only do Weber®’s smart barbecues revolutionise barbecuing for all levels of cook in terms of ensuring the cooking is on-point, they also make for a far more relaxing cooking experience. Think about how many times you’ve been over at someone’s house during the summer and the person in charge of the barbecue ends up being stuck to the spot for hours on end. The Weber Connect app means that no longer needs to be the case; you can simply get your Weber® smart barbecue up to temperature, put the probe into the meat, close the lid and leave it to cook away. Whenever anything does need doing to the meat, you’ll get a notification straight to your phone, so there’s no need to be constantly checking and more importantly no risk of returning to burnt meat.