So actually not a crock of shit, and pretty useful if you're grilling/smoking over long periods of time before/during a big party or something. Not all grilling is quick searing.
Sometimes new features aren't just gimmicks, you know?
On a lighter note, Weber does sound like a good name for a web browser.
In other words - the backlash over excessive data storage and retention is very much good thing, but let's be careful to try keep things in perspective a bit. Otherwise we run the risk of people not taking us seriously when it actually matters.
as we learn time and time again with this kind of thing, the scary things don't come from the data and metrics that they want, the scary things come as a form of collateral damage that occurs when the company does whatever they have to do in order to harvest the metrics that they're interested in.
Here's a devils' advocate leap that isn't too far from the realities of IoT devices: Company X's telemetry function is broken, allowing arbitrary remote code execution. The IoT device receives a command that causes property or personal damage -- or it becomes a node in a much larger destructive network.
These things happen when features get packed in faster than the security can follow.
Yeah, yeah, the Weber product is just a thermometer. It can still be a node in a malicious network, given attacker incentive.
This is a poor example -- it's an interface that accepted and expected inputs -- but I think it serves as a good example of IoT doing security wrong.
https://www.wired.com/story/snoo-smart-bassinet-vulnerabilit...
Now imagine what could be inferred from your meat grilling data.
I am not saying that that people go around doing nefarious things with your meat grilling data. In fact, there is a very good chance that it is not even being collected. Yet we live in a world that is hungry for data of virtually any type and in any form, which makes both data collection and nefariousness a possibility when that data is being handled by an Internet connected device. Personally, I find that possibility creepy - even if no harm is being done.
Some of your valves may be stuck, resulting in low output. Check all areas for rust, and clean it out if it's evident.
Gas grills are too often engineered for low cost builds. They rust easily, and require regular maintenance.
Good luck!
I still probably wouldn't use an IoT one, though.
I understand that if the thermometer is on th lid and not actually measuring the meat it's crap, but if it's measuring the same way as the IOT version, then the readout is fine on the lid.
I use an IoT thermometer so that I can monitor smoking progress over 13 or so hours and still do things like go to the hardware store.
Fire, knives and an apron with a pithy slogan - c'mon, how hard can it be?
Anyhow, folks who are serious about preparing smoked brisket, ribs, etc., are very particular about the temperature of both the air/smoke and the food. Two thermometers and maybe a computer-controlled fan or damper are not far outside the norm.
Haha, gadget as in IoT crap, maybe, but we're for-sure the market for: aeropress, sous-vide devices (yes some do them DIY but...), dedicated pizza ovens, and so on. You got a gadget to prepare food or drinks that already have other ways to prepare them, HN's not a crazy place to market it. Bonus if it's "sciency" or can be described as more "authentic".
But of course we're not like the stupid plebs falling for those silly devices we don't like.
(mind, I'm far from immune to this, so I'm not just casting stones at others—oh I am getting one of those pizza ovens at some point. That's happening.)
It's ok to not know something about a topic and not disingenuously comment about it.
Sure, you could go with a standard soil composition and add water on a schedule, then harvest when it feels best.
Or, you think of it as a system with inputs and outputs. If you can observe the system and manipulate the variables (soil composition analysis, moisture measurements, temperature control and sunlight optimization, etc) accordingly, then your yield can improve dramatically.
Any nursery sells a multitude of tools to measure and manipulate those variables, and farms are a whole other beast of systems design.
It's much the same with cooking meat. Control the variables, improve the result.
Jokes aside, cooking meat properly should almost always have a leave in thermometer for anything that isn't being seared.
Personally, I wouldn't use an app for this and instead just use a remote sensor and dedicated monitor, but I don't fault anyone for using an app.
But even if it were grill temp the gauge on the BBQ lid is more of a guide than an actual temperature. They are highly inaccurate, more like "cold, warm, hot" than "400 degrees".
For most stuff just dialing in the temp comparatively is fine, so the grill gauge works. You know you want to grill your steak when the thing reads 600 degrees, and your chicken at 400. But those temps are certainly not remotely accurate.
For some other things (e.g. BBQ/smokers/etc.) getting exact temps correct is key. In those cases you'll require something much more accurate than the grill gauge even just to measure grill temp. Having something wireless is pretty handy in this case, so you can watch a movie in the basement and check on your meat temps without walking upstairs every 15 minutes.
This whole attitude to cooking is also weird. Cooking is in large part experimenting, seeing what works and what doesn't, learning and iterating. Sometimes the results will be bad, often they'll be sub-optimal but the variance is part of what makes it and we lose something by trying to turn it into an exact science. If you want something precisely timed and always the same I suggest McDonalds.
Actually, if you want something precisely timed and always the same I suggest a Michelin-starred restaurant.
If you've ever eaten at McDonald's you'd know the quality control, well, leaves a lot to be desired.
Your comment tells me you don't really know anything about cooking at all.
This is an awesome feature for a smoker, which needs fairly consistent temperature for like 10-14hrs.