If you've been grilling or smoking meats for any amount of time, there is a pretty good chance that you've run into a weber product along the way.
With over 70 years of experience, Weber has become one of the best-known names in outdoor cooking, and a ton of SMS staff started their barbecue journey on Weber products.
From classic kettle grills to barbecue workhorses like the smokey mountain, or even fun hacks like the Smokey Joe/smokey mountain mini, Weber is one of the building blocks of barbecue/grill culture.
With the iGrill line of meat thermometers, Weber has created a beautiful selection of wireless, Bluetooth thermometer probes that make it easy to monitor your meat from anywhere in your home!
We loved each product individually throughout our testing, but the iGrill2 really impressed us with its size, versatility, and range.
All of these thermometers offer something different, and it was a lot of fun to see how they stack up against one another!
Weber Bluetooth BBQ Thermometer Show-Down!
Weber iGrill2 Bluetooth Thermometer
What we liked:
- Monitors up to four probes simultaneously
- Includes probe/cord winders
- Smart display turns off automatically to preserve battery life
- Easy to use smartphone app
- Seemless Bluetooth connection
- Great wireless range
- Runs on 2 AA batteries
What needs improvement:
- Only includes 2 probes
- No included storage case
Look and Feel
The iGrill 2 is a really sleek thermometer. With a simple but bold aesthetic, the interface on the thermometer is incredibly minimal.
The display is a classic, segmented digit style readout that provides current temperature readings and cycles through each connected probe in 3-second intervals.
Below the displays are two arrows and the power button. You can use the arrows to scroll through the temperatures manually while the power button is self-explanatory.
The display will automatically go to "sleep" to save battery life after a period of inactivity, which is just fine because, in reality, you'll be using the Weber smart device application to monitor your temperatures.
The battery compartment is located on the bottom of the thermometer under the detachable magnetic base station. You can attach the magnet to any steel surface, but it's best to keep it away from the hot sides of your smoker or oven as the plastic isn't made to stand up to high heat situations.
One feature we absolutely love to see here at SMS is included cord storage and storage cases. While the iGrill2 doesn't come with a storage case, it does come with cord winders for the probes. The cord winders protect the cables when stored and keep them from tangling up like headphone cords tend to do.
It was a bummer to see that the iGrill only included two probes despite having the capacity for four probes at a time. The probes themselves were well made, and our testers really enjoyed the silicone wrapping on the probe/cable connection.
The angled design of the Weber pro probes is very convenient and makes it easy to position the probe in tighter smoking chambers or on more significant, more awkward cuts of meat.
Cooking with the iGrill 2.
As always, we like to test all of our thermometers under real-world barbecue conditions. We used the Weber iGrill2 to prepare a perfectly smoked texas style beef brisket.
First, we slathered our brisket in mustard and poured on the salt and pepper rub that makes Texas-style brisket unique. Then we preheated our smoker and got down to playing with the iGrill2
Setting up the app.
Once the meat was prepped and the smoker on its way, we turned our attention to the iGrill2 and Weber iGrill app.
Turning the thermometer on was easy; we loaded batteries in and pressed the power button, then the thermometer sprang to life.
All of the work to connect the thermometer happens on your phone, tablet, or another smart device. You'll need to ensure your Bluetooth connection is turned on before pairing, but that's all the prep work you need.
Once you open the iGrill app, it walks you through the setup and automatically pairs with any thermometer in range.
Taking readings and monitoring the pit.
Thanks to the preset temperature options, it's easy to get your thermometer programmed and ready to go.
You can rename the probes themselves to tell at a glance which product is at what temperature, and you can also set custom programs that are tailored to your needs versus the preset options.
For our tests, we used 1 probe to monitor the temperature of our brisket and the other to monitor the ambient temperature of the smoker.
The Weber probes are built to withstand temperatures up to 572°f and can be used for candy-making, deep-frying, or brewing, so they can absolutely stand up to the 250°f of our smoker.
Measuring the temperature of our smoker and protein from the application was super straightforward.
Like many wireless thermometer apps, the Weber iGrill app lists all the probe temperatures on the main dashboard. Each probe is labeled according to the product cooking and temperature desired. For grilled meats, this means you'll be working with traditional ranges like "medium rare", "medium" and "med-well".
You can access more detailed information about the progress of each thermometer probe by selecting the probe and viewing graphs that outline the temperature range and timeline for each protein or preset.
Knowledge is power, and the iGrill app provides tons of helpful information about your smoking process and barbecue/grilling progress.
Weber iGrill3 Bluetooth Thermometer
What we liked:
- Fully integrated with many weber products
- Seemless Bluetooth connectivity
- Great wireless range
- Easy to use Weber iGrill app
- Able to control the lights on your Weber Genesis ii grill
- Able to monitor the fool level of your grill
What needs improvement:
- Only works with integrated Weber products
- Requires mounting and wiring to set up.
Look and Feel
Unlike the iGrill 2 and the iGrill mini, which are standalone thermometers, the iGrill 3 is a fully integrated thermometer product purpose-built to work with a specific set of Weber Genesis LX products.
When you open the iGrill 3, you are presented with a pile of parts that require installation before you can power up the thermometer and get going.
You'll need to follow the directions for your specific weber product to install, but we found mounting was pretty straightforward.
The thermometer runs on 3 AAA batteries and includes the same weber probes and cord winders found in the iGrill 2.
Once mounted, you are ready to start grilling, but you can also install the included magnetic fuel sensor to keep track of how much propane your grill has directly from the smartphone app.
Additionally, if you're using the Weber Genesis ii LX, you can attach the wiring harness, which allows you to control the lights on the grill from the iGrill app!
Once mounted to your Weber Genesis grill, the iGrill3 has a very utilitarian look. With a black plastic case surrounded by a thick steel-colored rim, distinctive Weber branding, and a single power button front and center on the thermometer base, there is relatively little to interact with on the thermometer itself.
Cooking with the iGrill 3
Using the iGrill3 was super similar to operating the iGrill2. The only significant difference was instead of the thermometer being a separate accessory; the iGrill3 is fully integrated into the Weber Genesis grills.
Both thermometers can support up to four probes and utilize the same iGrill application to track thermometer temperatures via a smart device.
Setting up your iGrill 3.
Once the thermometer is mounted to the grill, the setup for the iGrill three looks very similar to the setup for the iGrill 2.
The iGrill app walks you through connecting to the thermometer via Bluetooth and once connected, you set preset temperature options or custom programs the exact same way as with the iGrill2.
You can use all of the same preset programs and alarms for the iGrill3. You can set custom temperature settings to monitor barbecue proteins or the temperature of your grill throughout the cooking process.
Monitoring your Genesis Grill Wirelessly.
While the iGrill2 can only provide temperature data and information about your protein's cooking progress, the iGrill3 can provide a lot more data about your Weber Genesis Grill.
In addition to the ability to monitory your steaks, chicken, pork shoulder, or brisket from up to 150 ft away, the Weber iGrill3 can give you up to date information about the level of propane in your propane tank and also control the lights on your grill if your lucky enough to be using a Genesis ii LX grill!
It took us a bit to find a friend with a Genesis Grill to test the iGrill 3, but once we did, we decided to test it by grilling some insanely tasty ribeye steaks.
We forgot to bring our camera for the actual testing process, but during our tests, we found this thermometer to work almost identically to the iGrill2, which is to say, it worked really well.
The wireless range for the iGrill3 was strong, and we were able to keep in constant contact with the Weber Genesis grill from anywhere in the backyard we used for testing and almost everywhere on the first floor of the home. We did begin to lose contact into the front yard and on the second floor of the house, but the lot and home themselves were quite large, and we were well beyond the 150 ft range when we lost connection.
We set our thermometer to the desired temperature for each steak, med-rare for me and medium for my testing partner, and in about 12 minutes, the steaks had reached our preferred doneness level.
While many folks rely on time or touch to gauge the doneness of their steaks, a thermometer is a surefire way to get a perfect steak every time, and the iGrill 3 did an excellent job of providing up to the second temperature data!
The only issue we can imagine with the iGrill3 is the inability o remove the thermometer from the Genesis and use it with another cooking application. While you could potentially remove the thermometer and use it somewhere else, it isn't as wholly sealed on the backside as the iGrill2 because it is intended to be mounted on a grill providing that final protection to the thermometer base.
Overall, the iGrill3 is inherently the same as the iGrill2, just purpose-built to attach to your Weber Genesis Grill. If you're only planning on cooking on your Genesis grill, then the iGrill3 is an excellent choice, but if you want to be able to take your thermometer and use it elsewhere, this might not be the product for you.
Weber iGrill Mini Bluetooth Thermometer
What we liked:
- Super Small Size
- Great Range
- Easy to use and set up
- 150 hours of battery life
- Easy to use iGrill application
What needs improvement:
- Only supports 1 probe
- Runs on button cell batteries.
Look and Feel
While the iGrill 2 and iGrill 3 are incredibly similar, like variations on the same theme, the iGrill Mini is a definite departure from the first two.
With a much smaller form factor, support for only 1 probe, and only 1 external control, a power button, the iGrill Mini is a sleek and compact wireless Bluetooth thermometer.
The actual thermometer base of the iGrill Mini is about the size of a golf ball and it sits in a black plastic magnetic base that can be easily attached to the side of your grill, oven, or any other magnetic surface. Like the iGrill2, you're going to want to keep the thermometer away from the side or top of your smoker because it will get far hotter than the plastic is made to withstand, and you may notice the thermometer body melting or warping because of the heat.
Both the iGrill 2 and 3 Bluetooth thermometers are powered by AAA batteries; however, because of the size requirements of the iGrill mini, it uses button batteries for power. This isn't a huge issue, but all the SMS pitmasters prefer AAA or AA battery sources because they are easy to find, inexpensive, and likely have some lying around should you run out of power mid-cook.
Button batteries are great because of their long battery life, but there's nothing worse than your thermometer running out of juice and not having a replacement around. Trust us, we know.
Cooking with the iGrill Mini
This will sound repetitive but operating the iGrill Mini is almost identical to the iGrill 2 and 3. The main difference between these three thermometers is the number of probes each model can handle.
The iGrill 2 and 3 can accommodate up to 4 probes at once, while the iGrill mini is only built to handle one at a time.
The thermometer probes are identical from model to model, and all 3 of these thermometers include cord winders, which is a huge plus in our estimation.
We tested the iGrill mini during the same brisket smoking session we used the iGrill 2 for, and it was nice to test these models side by side.
Measuring temperatures wirelessly.
Setting up the iGrill mini works the same as the iGrill 2 and 3. Because the mini has no external controls other than a power button, all interaction with your thermometer will occur within the app.
You can set custom thermometer settings or preset programs once you've connected the thermometer to the iGrill app via your smart device. Still, you can only select one program or temperature at a time.
In our opinion, the greatest value in a wireless Bluetooth bbq thermometer is the ability to monitor both the temperature of your protein and the temperature of your cooking chamber simultaneously from afar. Because the iGrill mini only supports one probe at a time, this defeats a large part of the purpose of a wireless pit thermometer and makes it only useful in certain cooking situations.
Overall, the iGrill Mini is a great little thermometer, but it could be a ton better if it supported more than one probe.
Which of these Weber Bluetooth BBQ thermometers is best for you?
At the end of the day, it's clear through our testing that Weber makes great thermometers and excellent cooking appliances.
That being said, not all of these thermometers will be perfect for everyone.
The iGrill 3, for example, is perfect if you have a Weber Genesis Grill and want to integrate temperature measurement directly into your cooking system. With the ability to monitor both the temperature of your grill, proteins and cooking fuel, the iGrill3 is perfect if you have a Genesis grill. However, it's probably not a great idea to get one if you don't already have or plan to buy a Genesis product.
The iGrill mini is fantastic if you only care about measuring one temperature at a time. With all the same features and functionality of the iGrill 2, the iGrill Mini is a great thermometer. Still, if you want to measure multiple temperatures simultaneously, you probably want to go in a different direction.
In our opinion, the iGrill 2 is the best all-around barbecue thermometer of the bunch. It is easy to use, supports up to four probes at a time, and has a great overall range. While it didn't quite make the cut for our Best Meat Thermometer List, this is an awesome thermometer, and if you love Weber products, you'll definitely be happy with your purchase!
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