Customer reviews from weber.com
Weber - Connect Smart Grilling Hub - Gray
Average customer rating
3.6
(156 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 156 reviews
5 Stars
67
4 Stars
28
3 Stars
19
2 Stars
11
1 Star
31
67%of customers recommend this product.
(
92 out of
138)
Customer Reviews for Weber - Connect Smart Grilling Hub - Gray
Customer Rating
5
Grilling Hub
on April 14, 2021
Posted by: GHK1
from Kennesaw GA
Gender:Female
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Weber connect app is very good and easy to use. Makes grilling simple and easy. The display of the temperature is large which is a nice feature. It takes the guess work out of grilling! I like it!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
5
So neat
on April 13, 2021
Posted by: Mjackson78
from OR, USA
Gender:Male
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] It's neat to see all the new gadgets they come up with these days. This was really helpful when grilling. Just connect to your phone and you have all the help you could ever need. I hope to be able to use it more when the weather gets better.
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
5
Smart grilling
on April 12, 2021
Posted by: EnikoMS
from Starkville, MS
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] My husband is a pretty avid griller and the Weber Smart Grilling Hub is the best gadget for our grill. You can connect to your phone and cook your meals perfectly. You can see the internal temperature of whatever you cook in the app, no need to lift the lid. We are big fan of this smart product and highly recommend it.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
4
Upped My Grill Game, Some Issues
on April 12, 2021
Posted by: DetailzGuy
from Millersville, PA
Gender:Male
[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. :)
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
5
Smart grilling!!
on April 9, 2021
Posted by: AudiDad88
from San Diego, CA
Gender:Male
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The best gadget I own for the grill! Nothing beats having a grilling hub that connects to my phone so I can cook our meals perfectly. I don’t have to even lift the lid, just open the app and can see the internal temperature of whatever we are cooking. I had a few friends over and let’s just say they purchased one right away. No more days opening the lid and hoping the cook is just right. Now with the Weber Connect Smart Hub I can enjoy time with the family as our meals are cooked. Big fan and highly recommend. Easy and smart is the best of both worlds!!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
5
The best
on April 9, 2021
Posted by: Kari1990
from San tan valley, az
Gender:Female
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] My husband and I are pretty avid grillers and he smokes a lot of meat. So this has been such a life saver. We’ve always been really attentive to the meat but the Weber hub makes life so much easier. It will tell you when the meat reaches temp, and if your grill has dropped below a certain degree, all on your cell phone!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
1
Would have been better if it came with DIRECTIONS!
on April 8, 2021
Posted by: CAPM
from Cleveland Ohio
This was a Christmas gift from my husband. Haven't been able to use it until the weather got better. Today, opened up the package to find there are NO DIRECTIONS, only a little "Quick Start Guide" that is not helpful. It doesn't tell you that it won't turn on until the probes are plugged in and it's fully charged - would have been helpful to know it can take up to 8 hrs for a full charge. OR that you have to download the owners manual from weber's website - but again, no reference and it took a lot of fishing to find it. Not everyone is techno-fluent and this was not very intuitive. I may change my opinion once I'm able to use this but that will take another 7.5 hours for it to fully charge.
Response from weber.comBy Weber Grills, Consumer Care, April 11, 2021
Hi! We appreciate you taking the time to provide your feedback regarding the Weber Connect Smart grilling hub. It is unfortunate to hear that it did not come with the instructions. Our support team at Weber would be happy to assist with any questions you may have along the way. Please reach out via phone at 800-446-1071 or by email at support@weberstephen.com. Thank you!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com
Customer Rating
5
Awesome grill mate
on April 7, 2021
Posted by: Chrystal731
from Tarboro, NC
Gender:Female
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is perfect kind of turns your grill into a smart grill . Perfect temperature readings as well . Great for any thing you are grilling rather it be steak chicken or porkchop . It shows the cooking temp and has easy to read instructions for pairing the device with your phone with an easy accessible app . Even If you're new to grilling this is definitely the best tool to help along the way .it's worth the money
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting weber.com