iGrillmini – Barbeque Review

A few years ago the folks at iDevices launched a revolutionary product called the iGrill, which was one of the first app-enabled cooking devices. iDevices are the same group who brought you the iShower water resistant Bluetooth speaker. Recently, the folks at iDevices launched the new iGrillmini. The iGrillmini is designed to give you the same peace of mind and reduce the guess work on the barbeque as the iGrill iDevices packed in a lot of new technology and updates. According to iDevices they pride themselves on having a fully in-house team of engineers, designers, marketers and product specialists who have a dedication for evolving technology and a serious relationship with their smartphone. Recently, this creative bunch allowed us at Busted Wallet to get our hands on the iGrillmini and we were happy to give this a go on our grill. Continue on for our full review…

Tech Specs:

• Single Probe
• Bluetooth Smart Connection
• Extended Battery Life
• Smart LED
• Proximity Wake-Up
• Connect Multiple At Once
• Convenient Mounting
• Measures -22°F to 572°F or -30°C to 300°C

Design:

When you open the iGrillmini box you will be surprised by the device’s small stature, but rest assured underneath its exterior is a device packed full of options to make sure you cook your meat perfectly. Upon use, the first thing you will notice is the smart LED. The new Smart LED allows you to see the progress of your cooking without lifting the lid or cutting into the meat. The LED progresses through four different stages so at any point you can check to see the progress of your meat. This is also a good indicator of when you should flip your meat. The iGrillmini also features a magnetic mount which will allow you to place this anywhere on your grill so you can easily spot the LED colors to know the status of your food.

Accuracy:

The true test of any meat thermometer is the accuracy. I can recall getting an expensive electronic meat thermometer and putting into the Thanksgiving Day turkey only to have it fail within in the first 30 minutes. Instances like these make people skeptical of using these devices. However, the iGrillmini restored our faith in using a device. Our first test was with some juicy beef tenderloins. We set the App up to cook the steaks at medium rare which is right around 130 degrees Fahrenheit. We slid the prong into our tenderloin and threw it on the grill. We set a timer after 8 minutes to alert us to flip the beef. After 8 minutes the temperature of the beef was right around 102 degrees. After that we could check the app for status on our beef or look at the LED to see what stage the meat was at. Finally our meat hit 130 degrees and we pulled the steaks off the grill. We cut the tenderloin right down the middle to a juicy red center that was a perfect medium rare. After our first test run the iGrillmini has become a staple on the barbeque. Overall, in our testing sessions the iGrillmini was extremely accurate and helped us cook the meat perfectly every time. In over 10 sessions we have not over cooked a single piece of meat, much to the delight of our guests.

Bluetooth:

The iGrillmini touts Bluetooth connectivity up to 150 feet and we can confirm that this is accurate. The only thing we will caution is that 150 feet is not a very long distance, so if you have a grill in your backyard and you are going in and out of the house you can lose connectivity very easily. Connecting to Bluetooth was extremely easy but we did get out of range a few times and were not able to get an update on the how the meat was cooking.

App:

The iGrillmini is support by the iDevices app which is only available in the App store. The iDevices Connected app allows you to monitor all your food temperatures and graphs using one convenient dashboard. The App was very easy to use and was fun to play around with. You can set timers for your cooking sessions, search for recipes, and share your updates via social media. The best feature for us was the simplest one, the iDevices App has pre-loaded the temperatures for a variety of foods so you can select which meat you are cooking and which temperature you want it to cook. Once you select the temperature the App will automatically alert on your progress and when the meat has reach the proper temperature. The App is easy to use and very interactive.

Value:

Priced at $39.99 the iGrillmini is priced perfectly on the market. For those of you looking for a device that can register multiple items on the grill, you can upgrade to the iGrill2. With the range of features and the simple functionality we think the iGrillmini is a perfect addition to your kitchen gadget collection. Also, this serves as a great gift for that friend or relative who is constantly over-cooking your meat, no matter how many times you tell them you want it medium-rare.