...AND THE BEST GARDEN GADGETS
BURGERS WITH BLUETOOTH HELP
Weber Genesis II Smart Barbecue, £1,311.45 (weber.com)
VIRTUALLY idiot-proof, it comes with advice streamed direct to your smartphone. On my phone, I can select which meat to cook, how thick it is and how well cooked I want it, then the Weber calculates the necessary cooking time. The BBQ also contains a temperature probe, a side hob to keep food warm or heat sauces, and a high temperature ‘sear zone’.
CLEVER GRILLING FOR PERFECT MEAT
Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub, £155.39 (weber.com)
THIS hub consists of a batterypowered base to which stainless steel temperature probes attach to let you know how hot your meat is and when it’s ready. I prepare a
salad inside, and when I return the meat is perfectly cooked.
THE FIREPIT FOR BRIGHT SPARKS
Biolite Firepit, £259.95 (wildbounds. co.uk)
A RAISED metal design allows you to use your phone to adjust the intensity of 51 air jets lining the machine. These inject the fire with oxygen, letting you control the size of the flames. It’s the perfect height for junior barbecuers. Faffy, but a lot of fun.
NIFTY WAY TO COOK YOUR CHOOK
Meater Bluetooth thermometer, £79 (meater.com)
THIS stainless steel and ceramic batterypowered probe is about as slick as it gets, and will ensure you never have dodgy chicken wings again. The probe contains two sensors — one to gauge the temperature inside the bird and another to measure outside it — and once I’ve put the chicken onto the BBQ and closed the lid, it calibrates both to estimate the cooking time required.
PS… AND A ROBOT TO CLEAN UP AFTER YOU
Grillbot Automatic Grill Cleaning Robot, £98.99 (amazon.co.uk) AS EVERY barbecuer knows, the worst part is cleaning up. But once you’ve placed this 19cm cylindrical machine on your grill and closed the lid your work is done. The heat resistant re-chargeable battery-operated plastic machine has three detachable, dishwasher-friendly nylon brushes and an LED display with timer and alarm. It’s very noisy, but cleared the grease from our BBQ in 30 minutes.