With so many smokers on the market today, it can be hard to stick out. There are big players in the game that you will find stocked and ready at local hardware stores; however, there are also innovative companies like Brisk It that only recently debuted their products to the world online. Ever since that moment back in 2023, Brisk It has been setting itself apart from the pack with the addition of smart home/AI technology to its flagship product – the Origin-580. Essentially, it is a traditional wood pellet smoker with a worry-free automated cooking experience. As someone who knows her way around the kitchen, I was skeptical about the advanced technology and whether it would hinder the joy that cooking often brings. Luckily, Brisk It sent me their Origin-580 to test out alongside the Vera AI assistant so I could see for myself. My time with the Brisk It smart grill was delicious and interesting, to say the least, keep reading to find out how my days of testing went.
Review: Brisk It Origin 580 A.I. Powered and WiFi Grill
Before I could even consider cooking a steak, it was setup time. The grill came in a series of boxes with all the accompanying parts, screws, and tools needed to put everything together, plus a bag of pellets. The instructions were pretty easy to follow; however, you’ll need an extra hand for some of the heavy lifting – even if you consider yourself strong. Just get help from a friend, trust me. You’ll also need to devote an hour or two to set up. It’s just impossible to rush the process, and it’s the sort of thing you’ll want to take your time with. Once it was set up, my first impression of the grill’s appearance was that it was sleek and attractive. It’s not super large, and it’s easy to wheel around my back patio.
There is a larger version, the Origin 940, but I find the Origin 580 to be the perfect size for a small family. The design utilizes the most space for the smoking compartment and avoids a lot of unnecessary bulk, which I appreciate. The control panel display is easy to understand as well. The grease and ashtrays are easy to access for emptying, plus Brisk It supplies disposable trays to use in this tray, which is convenient. I loved the ability to use a drip pan liner with this grill; some other smokers don’t allow it, and it makes cleaning up such a breeze. For the pellet hopper, one notable downside is that there is no way of emptying the pellets to switch to a different variety. So, you must use what is in the hopper before switching to a different flavor. Otherwise, the pellet hopper is easy to use and holds a significant amount of pellets. It also came with two meat thermometers that plug directly into the control panel, allowing a seamless experience between the grill and app.
Next, it was time to dive into the manual for the remaining setup. Before you can cook food on the grill, you need to do an initial firing to season the grill and burn off any manufacturing residue. I filled up the pellet hopper with the provided pellets and easily followed the instructions for that initial firing. Everything started up beautifully, and there were no issues with this process. Next, it was time to connect the grill to Wi-Fi and download the Brisk It App to take complete advantage of the full Brisk It AI experience. This was also an incredibly easy and seamless process.
Before I dive into my experience with the Brisk It App and my actual cooking adventures, here is a complete breakdown of all the features one can expect from the Brisk It Origin 580 AI Powered and WiFi Grill:
- VERATM GENERATIVE COOKING A.I. – The first and only generative A.I. enabled grill. Ask Anything, Say Anything, Cook Anything. Vera A.I. will understand whatever you tell it, and will generate a customized recipe in moments. This can be as simple as a rib eye steak, or as complex as a multi-dish feast for a specific number of people with a unique combination of allergies and time restrictions. Whatever you can imagine, Vera can create it, then grill it.
- A.I. POWERED AUTOMATED COOKING: Vera A.I. will monitor, control, and automate the cook for you. With just a single push of a button, Brisk It’s A.I. does all the work for you: pre-cook prep, changing temperatures, proactive notifications, probe alerts, and even adapt to unexpected surprises. Forget to spritz, wrap, or even remove your food from the grill when it’s done cooking? Our A.I. will detect that and automatically adapt to make sure the food comes out great.
- SMART GRILL CONTROL: Control your grill anytime, anywhere with our pellet grill. Get real-time alerts sent to your phone and manage all controls through the mobile app.
- 100% WOOD FIRED FLAVOR: 8-in-1 wood pellet smoker: smoke, grill, barbecue BBQ, bake, roast, sear, and braise, char-grill on a single wood fired grill. Slow cook at 165°F or sear at 500°F.
- PRECISE TEMPERATURE CONTROL ALGORITHM: Brisk It’s industrial grade, high resolution control unit uses adaptive PID algorithms to ensure temperature stability at any combination of cooking temperature and weather.
Once the Brisk It Origin 580 was primed, the WiFi installed, and the app synced up and ready to go, it was time to start cooking. There were two things on the top of my list to smoke because they are the things I love eating the most – steak and salmon. Within the Brisk It app, a handful of recipes are ready to go and can easily be sent to the grill at the touch of a button. I opted to use the recipe for the “Reverse Seared Ribeye Steak” that was already in the app. Steak is one of those dishes that can go really right or horribly wrong, there is nothing worse than a raw or overcooked steak, it needs to be just right. Ya’ll, I’m not trying to be dramatic, but that steak was the best steak I’ve ever made at home. Once you have the thermometer placed inside the cut and the app starts walking you through every step, it’s hard to mess up. The smoker did exactly what it was supposed to do and imparted such delightful flavors into that steak, and it was perfectly medium rare, just how I like it. For cuts of beef, you can choose your preferred level of doneness within the app.
One cook on the Brisk It Origin 580 was not enough for me to really form a strong opinion. So, I continued to cook more and more. I tackled smoked salmon, smoked wings, pulled pork, smoked pears, and I even smoked cream cheese. For these tests, I really leaned on the feature that sets this smoker apart from the rest – the Vera A.I. Generative cooking. An icon in the Brisk It app pulls up a chat screen where you can ask anything and Vera will come up with a recipe for you. I really put this feature to the test. Asking a basic answer like, “I want to smoke salmon” or “I want to smoke wings” – will get you great recipes that can be sent to the smoker immediately. I took it a step further and specified how much time I had and that I wanted to make two things at once. The app adjusted the recipe and cook times with ease, and I was incredibly impressed. If I had tried to sneak three or more recipes in there, the instructions wouldn’t have always lined up seamlessly, but I’m sure a few more questions would have gotten the A.I. there. The results from all of these tests were great. I’m the type of person who doesn’t mind researching recipes or winging it in the kitchen, but I have to admit, the Vera A.I. feature was incredibly fun to use and would be perfect for someone who wants to simplify the smoking process (which can be intimidating for a lot of people). Any recipe that Vera helps come up with can be saved to your account to reference or cook again. I loved that feature as well. Especially since the smoked salmon recipe Vera came up with was so easy and delicious, I definitely would make it again and again.
In all of my testing, I only ran into one small hiccup. The Brisk It smokers do not have a sensor when pellets are low. During the long smoke day for the pulled pork, I didn’t realize that the pellets had run out in the middle of the cooking time. I quickly poured in more pellets but had to shut down the unit to prime the auger again. It is required to do this when the pellets run out to make sure everything is running smoothly. Once the auger was primed, everything was working fine again, and I could continue on with the cook. That is definitely something to keep in mind, and as long as you keep an eye on the pellets throughout your cooking, it shouldn’t be a major problem. Besides, you should never leave your smoker unattended all day anyway.
Pricing and Availability
If you’ve been interested in a smoker for yourself or a loved one this Holiday season, the Brisk It Origin 580 is on sale for $550 (Reg. $850) and the Origin 940 is on sale for $700 (Reg. $1100) on the Brisk It website or Amazon. The current Holiday sales also include free shipping! This price puts the Brisk It grills at a much lower price point than other competitors in the smart grill market. Accessories like extra pellets, foil liners, trip trays, covers, and a front folding shelf are also available for purchase on the Brisk It website.
9to5 Toys’ Take
Overall, my experience with the Brisk It Origin 580 Smart Pellet Grill and Vera A.I. app was wonderful. It performed well at low and high temperatures and did everything I would need a smoker to do, plus a fun A.I cooking experience that didn’t take away from the overall experience but instead added value to the grill itself. I found myself enjoying this smart grill more than some other name brands I’ve tried in the past. Plus, it has a lower price point. The size is wonderful, too. Is it the most perfect smart grill on the market? I can’t answer that, but all I know is that I really enjoyed my time with this smoker, and I look forward to cooking more steak and salmon in the future.
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