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Traeger Ironwood 650 review: WiFi is the ultimate pitmaster
I'll admit it: I was skeptical that a WiFi-connected grill could really improve my casual culinary exploits. During my review of Traeger's Timberline 850 though, I would discover it's actually very useful -- especially for things that take several hours to cook like pulled pork, brisket and ribs. With its 2019 lineup, Traeger extended that WiFi tech to all of its new grills instead of reserving it for the premium Timberline Series. At $1,200, the new Ironwood 650 still isn't cheap, but it offers a lot of what the more expensive Traeger grills do while saving you a few hundred dollars.
Traeger makes built-in WiFi a standard grill feature
In 2017, Traeger added WiFi connectivity to its line of wood pellet grills with the Timberline series. While being able to control and monitor your grill remotely is more handy than you might think, the privilege was limited to two models with a starting price of $1,700. Sure, you could also send recipes from the company's app to the Timberline 850 and Timberline 1300 too, but that's still a big investment for a grill. Today, the company revealed its 2019 lineup, and the so-called WiFire technology is available across the board. And the best part is the most affordable model starts at $799.
Traeger Timberline 850 review: BBQ goes high tech
Between chopping or hauling wood, shoveling coals and moving around large cuts of meat, it can be exhausting. But a little technology can help ease the relentless grind.
Six gadgets that let you cook with sunlight
Barbecue season has begun in the United States, and folks are dusting off their charcoal and propane grills for the first time in months to welcome the warmer weather. However, outdoor cooks have another option -- if they're adventurous enough to try cooking with the power of the sun. The concept of a solar ovens isn't new; in fact, it's probably quite ancient. But technological advancements made it possible to increase efficiency and make it easier to cook without traditional fuel. There are high-tech options field tested in remote terrain, a tubular solar cooker that reaches 550 Farenheit within just a few minutes, and even a super hot "death ray" that could have produced some tasty results, if it hadn't self-destructed.
Harvard engineering class tries to make the best BBQ smoker
As part of a 14-week-long assignment, 16 Harvard engineering students were given the task to create the perfect brisket. But what did they need to do that? A really, really good BBQ smoker. To build one, Engineering Sciences professor Kevin Parker landed his class a big-name client willing to fund the project: kitchen goods retailer Williams-Sonoma. The catch? It had to outdo the Big Green Egg -- a charcoal-powered kamado-styled ceramic smoker considered to be the best in the business. And, after months of working on it, the result was The Harvard Smoker, which is designed to consistently produce the best possible brisket. The contraption's hourglass shape is meant to spread heat evenly throughout the meat, while a slew of heat sensors send temperature readings to a smartphone -- and this becomes extremely important in what's typically a cooking process that takes 12 to 15 hours.
GE at SXSW: tracking brainwaves during BBQ tastings and using a 12-foot smoker
Two things define SXSW: spectacle and smoked meat. GE's managed to meld the two at its BBQ Research Center. Just up the street from the Austin Convention Center, General Electric's research arm set up shop with a 12-foot tall sensor-laden super smoker and a BBQ tasting room called Brain on BBQ. As you might suspect, tasters wear consumer-grade EEG headbands (the Muse variety) to track how their brainwaves change when eating savory smoked meat, tangy coleslaw and sweet banana pudding. GE's going to mine the data from every participant to see if it can glean some useful insight about the nuances of flavors, but really it's just a way for folks to see what's going on inside their noggin whilst chowing down. The whole setup is meant to draw attention to the company's R&D efforts in food and neuroscience, and show that GE's technology can be leveraged to improve most any industry.
IBM's Watson computer makes a delicious BBQ sauce
We know through first-hand experience that IBM's Watson supercomputer can make a fine meal, but it's apparently an ace at condiments, too. Fast Company has tried Bengali Butternut BBQ Sauce, a recipe chosen by Watson to maximize flavor through complimentary (and fairly uncommon) ingredients. The result is a "delicious" concoction unlike what you'd normally throw on your food -- butternut and white wine give it a sweet taste, while tamarind and Thai chiles add punch that lasts beyond your last bite.
This book sharpens knives, seasons steaks and serves dinner
You could pen a grilling cookbook when promoting a line of kitchenware, or you could make one that actually offered the tools needed to prep a meal. Creative studio JWT Brazil did just that for client Tramontina, constructing Biblia Definitiva Do Churrasco -- or for us English speakers, The Bible of Barbecue. During the culinary process, sheets are removed from the book to complete the requisite steps, each piece donning its own unique typographic treatment. There's a sheet of charcoal that's broken up for fuel, a fire starter page, sharpening stone, apron and more. The wood cover doubles at cutting board and a placemat, serving tray and kitchen towel to tidy up are all tucked to get the results to the table. Only a handful of these were released to "master barbecue chefs," but thankfully a simplified version is slated for future release. Our brief description doesn't really do it justice, so jump down after the break to witness the full deconstruction.
The Guild Counsel: What barbecue teaches us about raid leadership
The fourth of July is here, and along with the fireworks and fun in the sun comes my favorite meal of all: barbecue. There's nothing better than grilled-up meats rubbed in spice or slathered in sauce. Recently, as I was finishing off a perfectly smoked rack of ribs, I realized that there's an interesting parallel between barbecuers and raid leaders. You can see many similarities between the personality types. I put my theory to the test and consumed lots and lots of barbecue, all in the name of science, and I have concluded that you can indeed tell what type of raid leader you are by your barbecue style. So grab burger and a nice cold drink and read on as we interpret the smoke signals and read the tea leaves of grilling!
Go Home Dinosaurs open beta live on Chrome Store
Go Home Dinosaurs entered open beta this week for Google Chrome users. The BBQ tower defense game has players fending off hungry dinos with their gopher troops, all within the comfort of their browser.Better yet, developer Fire Hose Games launched the beta for free. After all, free BBQ is the best kind of BBQ.
BBQ Guru releases the CyberQ remote temperature control, lets you fry those steaks from a distance
Fire. Meat. Beer. The recipe for a barbecue has barely changed since the start of recorded time, but that doesn't mean technology can't get in on the party. BBQ Guru has released the CyberQ WiFi, a wirelessly enabled temperature control that lets you fiddle with your griddle using a mobile device. You can relinquish your spot in charge of the fire but still control how rare your steak will come out (when someone else goes and gets it). Even better, if you nod off during the Superbowl, it'll send you an email alert thanks to its built-in web server. It'll install onto most standard grill / smoker types and will set you back $295 with an additional fan and grill adapter and is available from today.
Party with the Gods & Heroes devs in Austin
Heatwave Interactive aims to seize the day -- Friday, October 14th, that is -- by offering players of Gods & Heroes a unique opportunity to visit the studio in person. Following the final day of GDC Austin, Heatwave's community team will offer 10 attendees the chance to spend an afternoon and evening touring the offices for "sneak previews" and a Q&A with various panels and team members, including CEO Anthony Castoro, the design team, the art team, the support team, and the community team. Guests will then participate with the devs in hosting a live Ustream chat, after which they'll enjoy the fruits of their labors (or more accurately, the meats) with a BBQ worthy of the gods. Interested parties can RSVP by email on the official site. Have fun!
TUAW's Daily App: Weber's On the Grill
It's Memorial Day, and hopefully that means you're celebrating the onset of summer by putting some meat on a hot grill until it tastes amazing. If you need a little help, though, Weber's official iPhone app (or the iPad version) can be there -- it's got references, recipes, tips, grilling timers, and even a shopping list feature (although if you're planning to grill today, hopefully you've been marinating since last night!). The app is excellent, with big, colorful pictures, a host of options for serious grillers, and more recipes than you can cook in one summer. You might think that it's a bit pricey at $4.99, but don't forget that a comparable recipe book (there are over 250 recipes in the app) would be much more expensive. And if you're grilling so much that you need an app to help you cook, why not shell out for the best? If you're really that cheap, there are a few other griller's helpers apps out there (and Grill-It! isn't bad for just 99 cents), but in this case, the five bucks is worth it. Good luck at the BBQ today!
The Daily Grind: Does your guild have a summer amnesty?
Summer is now in full swing and the lure of the outdoors is strong. School is out, people are going on holiday, to muddy music festivals or just enjoying the fine weather. Suddenly virtual worlds and MMOs are that much quieter as people dip back into real life. Each year, my guild mistress institutes what she calls a 'summer amnesty'. Over the summer things become a little more relaxed, there's no ire if people don't raid as often. Real life takes precedence for once and things just chill out a bit. People come, people go. Even better, rather than monthly farming, we just have to contribute once and it covers the majority of the summer. That gives me the freedom to not feel guilty about lengthy absences so I can sit in my garden and drink cider or go to the pub. It's nice.So with the heat of summer now upon us, I'm wondering, how does your guild cope with the summer months. Do you have an amnesty? Do you forget about farming and just have fun? Do you just tone raiding time down? What about guild taxes or farming? Do you make an effort to improve guild bonding by maybe even having a real life meet up or BBQ? Do you partake in summer festivals? Tell us in the usual manner.
Want to BBQ with the iPhone? You don't even need an app
Not really -- if you really are planning to grill up some meat (or mushrooms and pineapples, they're good too) today or this weekend, you'll need a little more heat than your iPhone will give. But it's true, Apple's little handheld can get nice and toasty when it's really working*, and illustrator Chad Covino made a little Fourth of July BBQ-themed sketch about that very subject. We love it -- very nice work!My iPhone does get hot, but not so hot I can't pick it up -- usually when I'm running 3D for a longer stretch of time or when the phone is doing some serious calculating like audio or photo editing, I start to feel the heat coming off the back. Batteries are to blame for some of the more extreme problems, however, and that's not a huge surprise, given that batteries in any mobile device have their issues. The good news in that case, however, is that the phone is unlikely to actually explode -- the repair guy Wired talks to says that "a little bit of smoke eventually is probably the best bet." Not that a smoking iPhone is a good situation at all, but you can at least be sure that your iPhone is not quite as hot as the fire under your burgers this weekend.[* Note that the Apple KB article referenced here about temperature warnings/"don't leave the iPhone in the glove compartment" for the iPhone 3G and 3GS is not a new post, nor is the temperature alert screen unique to the 3GS; the KB was simply updated to include the newer device. Jim Dalrymple at The Loop has a solid rundown. FoxNews incorrectly reported that the support article was specific to the 3GS, but then did cite PC World's Melissa Perenson and David Coursey with personal stories of wicked-hot 3GS units. If your 3GS is overheating, check in with Apple support or your local AT&T store. -Ed.]
Have a safe and fun Memorial Day from WoW.com
It's Memorial Day in the United States, a time when we celebrate the memories of our fallen soldiers by visiting memorials, breaking out the BBQ grill, and jumping into all of the swimming pools opening for the summer around the country.There's a lot of interesting things that have happened the past few days here at WoW.com. Our new site is in full swing, and you can read about all the changes we've done.One of the major additions to the site is the WoW.com profiles, which bring the famed social networking features right into WoW via our custom add-on. Check out what some of our users are already doing: Yamara34 just started up a brand new guild over on Proudmoore, and Mogri got lucky on the fishing daily.A few major details about patch 3.2 were released on Friday, along with some clarification points by the blues. There is no indication when patch 3.2 will hit the PTR, but we're on the lookout for it. With a new 5-man dungeon, and a new 10/25-man raid, it will be sure to make a splash.In addition to the new dungeons, patch 3.2 will nerf Jewelcrafting a bit. This is an unwelcome change for many players, and it has all the JCers up in arms.We hope that everyone has a great time celebrating Memorial Day, and make sure you do it safely. For those of you not in the US, have a great Monday anyway! Welcome to the new WoW.com! Check out WoW.com's site documentation for information on the new profiles and add-on. Be sure to let us know if you experience any problems during our beta test. And don't forget to check out all the latest World of Warcraft news!
One Shots: Springtime cookout
Ah, it's our favorite time of the year - just perfect for getting together with close friends and cooking out on the weekends. Of course, if you're a player in Warhammer Online and happen to be on the side of Destruction, this can take on a whole new (and rather creepy) meaning, as witnessed above. Today's ghoulish One Shots comes to us from Valentin, who caught this picture of "the prince of Inevitable City having a BBQ party with his minions." This leaves us with another perplexing question - what kind of side dishes do you serve with grilled minion anyway?Have you seen a huge demon or giant monster in your travels? Were they trying to eat you at the time? (Did it involve BBQ sauce?) We're curious about the monsters you face in your favorite game. Just send those screenshots to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com including your character name/server/guild and a quick description. We'll post it here for everyone to ogle and give you the credit!%Gallery-9798%
Warcraft III's Orc appears on fireworks
What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July today than to sit outside with some good beer, some tasty BBQ, and a whole lot of cheaply made fireworks? Brom and Seku on the Llane server were kind enough to send us this picture they took of a firework they found at a store in Pittsburg, Kansas -- apparently the "Behemoth," made by the Consumer Fireworks company in China, not only "emits showers of sparks," it also blows copyright law completely out of the water. Very nice.One more gigantic pic of the Behemoth and its Warcraft III orc cover art after the jump. If you do use fireworks (or break copyright law) today, do it safely, and have a great holiday!%Gallery-26839%
Cal Spas' U8000 Barbecue Island rocks 42-inch plasma
Last we heard, Cal Spas was cranking out an iPod-friendly fireplace to keep things warm through the winter, but now the firm is conjuring up visions of summer with its plasma-infused barbecue island. The U8000 "BBQ accessory" includes a 42-inch plasma display, a built-in 4.1 audio system and is available in a multitude of shades. Of course, this thing wouldn't be nearly as svelte without the automatic rising / lowering lift that keeps you from having to hand crank your PDP, and while we wish we had a price to quote you, it looks as if you'll have to phone up a dealer directly in order to talk dollars and cents.[Via CyberTheater]
George Foreman busts out the iGrill... for reals
The clever folks at ThinkGeek may have beaten him to the punch with their April Fool's Day edition iGrill, but it seems that George Foreman isn't one to let a good branding go unused, trotting out his own iGrill that's very, very real. Unlike TG's USB-powered faux device, however, Foreman's iGrill is a full-fledged indoor/outdoor BBQ, with a 200 square inch nonstick grilling surface and an adjustable temperature control probe. Garnering it the "i" designation is the BBQ's integrated 10W speaker system and USB port/dock, which will accommodate your iPod or other MP3 player to let you pump out some tunes as you grill. If that sounds like your idea of an "instant party," you can get your iGrill now right for $150 from the leanest, meanest store around, Linens N Things.[Thanks, Galley]
