AI顛覆的下一個領域：燒烤行業
Chris Morris
2024-03-17
圖片來源：GETTY IMAGES眾所周知，燒烤歷來是一件非常簡單的事情。你只要把肉放在燒烤架上，一邊喝著啤酒，一邊注意一下火候，沒有什么難度。當然，燒烤界偶爾也有一些創新，但相對來說都沒有什么了不起的核心技術。不過就像其他事情一樣，隨著人工智能的普及，燒烤界很可能也將迎來一場大變革。
就像其他行業的公司都在通過熱炒人工智能概念來提升股價一樣，戶外燒烤行業也在密切關注人工智能技術的發展。智能燒烤架就是一種結合了人工智能技術的產品，它既有望擴大產品受眾，也降低了老板們烤肉的難度。
2022年，美國戶外燒烤行業的銷售額為68億美元，這個行業甚至不乏一些上市公司，只是它們的品牌不像家得寶（Home Depot）和勞氏（Lowe’s）旗下的美得彼（Middleby Corp.）這樣響亮，所以你大概率應該沒有聽說過。比如美得彼旗下有Kamado Joe和Masterbuilt兩個品牌。Traeger Grills也是一家賣戶外燒烤架的公司，該公司于2021年上市。Weber公司是業內的另一巨頭，它原本是一家上市公司，不過2023年BDT Capital Partners公司選擇把該公司私有化。另一行業巨頭W.C. Bradley Co.公司旗下擁有Char-Grill、Pit Boss和Oklahoma Joe 's等多個品牌，目前它也是一家私有化公司。
雖然品牌不少，但是這個行業的消費基數卻沒有太大的起伏。畢竟大多數人不會想到每年去買一個燒烤架。雖然廠家推出了功能相當豐富的配件來刺激銷售額（例如比薩石和木炭等等），但仍然難以在不激怒現有客戶群的情況下顯著擴大受眾。
“人工智能與戶外燒烤的碰撞將是很有趣的?！泵赖帽说臓I銷副總裁喬希·席爾瓦說?！霸谖覀兡軌蛳蛳M者提供多少，和消費者想要得到多少便利之間，是存在一種平衡的，因為有的消費者就喜歡火焰升騰的感覺。所以我們必須要在技術上提供適當的功能，以達到正確的平衡，不管是在便利性上，還是在遞進消費的機會上……你不能剝奪消費者明火燒烤的體驗感。”
“人工智能燒烤”的支持者表示，這項技術可以簡化燒烤流程。比如英國的一家初創公司Seergrills在今年年初的消費電子展（CES）上推出了一款名叫Perfecta的人工智能紅外垂直烤箱，它的溫度能夠達到1,600攝氏度，不到三分鐘就可以烤好一塊牛排，而且燒烤的過程中也不需要翻動食材。烤箱里內置的傳感器能夠自動識別你需要的熟度，不論是三分熟、五分熟還是全熟，一旦食材被烤至你需要的火候，機器就會自動停止加熱。
Seergrills公司的創始人及首席執行官蘇拉杰·蘇德拉介紹道：“在使用傳統燒烤方式時，我們必須考慮八個變量，即食材的厚度、脂肪和水分的含量、起始溫度、持續溫度、環境溫度、熱源的變化性、爆焰問題和食材的多樣性。即便是一位經驗豐富的燒烤大師，也需要多年的實踐才可以逐漸完善他們的燒烤技能，以及攻克一些常見問題——例如把食材烤得過干，或者火候不對，等等。而人工智能燒烤在這方面有顯著的優勢，因為它能夠用系統監測和控制這些變量。”
Perfecta的人工智能會記錄燒烤過程中每一秒鐘的數據，并且根據用戶的主觀反饋和傳感器的客觀數據進行改進。
現在所有業內企業都加大了對智能燒烤技術的重視。比如Weber公司于2021年收購了智能家電科技公司June。在這次交易前，雙方曾經合作研發了Weber Connect燒烤技術。
Kamado Joe和Masterbuilt推出的幾款燒烤架也明顯比傳統燒烤架智能得多。例如Kamado Joe Konnected燒烤架只需要輕觸一個按鈕就可以自動點燃木炭，而且燒烤溫度還能夠由用戶自行設定，避免了在好幾個小時的燒烤過程里用戶需要持續監控火候的麻煩。
即將于今年4月上市的Masterbuilt Gravity XT則配備了一個重力加炭系統，它可以通過風扇和數控系統提供間接熱量。它同樣能夠通過電子設備保持最佳爐溫，無需人工監控，而且烹飪容量達到了普通燒烤架的2.5倍。
這項技術的賣點當然是便利性。燃氣烤爐之所以流行，就是因為大家可以立即生火做飯，而不用考慮木炭和爐溫的問題。但不管是炭爐還是燃氣爐，制造商們都希望通過添加人工智能功能，讓人們花更多的時間享受在戶外燒烤的感覺。
以Kamado品牌為例，該品牌的產品僅占據了3%的市場份額，這跟它的產品操作起來比較麻煩不無關系。所以美得彼公司希望通過加入新技術來擴大市場。
席爾瓦表示：“我們設計這款產品（Kamado Joe Konnected），就是為了吸引新的人群?！?/p>
但是在添加這些新功能時，美得彼公司也是非常謹慎的，惟恐疏遠了現有的忠實用戶。
席爾瓦指出：“這就是為什么我們保留了手動控制功能。因為我們意識到，有一部分核心用戶非常喜歡自己動手的感覺。所以說，科技程度的高低也是一種平衡……在今年的消費電子展上，大家都在談論人工智能，但人工智能對我們這個行業究竟意味著什么？它是一個能夠幫助我們完善烹飪過程的系統嗎？對我們而言，從目前來看，它更多的是一種算法，通過不斷的改進，隨著時間的推移，它可以讓烹飪的過程變得更加智能?！?/p>
蘇德拉也認為，在短期內，傳統主義者仍將占據大部分市場。不過隨著時間的推移，人工智能等智能化功能必將成為戶外燒烤設備的標配功能。
“就像生活中的大多數事情一樣，市場上還會有一部分人忠于傳統技術，就像現在還有人愛開手動檔的車一樣。但是隨著時間的推移，這些能夠提供便利的技術必將逐漸擴大市場份額，直到最后在很大程度上取代舊技術。”他說。
如果他的預測成真，那么人工智能燒烤設備的市場必將顯著擴大。據市場研究機構Allied Market Research預測，到2032年，燒烤架市場的規模將在現在的基礎上翻一番，達到128億美元。（財富中文網）
譯者：樸成奎
眾所周知，燒烤歷來是一件非常簡單的事情。你只要把肉放在燒烤架上，一邊喝著啤酒，一邊注意一下火候，沒有什么難度。當然，燒烤界偶爾也有一些創新，但相對來說都沒有什么了不起的核心技術。不過就像其他事情一樣，隨著人工智能的普及，燒烤界很可能也將迎來一場大變革。
就像其他行業的公司都在通過熱炒人工智能概念來提升股價一樣，戶外燒烤行業也在密切關注人工智能技術的發展。智能燒烤架就是一種結合了人工智能技術的產品，它既有望擴大產品受眾，也降低了老板們烤肉的難度。
2022年，美國戶外燒烤行業的銷售額為68億美元，這個行業甚至不乏一些上市公司，只是它們的品牌不像家得寶（Home Depot）和勞氏（Lowe’s）旗下的美得彼（Middleby Corp.）這樣響亮，所以你大概率應該沒有聽說過。比如美得彼旗下有Kamado Joe和Masterbuilt兩個品牌。Traeger Grills也是一家賣戶外燒烤架的公司，該公司于2021年上市。Weber公司是業內的另一巨頭，它原本是一家上市公司，不過2023年BDT Capital Partners公司選擇把該公司私有化。另一行業巨頭W.C. Bradley Co.公司旗下擁有Char-Grill、Pit Boss和Oklahoma Joe 's等多個品牌，目前它也是一家私有化公司。
雖然品牌不少，但是這個行業的消費基數卻沒有太大的起伏。畢竟大多數人不會想到每年去買一個燒烤架。雖然廠家推出了功能相當豐富的配件來刺激銷售額（例如比薩石和木炭等等），但仍然難以在不激怒現有客戶群的情況下顯著擴大受眾。
“人工智能與戶外燒烤的碰撞將是很有趣的。”美得彼的營銷副總裁喬?！は癄柾哒f。“在我們能夠向消費者提供多少，和消費者想要得到多少便利之間，是存在一種平衡的，因為有的消費者就喜歡火焰升騰的感覺。所以我們必須要在技術上提供適當的功能，以達到正確的平衡，不管是在便利性上，還是在遞進消費的機會上……你不能剝奪消費者明火燒烤的體驗感。”
“人工智能燒烤”的支持者表示，這項技術可以簡化燒烤流程。比如英國的一家初創公司Seergrills在今年年初的消費電子展（CES）上推出了一款名叫Perfecta的人工智能紅外垂直烤箱，它的溫度能夠達到1,600攝氏度，不到三分鐘就可以烤好一塊牛排，而且燒烤的過程中也不需要翻動食材。烤箱里內置的傳感器能夠自動識別你需要的熟度，不論是三分熟、五分熟還是全熟，一旦食材被烤至你需要的火候，機器就會自動停止加熱。
Seergrills公司的創始人及首席執行官蘇拉杰·蘇德拉介紹道：“在使用傳統燒烤方式時，我們必須考慮八個變量，即食材的厚度、脂肪和水分的含量、起始溫度、持續溫度、環境溫度、熱源的變化性、爆焰問題和食材的多樣性。即便是一位經驗豐富的燒烤大師，也需要多年的實踐才可以逐漸完善他們的燒烤技能，以及攻克一些常見問題——例如把食材烤得過干，或者火候不對，等等。而人工智能燒烤在這方面有顯著的優勢，因為它能夠用系統監測和控制這些變量。”
Perfecta的人工智能會記錄燒烤過程中每一秒鐘的數據，并且根據用戶的主觀反饋和傳感器的客觀數據進行改進。
現在所有業內企業都加大了對智能燒烤技術的重視。比如Weber公司于2021年收購了智能家電科技公司June。在這次交易前，雙方曾經合作研發了Weber Connect燒烤技術。
Kamado Joe和Masterbuilt推出的幾款燒烤架也明顯比傳統燒烤架智能得多。例如Kamado Joe Konnected燒烤架只需要輕觸一個按鈕就可以自動點燃木炭，而且燒烤溫度還能夠由用戶自行設定，避免了在好幾個小時的燒烤過程里用戶需要持續監控火候的麻煩。
即將于今年4月上市的Masterbuilt Gravity XT則配備了一個重力加炭系統，它可以通過風扇和數控系統提供間接熱量。它同樣能夠通過電子設備保持最佳爐溫，無需人工監控，而且烹飪容量達到了普通燒烤架的2.5倍。
這項技術的賣點當然是便利性。燃氣烤爐之所以流行，就是因為大家可以立即生火做飯，而不用考慮木炭和爐溫的問題。但不管是炭爐還是燃氣爐，制造商們都希望通過添加人工智能功能，讓人們花更多的時間享受在戶外燒烤的感覺。
以Kamado品牌為例，該品牌的產品僅占據了3%的市場份額，這跟它的產品操作起來比較麻煩不無關系。所以美得彼公司希望通過加入新技術來擴大市場。
席爾瓦表示：“我們設計這款產品（Kamado Joe Konnected），就是為了吸引新的人群?！?/p>
但是在添加這些新功能時，美得彼公司也是非常謹慎的，惟恐疏遠了現有的忠實用戶。
席爾瓦指出：“這就是為什么我們保留了手動控制功能。因為我們意識到，有一部分核心用戶非常喜歡自己動手的感覺。所以說，科技程度的高低也是一種平衡……在今年的消費電子展上，大家都在談論人工智能，但人工智能對我們這個行業究竟意味著什么？它是一個能夠幫助我們完善烹飪過程的系統嗎？對我們而言，從目前來看，它更多的是一種算法，通過不斷的改進，隨著時間的推移，它可以讓烹飪的過程變得更加智能?！?/p>
蘇德拉也認為，在短期內，傳統主義者仍將占據大部分市場。不過隨著時間的推移，人工智能等智能化功能必將成為戶外燒烤設備的標配功能。
“就像生活中的大多數事情一樣，市場上還會有一部分人忠于傳統技術，就像現在還有人愛開手動檔的車一樣。但是隨著時間的推移，這些能夠提供便利的技術必將逐漸擴大市場份額，直到最后在很大程度上取代舊技術?！彼f。
如果他的預測成真，那么人工智能燒烤設備的市場必將顯著擴大。據市場研究機構Allied Market Research預測，到2032年，燒烤架市場的規模將在現在的基礎上翻一番，達到128億美元。（財富中文網）
譯者：樸成奎
眾所周知，燒烤歷來是一件非常簡單的事情。你只要把肉放在燒烤架上，一邊喝著啤酒，一邊注意一下火候，沒有什么難度。當然，燒烤界偶爾也有一些創新，但相對來說都沒有什么了不起的核心技術。不過就像其他事情一樣，隨著人工智能的普及，燒烤界很可能也將迎來一場大變革。
就像其他行業的公司都在通過熱炒人工智能概念來提升股價一樣，戶外燒烤行業也在密切關注人工智能技術的發展。智能燒烤架就是一種結合了人工智能技術的產品，它既有望擴大產品受眾，也降低了老板們烤肉的難度。
2022年，美國戶外燒烤行業的銷售額為68億美元，這個行業甚至不乏一些上市公司，只是它們的品牌不像家得寶（Home Depot）和勞氏（Lowe’s）旗下的美得彼（Middleby Corp.）這樣響亮，所以你大概率應該沒有聽說過。比如美得彼旗下有Kamado Joe和Masterbuilt兩個品牌。Traeger Grills也是一家賣戶外燒烤架的公司，該公司于2021年上市。Weber公司是業內的另一巨頭，它原本是一家上市公司，不過2023年BDT Capital Partners公司選擇把該公司私有化。另一行業巨頭W.C. Bradley Co.公司旗下擁有Char-Grill、Pit Boss和Oklahoma Joe 's等多個品牌，目前它也是一家私有化公司。
雖然品牌不少，但是這個行業的消費基數卻沒有太大的起伏。畢竟大多數人不會想到每年去買一個燒烤架。雖然廠家推出了功能相當豐富的配件來刺激銷售額（例如比薩石和木炭等等），但仍然難以在不激怒現有客戶群的情況下顯著擴大受眾。
“人工智能與戶外燒烤的碰撞將是很有趣的。”美得彼的營銷副總裁喬?！は癄柾哒f。“在我們能夠向消費者提供多少，和消費者想要得到多少便利之間，是存在一種平衡的，因為有的消費者就喜歡火焰升騰的感覺。所以我們必須要在技術上提供適當的功能，以達到正確的平衡，不管是在便利性上，還是在遞進消費的機會上……你不能剝奪消費者明火燒烤的體驗感?！?/p>
“人工智能燒烤”的支持者表示，這項技術可以簡化燒烤流程。比如英國的一家初創公司Seergrills在今年年初的消費電子展（CES）上推出了一款名叫Perfecta的人工智能紅外垂直烤箱，它的溫度能夠達到1,600攝氏度，不到三分鐘就可以烤好一塊牛排，而且燒烤的過程中也不需要翻動食材?？鞠淅飪戎玫膫鞲衅髂軌蜃詣幼R別你需要的熟度，不論是三分熟、五分熟還是全熟，一旦食材被烤至你需要的火候，機器就會自動停止加熱。
Seergrills公司的創始人及首席執行官蘇拉杰·蘇德拉介紹道：“在使用傳統燒烤方式時，我們必須考慮八個變量，即食材的厚度、脂肪和水分的含量、起始溫度、持續溫度、環境溫度、熱源的變化性、爆焰問題和食材的多樣性。即便是一位經驗豐富的燒烤大師，也需要多年的實踐才可以逐漸完善他們的燒烤技能，以及攻克一些常見問題——例如把食材烤得過干，或者火候不對，等等。而人工智能燒烤在這方面有顯著的優勢，因為它能夠用系統監測和控制這些變量?！?/p>
Perfecta的人工智能會記錄燒烤過程中每一秒鐘的數據，并且根據用戶的主觀反饋和傳感器的客觀數據進行改進。
現在所有業內企業都加大了對智能燒烤技術的重視。比如Weber公司于2021年收購了智能家電科技公司June。在這次交易前，雙方曾經合作研發了Weber Connect燒烤技術。
Kamado Joe和Masterbuilt推出的幾款燒烤架也明顯比傳統燒烤架智能得多。例如Kamado Joe Konnected燒烤架只需要輕觸一個按鈕就可以自動點燃木炭，而且燒烤溫度還能夠由用戶自行設定，避免了在好幾個小時的燒烤過程里用戶需要持續監控火候的麻煩。
即將于今年4月上市的Masterbuilt Gravity XT則配備了一個重力加炭系統，它可以通過風扇和數控系統提供間接熱量。它同樣能夠通過電子設備保持最佳爐溫，無需人工監控，而且烹飪容量達到了普通燒烤架的2.5倍。
這項技術的賣點當然是便利性。燃氣烤爐之所以流行，就是因為大家可以立即生火做飯，而不用考慮木炭和爐溫的問題。但不管是炭爐還是燃氣爐，制造商們都希望通過添加人工智能功能，讓人們花更多的時間享受在戶外燒烤的感覺。
以Kamado品牌為例，該品牌的產品僅占據了3%的市場份額，這跟它的產品操作起來比較麻煩不無關系。所以美得彼公司希望通過加入新技術來擴大市場。
席爾瓦表示：“我們設計這款產品（Kamado Joe Konnected），就是為了吸引新的人群?！?/p>
但是在添加這些新功能時，美得彼公司也是非常謹慎的，惟恐疏遠了現有的忠實用戶。
席爾瓦指出：“這就是為什么我們保留了手動控制功能。因為我們意識到，有一部分核心用戶非常喜歡自己動手的感覺。所以說，科技程度的高低也是一種平衡……在今年的消費電子展上，大家都在談論人工智能，但人工智能對我們這個行業究竟意味著什么？它是一個能夠幫助我們完善烹飪過程的系統嗎？對我們而言，從目前來看，它更多的是一種算法，通過不斷的改進，隨著時間的推移，它可以讓烹飪的過程變得更加智能。”
蘇德拉也認為，在短期內，傳統主義者仍將占據大部分市場。不過隨著時間的推移，人工智能等智能化功能必將成為戶外燒烤設備的標配功能。
“就像生活中的大多數事情一樣，市場上還會有一部分人忠于傳統技術，就像現在還有人愛開手動檔的車一樣。但是隨著時間的推移，這些能夠提供便利的技術必將逐漸擴大市場份額，直到最后在很大程度上取代舊技術?！彼f。
如果他的預測成真，那么人工智能燒烤設備的市場必將顯著擴大。據市場研究機構Allied Market Research預測，到2032年，燒烤架市場的規模將在現在的基礎上翻一番，達到128億美元。（財富中文網）
譯者：樸成奎
Grilling and barbecue have, for decades, been pretty bare-bones affairs. Throw a steak, brisket, or pork butt onto a grill, keep an eye on the temperature, and nurse a beer until it’s done. There have been innovations, of course, but the heart of the exercise was relatively tech-free. Like so many other things, though, that could be changing as artificial intelligence becomes more widespread.
Just as companies in other industries chase the stock surges that come with AI, the outdoor cooking industry is keeping a close eye on the technology as well. And smart grilling is one of the latest trends to expand the audience and make things easier for suburban pitmasters.
The outdoor cooking industry had sales of $6.8 billion in 2022. And some of the biggest names are publicly traded, though maybe not always by the names you see on the floors at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Middleby Corp., for instance, owns the Kamado Joe and Masterbuilt brands. Traeger Grills began trading in 2021. Weber, another giant in the industry, was publicly traded until last year when BDT Capital Partners opted to take it private. And W.C. Bradley Co., which owns Char-Grill, Pit Boss, and Oklahoma Joe’s among others, is currently privately held as well.
The audience, though, has stagnated a bit. Grills aren’t an annual purchase for most people. And while grill makers offer plenty of accessories to boost revenues between big purchases, from pizza stones to specialty pellets or charcoal, the manufacturer’s dream is to expand the audience without alienating the existing customer base.
“AI’s going to be interesting in the outdoor cooking space,” says Josh Silva, vice president of marketing at Middleby Outdoor. “There’s a balance between how much we provide consumers and what sort of level of convenience they want, because there is something to be said about tending fire and that experience of live fire. For us, it’s going to be incumbent to find the right balance of providing the right feature set in technology, whether it’s convenience or incremental engagement opportunities… You don’t want to take away the total experience.”
Proponents of AI in outdoor cooking say it simplifies the process. Seergrills, a startup out of the U.K., turned heads at CES earlier this year with the Perfecta, an AI-powered vertical infrared oven that reaches temperatures of over 1,600 degrees and cooks a steak in under three minutes, no flipping required. Built-in temperature sensors recognize when the food has reached your preferred temperature, whether that’s rare, medium, or well; then the heat shuts down.
“When using traditional cooking methods, there are approximately eight variables that one must consider,” said Suraj Sudera, CEO and founder of Seergrills. “These include food thickness, fat and water content, start temperature, carryover temperature, environmental temperature, heat-source variability, flare-ups, and food versatility. It requires years of practice for the most experienced grill masters to perfect their skills and surpass common challenges such as dryness or over- and undercooking. Grilling with AI offers significant advantages by allowing the system to monitor variables and account for them by controlling the cooking system.”
Perfecta’s AI uses subjective feedback from the user, and objective data from the sensors to improve, taking readings every second of the cook time.
All of the players in the field are putting a greater emphasis on smart grilling technology. Weber, in 2021, acquired smart appliance and technology company June, which it had previously worked with to develop its Weber Connect grill technology.
New models from Kamado Joe and Masterbuilt are also a lot smarter than grills to which most people are accustomed. The Kamado Joe Konnected will light charcoal with the touch of a button and let users set their preferred temperature, keeping the grill at just that level—doing away with the sometimes onerous task of constantly monitoring the fire for multihour cooks so the food finishes as desired.
The Masterbuilt Gravity XT, meanwhile, which will come out in April, offers a gravity-fed charcoal system that provides indirect heat via a fan and digital controller. Like the Konnected, it maintains the optimal temperature electronically without the need for human monitoring, with roughly 2.5 times the cooking space of an average grill.
The point of that technology? Convenience. Gas grills became popular because people could instantly start a fire, cook what they wanted, and then get on with their day, without worrying about lighting the grill and maintaining a constant temperature. By adding AI and smart features to new grills, whether charcoal or electric, manufacturers are hoping to increase the amount of time people spend cooking outdoors beyond the weekend.
Kamado cooking, for instance, has a market share of just 3% of the total cooking market, in part because the process can be intimidating. Adding connected technology, Middleby hopes, will expand that market.
“We designed this product [the Kamado Joe Konnected] to go after a new category of folks,” says Silva.
In adding these features to new grills, though, the company wants to be careful not to alienate current loyal users.
“That’s why we left the ability to control things manually,” says Silva. “We realized there was a subset of our core users who like that manual experience. It’s really a balancing act in a lot of ways to say how much technology is too much… AI was the talk track for CES, but what does it really mean, especially in our space? Is it a system that helps refine your cooking process? For us, where we’re currently at, it’s more about an algorithm and refining that to become more intelligent over time.”
Sudera agrees that traditionalists will make up most of the market for the short term. Over time, though, he expects AI and other smart features to become more standard on outdoor cooking devices.
“[As] with most things in life, there is going to be an element of the market that remains loyal to traditional techniques, just like the people who still drive with stick shift,” he says. “However, over time, convenience-providing technologies gradually expand their market share, starting with modest adoption until reaching a critical mass where they largely supplant older technologies.”
If true, that could dramatically expand the market. Allied Market Research estimates that by 2032, the barbecue grill market will more than double in value to $12.8 billion.
Grilling and barbecue have, for decades, been pretty bare-bones affairs. Throw a steak, brisket, or pork butt onto a grill, keep an eye on the temperature, and nurse a beer until it’s done. There have been innovations, of course, but the heart of the exercise was relatively tech-free. Like so many other things, though, that could be changing as artificial intelligence becomes more widespread.
Just as companies in other industries chase the stock surges that come with AI, the outdoor cooking industry is keeping a close eye on the technology as well. And smart grilling is one of the latest trends to expand the audience and make things easier for suburban pitmasters.
The outdoor cooking industry had sales of $6.8 billion in 2022. And some of the biggest names are publicly traded, though maybe not always by the names you see on the floors at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Middleby Corp., for instance, owns the Kamado Joe and Masterbuilt brands. Traeger Grills began trading in 2021. Weber, another giant in the industry, was publicly traded until last year when BDT Capital Partners opted to take it private. And W.C. Bradley Co., which owns Char-Grill, Pit Boss, and Oklahoma Joe’s among others, is currently privately held as well.
The audience, though, has stagnated a bit. Grills aren’t an annual purchase for most people. And while grill makers offer plenty of accessories to boost revenues between big purchases, from pizza stones to specialty pellets or charcoal, the manufacturer’s dream is to expand the audience without alienating the existing customer base.
“AI’s going to be interesting in the outdoor cooking space,” says Josh Silva, vice president of marketing at Middleby Outdoor. “There’s a balance between how much we provide consumers and what sort of level of convenience they want, because there is something to be said about tending fire and that experience of live fire. For us, it’s going to be incumbent to find the right balance of providing the right feature set in technology, whether it’s convenience or incremental engagement opportunities… You don’t want to take away the total experience.”
Proponents of AI in outdoor cooking say it simplifies the process. Seergrills, a startup out of the U.K., turned heads at CES earlier this year with the Perfecta, an AI-powered vertical infrared oven that reaches temperatures of over 1,600 degrees and cooks a steak in under three minutes, no flipping required. Built-in temperature sensors recognize when the food has reached your preferred temperature, whether that’s rare, medium, or well; then the heat shuts down.
“When using traditional cooking methods, there are approximately eight variables that one must consider,” said Suraj Sudera, CEO and founder of Seergrills. “These include food thickness, fat and water content, start temperature, carryover temperature, environmental temperature, heat-source variability, flare-ups, and food versatility. It requires years of practice for the most experienced grill masters to perfect their skills and surpass common challenges such as dryness or over- and undercooking. Grilling with AI offers significant advantages by allowing the system to monitor variables and account for them by controlling the cooking system.”
Perfecta’s AI uses subjective feedback from the user, and objective data from the sensors to improve, taking readings every second of the cook time.
All of the players in the field are putting a greater emphasis on smart grilling technology. Weber, in 2021, acquired smart appliance and technology company June, which it had previously worked with to develop its Weber Connect grill technology.
New models from Kamado Joe and Masterbuilt are also a lot smarter than grills to which most people are accustomed. The Kamado Joe Konnected will light charcoal with the touch of a button and let users set their preferred temperature, keeping the grill at just that level—doing away with the sometimes onerous task of constantly monitoring the fire for multihour cooks so the food finishes as desired.
The Masterbuilt Gravity XT, meanwhile, which will come out in April, offers a gravity-fed charcoal system that provides indirect heat via a fan and digital controller. Like the Konnected, it maintains the optimal temperature electronically without the need for human monitoring, with roughly 2.5 times the cooking space of an average grill.
The point of that technology? Convenience. Gas grills became popular because people could instantly start a fire, cook what they wanted, and then get on with their day, without worrying about lighting the grill and maintaining a constant temperature. By adding AI and smart features to new grills, whether charcoal or electric, manufacturers are hoping to increase the amount of time people spend cooking outdoors beyond the weekend.
Kamado cooking, for instance, has a market share of just 3% of the total cooking market, in part because the process can be intimidating. Adding connected technology, Middleby hopes, will expand that market.
“We designed this product [the Kamado Joe Konnected] to go after a new category of folks,” says Silva.
In adding these features to new grills, though, the company wants to be careful not to alienate current loyal users.
“That’s why we left the ability to control things manually,” says Silva. “We realized there was a subset of our core users who like that manual experience. It’s really a balancing act in a lot of ways to say how much technology is too much… AI was the talk track for CES, but what does it really mean, especially in our space? Is it a system that helps refine your cooking process? For us, where we’re currently at, it’s more about an algorithm and refining that to become more intelligent over time.”
Sudera agrees that traditionalists will make up most of the market for the short term. Over time, though, he expects AI and other smart features to become more standard on outdoor cooking devices.
“[As] with most things in life, there is going to be an element of the market that remains loyal to traditional techniques, just like the people who still drive with stick shift,” he says. “However, over time, convenience-providing technologies gradually expand their market share, starting with modest adoption until reaching a critical mass where they largely supplant older technologies.”
If true, that could dramatically expand the market. Allied Market Research estimates that by 2032, the barbecue grill market will more than double in value to $12.8 billion.
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