Good barbecue already gives you plenty to think about. Project BBQ is being built to keep the useful bits together while you cook — what you're making, the method you're following, what the probes are telling you and what needs doing next.
Cook your own way, follow a Cook Plan, or eventually cook along with a creator you trust. Your thermometer still does an important job — it just doesn't have to be the only thing on the screen.
Got your own pulled-pork method? Great. Prefer to follow somebody else's? That's fine too. Project BBQ is being built so you can start with your own way of cooking or follow a Cook Plan from a creator or the community as those become available.
Turn on a supported thermometer, put the probes where you want them and start the cook. Project BBQ brings those live readings alongside the cook you're following, so you're not constantly bouncing between a thermometer app, a recipe, a video and your notes.
If you're following a Cook Plan, the useful part should be there when you need it. That might be the next instruction, a temperature to watch or the relevant bit of a creator's video — rather than trying to remember on Saturday what you watched on Wednesday night.
Some moments matter more than others. Project BBQ is being designed to give you useful prompts when it's time to check the bark, mop, wrap, turn, change the heat or move on to the next stage — without nagging you about every little temperature wobble.
You make the cooking decisions. Project BBQ helps keep the cook and its method together.
When it turns out brilliantly, you'll probably want to know why. Project BBQ keeps the useful story of the cook — temperatures, timings and important moments — instead of throwing it away as soon as you stop monitoring.
Look back at what worked, compare cooks and make the next one easier to repeat. The point isn't to collect numbers for the sake of it. It's to help you make better use of what happened on the barbecue.
We're not starting with a slideshow and a wish list. Project BBQ is already being developed and tested with real thermometer readings, live cook monitoring, graphs, quick recordings and saved cook information. Cook Plans, creator cook-alongs and the richer guided experience are what we're building towards from there.
Some of what you see on this site is working today; some shows where Project BBQ is heading. We'll make that distinction clear rather than pretending unfinished features are already here.