I’m certainly no noob when it comes to smoking meat on the grill, but I’ve never owned a real smoker, and certainly not one that could hold a conversation with me. But after a month of testing smart smokers on everything from meat to cheese to veggies to fish, I’ve learned that using a smart smoker can take the guesswork out of smoking your food. I’d go so far as to say that a smart app and a good smoker are the perfect combination of technology and functionality, and the Brisk It Origin 580 Smart Grill with AI is the best, most functional smoker I’ve ever used.

This grill offers the most control, recipe options, temperature range, and smokiness of any smart grill I tested, and with the least amount of intervention required. It can make smoking a casual, weeknight affair, and it does it all for the relatively reasonable price of $899 on Amazon.

Like every other grill I’ve tested, the Origin requires assembly, which took me about an hour. The “brains” of the grill, as well as the pellet hopper, are located on one side, with a fold-down tray in front. The grill itself offers 580 square inches between the active grilling space and an additional grate above it. Brisk It opted to forgo the traditional cabinetry beneath the grill, but I didn’t miss it much.

The steel body feels solid and sturdy, though I found that some of the accent pieces, like the stainless steel handles, broke and wobbled easily no matter how much tension I put on the screws, and got hot quickly. The grill also comes with an adhesive foam layer that you use to line the lid so it closes without a slam, but the heat quickly dissolved the adhesive, so the foam all peeled off during my first cook, though this didn’t seem to affect the performance of the grill in any way. Finally, the metal on the side drawers seemed to stain easily. Other than these issues, I’m still happy with the sturdiness of the grill.