New Weber Smokefire wood pellet grills

[DJDDay]

Had your friend had any issues? What's his experience after owning it?

He said his SmokeFire EX4 (gen 2) suffers from large temperature swings, especially at high temps. Also, the little ash pan opening at the bottom that's supposed to keep your firepot cleaned out doesn't work well - there's a ton of ash that blows around (like an insane amount). The exterior (and interior) of the SmokeFire seems to always be coated in a lot of ash. The door leaks smoke bad, but that seems to be an issue with the Traeger Pro line as well. Two out of his 3 meat probes failed - they don't seem the be the best quality. He bought replacements on Amazon, though. He likes the app, and he says startup (getting to peak temp) is super fast. He doesn't like the pellet hopper in the rear; it makes filling it very awkward and he feels it is a design blunder. Looks good, but not practical. Handle is too shallow on the lid (easy to burn your wrist when it's lifted).

 

[RustyJake]

Temperature swings can be programmed on purpose. That is how the pellet grill creates it's smoke. There is some smoke made from maintaining temps, but the majority of smoke is created by fluctuations in the pellet feeds that result in temperature swings.
We are all focused on getting a consistent temperature with little deviation, but that may come at the expense of smoke.
Look at Lone Star Grills for example, probably one of the highest output of smoke in a pellet grill, and it has wild temperature swings while maintaining the constant average over the duration of the cook. There are some videos that show the Fireboard logs and they show temp swings of 30°F. But it produces smoke at pretty much every temperature.

Maybe we need to look at the longer temperature averages over a cook as opposed to looking at a steady temperature as a indication of a good pellet grill. Just my humble opinion on that aspect.
Weber has some good features, I really think they will continue to improve.

 

[miguelb]

He said his SmokeFire EX4 (gen 2) suffers from large temperature swings, especially at high temps. Also, the little ash pan opening at the bottom that's supposed to keep your firepot cleaned out doesn't work well - there's a ton of ash that blows around (like an insane amount). The exterior (and interior) of the SmokeFire seems to always be coated in a lot of ash. The door leaks smoke bad, but that seems to be an issue with the Traeger Pro line as well. Two out of his 3 meat probes failed - they don't seem the be the best quality. He bought replacements on Amazon, though. He likes the app, and he says startup (getting to peak temp) is super fast. He doesn't like the pellet hopper in the rear; it makes filling it very awkward and he feels it is a design blunder. Looks good, but not practical. Handle is too shallow on the lid (easy to burn your wrist when it's lifted).

Thanks for the information. From your perspective or your friend, do you consider many of these issues - user error or design fault?

I agree @RustyJake on the temp spike to get better smoke.

 

[DJDDay]

Thanks for the information. From your perspective or your friend, do you consider many of these issues - user error or design fault?

I agree @RustyJake on the temp spike to get better smoke.

They're 100% design fault. He's not new to smoking or pellet grills at all (his first was a Traeger)! I do agree that the temp swings may be by design to coax more smoke. He may not have been prepared for that since his first experience was with an older Traeger that didn't experience temp swings as great as he's seeing on his EX4.

 

[miguelb]

They're 100% design fault. He's not new to smoking or pellet grills at all (his first was a Traeger)! I do agree that the temp swings may be by design to coax more smoke. He may not have been prepared for that since his first experience was with an older Traeger that didn't experience temp swings as great as he's seeing on his EX4.

That was my assumption as well. There is another thread talking about this. A actually had similar problems and one of the commenters seems to blame the user more. I don't own one nor tried one but I do agree with your/friends experience.

 

[JPSBBQ]

The Smokefire is a beast. A truly unique product that puts out next level BBQ and grills like a high end gas grill. It outperforms products like Memphis IMO at 1/5th the cost. Like I’ve said before, I own 5 Traegers currently and have had several others over the years and they are steady and reliable pellet smokers. The Weber is a whole other beast and probably isn’t for everyone, but it’s far and away the most versatile and impressive product on the market. They had plenty of software issue in the first six months and received plenty of well deserved criticism. I’m assuming some people were sacked over the premature and I’ll advised launch. Since the corrections, the thing is very reliable. Just note, there are always potential issues. Just search this forum board if you want proof. I’m here to testify that the things people generally complain about are self Inflicted from lack of insight or just a perceived potential issue which isn’t really an issue. That’s my opinion. It’s based upon a decade or more of pellet cooking experience and at least a half dozen brands. Not every cooker is for every cook though. Watch the YouTube video by the mad scientist bbq about these cookers. Everything the guy with Jeremy Yoder says on there is accurate and true. That guy has access to about every product on the market. He cooks on a Weber Smokefire at his house. Daily. Just saying.

 

[Clint62]

I wanted a Rectec but being north of the USA boarder makes it quite a bit more money to get myself one, so it would be been comparable to buying a Yoder locally or driving across the boarder to pick up a Rectec. I didnt wannt spend either amounts of money. I love my Ironwood 885, haven't had an issue yet with it including the software the knocked everyone else's out... mine seems to be one of the lucky few that made it out alive. If I had the choice, I would have went GMG(cost savings of $800) if this didnt workout or wait it out and get the new Smokefire, it looks badass with lots of different engineered aspects.

My sister gave me her older rec tec rt300. I was gonna sell it because I also have a 575...but...I'm using it almost as much as the traeger