16 oz prime rib eyes reverse seared on the SmokeFire........or not!


 
J

Jerry We

TVWBB Fan
Did my monthly shopping at Sam's Club the other day and found crazy good deals on an 18 pound prime brisket and 2 16 oz prime rib eyes. Was supposed to smoke the brisket last night but the event got canceled due to COVID so it's in the freezer to smoke another day. Decided to reverse sear the rib eyes on the SF tonight. Outside temperature was a brisk 35 degrees but little or no wind. The SF had done a flawless job on Scotch eggs this morning so I was really feeling stoked! Prepped the rib eyes with nothing but salt and pepper and planned to use smoke boost for 30 minutes then increase the temperature to 250 and smoke until they reached 125 degrees, remove them and crank up the SF to 600 and finish at 140 degrees which is how we like our steaks.

Here's a picture of the steaks waiting for the SF to reach 225 so I could turn smoke burst on.

smokefire ribeyes.jpg


Unfortunately, that's as close to the SF as they got. I was sitting at the firepit with a raging fire waiting for it to reach temperature. The new glow plug glowed and the SF got to 170 and stalled. After 10 minutes the app dinged and said it was having trouble reaching temperature and to check the pellets (it has fresh Weber pellets in the hopper). When I got to the grill the screen was dead. Thought it had blown a fuse but nope I turned it on and it looked just like it does when you turn it on for the first time. Set the temperature for 225 and it started up and got to 180, stalled and the screen went dead again. Phone rings and my wife asks me when the steaks will be done and I had to tell her IDK. Turned it back on and set it for 600 to see what would happen and headed to the fire pit to cook the steaks. Used the JKF (just keep flipping) method to cook the steaks to a perfect 140.

smokefire ribeyes2.jpg


Here's the final product along with a twice baked potato and they were delicious. As we were finishing supper my phone dinged and said the SF had reached 600 degrees which was probably 30+minutes after I set the temperature.

smokefire ribeyes3.jpg


For those of you that have followed my struggle with the SF you might know that every functioning part in my SF has been replaced at least once. Decided not to call Weber support tonight but will have a conversation with my dedicated support technician tomorrow. Sorry for rambling but needed to vent.
 
That is unfortunate, Jerry, but your save was awesome.

I had a former pastor I hadn't talked with in a while call me about the SmokeFire. He found us here at TVWBB and saw that I was active. I told him what I tell everyone at this point:

When it is in a good mood, it definitely is capable of producing awesome food with great smoke. (We have certainly seen plenty of proof of that here.) But, it can sometimes behave like a temperamental race horse. So, be prepared for some coddling and extra effort. For many it is still worth it. I am kind of on the fence, but if I won our contest and got an EX4, it would be a keeper, cooking right alongside my Recteq Bull. But if I had a "failure is not an option" meal to cook, the RecTeq would get the first call.
 
Jon Tofte said:
That is unfortunate, Jerry, but your save was awesome.

I had a former pastor I hadn't talked with in a while call me about the SmokeFire. He found us here at TVWBB and saw that I was active. I told him what I tell everyone at this point:

When it is in a good mood, it definitely is capable of producing awesome food with great smoke. (We have certainly seen plenty of proof of that here.) But, it can sometimes behave like a temperamental race horse. So, be prepared for some coddling and extra effort. For many it is still worth it. I am kind of on the fence, but if I won our contest and got an EX4, it would be a keeper, cooking right alongside my Recteq Bull. But if I had a "failure is not an option" meal to cook, the RecTeq would get the first call.
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Jon - Thanks for the words of encouragement. To have a grill fail when its 70 degrees and light out is one thing but to have it fail multiple times when its 35 degrees or colder and pitch black out is a whole different story. My wife couldn't care less what I cook on and just like everybody only wants a good meal that's ready at a reasonable time. She's been very supportive and always tells me to remember it's just a grill and until last night I always replied that no it's so much more than a grill. Last night I agreed with her. I won't give up on it but I have to lower my expectations. I'm lucky to have multiple other options to grill and/or smoke on that always work first time and every time. I cook outside 5 or 6 times a week year round and my particular SF just can't be my everyday go to grill at this time.
 
Just want to put this post to bed. Weber's official response with respect to taking 30+ minutes to reach 600 is that "it would not be unusual in cold weather". With respect to shutting down twice all they could suggest is "doing a power cycle by turning off the SmokeFire, leaving it for 60 seconds, and restarting".
 
That sucks, I’ve been on a roll lately with my SF🔥.
I hate hearing others still acting up.
I have to try those twice baked potatoes though!
 
Jerry We said:
Weber's official response with respect to taking 30+ minutes to reach 600 is that "it would not be unusual in cold weather".
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Which might be a barely acceptable response if Weber was based in a city such as Miami, San Diego etc.

But Weber's a company that's been historically based in the Chicago area for nearly 70 years. You'd think somebody that works there would know better.
 
Perhaps all of us could crank our Smoke Fires up to 600 degrees on the next cold front, or if they have time early in the morning when the temperature is in the lower 30's. Post your outdoor temperature along with the time to reach 600 degrees.

The next low temp for me will be Sunday morning, and I'll try and test it then.
 
I had a brisk start this Saturay morning here in Midland, TX with an outside temperature was 36°F (2°C) - no wind. Fired up the SF and reached 600 degrees at 20 minutes.
 
LKruse said:
I had a brisk start this Saturay morning here in Midland, TX with an outside temperature was 36°F (2°C) - no wind. Fired up the SF and reached 600 degrees at 20 minutes.
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Thanks. That would be acceptable to me but not 30+ minutes.
 
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