Dave's Smokefire EX6 Experiences


 
Food is done and the Smokefire did a great job. I did notice less ash. I'm going to see how this mesh works and play around with it a bit.

20200229192512-71a62377-me.jpg

20200229192517-7d655e28-me.jpg

20200229192527-cf32eb0d-me.jpg

20200229192524-cea4a524-me.jpg


I cooked it a little too long on one side. Next time I know to give it a flip around 100 degrees, but overall, it was quite tasty. I had no pellet feed issues which was good.
 
I'm running a little Woodwind 36 vs. Smokefire EX6 comparo this morning. I'm cooking some slab bacon from my local butcher shop. Only five thick slices in total (three in the the EX6 and two in the Woodwind.

Step 1 - 230 Degrees
Step 2 - 260 Degrees
Step 3 - 300 Degrees cause I gotta leave the house soon.........

On the Woodwind, I'm running with a setting of Smoke 10 at all temps. I love bacon cooked on a pellet smoker, so hopefully in less than 30 minutes I can declare a winner or if it's going to be a tie. I'll also report back if one has finished before the other, even though I'm running the smokers at the same exact temperatures (as indicated on their controllers).
 
9D1F3B0E-C9E5-47A2-B3BF-4E2310BABC03.jpeg
Woodwind is on the right. I liked the Woodwind flavor a bit better, however the EX6 bacon was smokier. Very close to call as both were very tasty.

The EX6 took an extra 10-15 mins to cook and I had to bump it to 325 indicated. Posting from brunch.
 

Attachments

  • EA1934B3-0070-4F9D-8288-9FE87E858AB1.jpeg
    EA1934B3-0070-4F9D-8288-9FE87E858AB1.jpeg
    251.6 KB · Views: 11
  • 59A11EAD-F15F-4DE5-8BDA-73768D9FDC40.jpeg
    59A11EAD-F15F-4DE5-8BDA-73768D9FDC40.jpeg
    194.9 KB · Views: 11
Dave, I'm observing a trend where the food from the Weber is consistently more smokey than the food from the Camp Chef. Is that your impression so far?

Like many people, I have my Performer for high heat grilling/searing so my primary interest in a pellet grill is low/slow. Since every brand of pellet grill seems to have their own problems (build, software, hopper, etc) the primary deciding factor for me even above price will be the smoke quality of the end result. I know I could do better with a WSM but I'm ready for a different experience.
 
Bob Swaskoski said:
Dave, I'm observing a trend where the food from the Weber is consistently more smokey than the food from the Camp Chef. Is that your impression so far?

Like many people, I have my Performer for high heat grilling/searing so my primary interest in a pellet grill is low/slow. Since every brand of pellet grill seems to have their own problems (build, software, hopper, etc) the primary deciding factor for me even above price will be the smoke quality of the end result. I know I could do better with a WSM but I'm ready for a different experience.
Click to expand...
This is exactly where I'm at as well. Would love to see a side by side with ribs or brisket.
 
After returning my SmokeFire, I was trying to decide between a Traeger and a Woodwind. I stumbled across a very interesting Traeger at Costco so i bought it. Cooked a few things on it, most notably some ribs and there was zero noticeable smoke, so it went back to Costco and I got a Woodwind WiFi 24. It’s my 9th pellet grill in about that number of years.

I am very happy with the Woodwind, but I can say that the Weber puts out more smoke flavor by far than any of the other 8 I’ve owned. One of the frozen pizzas I made had so much smoke cooked at 425 that I really didn’t care for it. I think it’s both the flavorizer setup letting more smoke travel by the food and the burn pot letting some more smolder in the drawer below.
 
Thanks Shane. I can’t get much smoke flavor with ribs from my pellet grill either. Does pretty good with a longer cook though. Hopefully Weber will be able to get the Smokefire issues sorted.
 
ShaneF said:
After returning my SmokeFire, I was trying to decide between a Traeger and a Woodwind. I stumbled across a very interesting Traeger at Costco so i bought it. Cooked a few things on it, most notably some ribs and there was zero noticeable smoke, so it went back to Costco and I got a Woodwind WiFi 24. It’s my 9th pellet grill in about that number of years.

I am very happy with the Woodwind, but I can say that the Weber puts out more smoke flavor by far than any of the other 8 I’ve owned. One of the frozen pizzas I made had so much smoke cooked at 425 that I really didn’t care for it. I think it’s both the flavorizer setup letting more smoke travel by the food and the burn pot letting some more smolder in the drawer below.
Click to expand...

Dang, that was quick. I do think the Woodwind is one of the better pellet smokers I've owned and I've owned a whole mess of them just like you have. However, I know I've mentioned it here on the forum, but the Smokefire does the best job I've found at imparting smoke flavor of any pellet smoker I've owned. That's why I want to keep it, because I know it can turn out some great results.

I think the Woodwind will be the Ronco pit on my fleet, meaning I can "set it and forget it". If I want to produce the best result, I'll use the Smokefire. I think both will produce an amazing result and perhaps with a few tweaks, the Smokefire will be right up there in the set it and forget it category.
 
I wanted to post an update about parts inbound from Weber. I got a ship notification yesterday and my EX6 lid assembly is due to arrive today. They sent the lid Fedex Standard Overnight (24 pounds and a big box), so I appreciate their stepping it up for me and not making me wait four or so days for the items to traverse from IL to CA.

I also just got another ship notification for the pellet slide. It also shipped Fedex Standard Overnight and is due to arrive tomorrow. I'll post up some pics when it gets here.
 
PROJECT BUTCHER BLOCK FRONT SHELF - PART 1 of I HAVE NO IDEA?!?

So I ordered a butcher block counter top piece from Home Depot. Gotta commend them on their service, I got it the next day. I bought a piece that was 50x25x1.5". I'm going to stain it and coat it. It won't be used as a cutting board, only as a shelf. I am planning to add a front and side shelf from this piece and will have a little bit left over that I'll make into an outdoor cutting board or a wheel chock. Whatever floats my boat.

Now wood working isn't exactly my thing. I prefer metal working, but I have most of the tools to do woodworking, so I decided to get out my track saw and router kit I bought from EurekaZone years ago. My poor Dewalt router has some surface rust on it I'll need to clean up, but my Hilti soft-start saw with a fresh diablo blade was sitting in the bag just ready for another sawing adventure.

I have not decided on the exact dimensions for the front shelf, so I've left it 50" long for now. It' likely will be trimmed down to around 40", but we'll see. I decided on 12" in depth and I'm going to keep it away from the cooking chamber by 1-1.5".

If you remember those folding hinges I bought, I ordered two more but in 12", versus the 10" I'm using right now. I'm going to use the 10" versions for the side shelf. After doing my layout, I cut two dados into the bottom side of the shelf to reduce the height of the shelf when attached to the brackets. The dados are 3/4" deep so I still have enough meat to left to attach the shelf to the brackets.

After I fit it to the Smokefire, I noticed that the handle was awfully close to the top of the shelf. I took a look at the handle assembly and noticed that if i removed it and drilled out the locating dowel hole with a 1/4" drill bit, i could flip the handle upside down. That gave me enough room and saved me from modifying the folding brackets. At best I can lower the brackets 1/2" by redrilling them. Flipping the handle was way easier and can be put back to the originate state with no issues.

20200303172115-9cc1e9c6-me.jpg

20200303172121-1bcc63bc-me.jpg

20200303172133-d4cf5efa-me.jpg

20200303172137-58e95c8e-me.jpg

20200303172145-abc2a264-me.jpg


Test fitting: The handle was too close...
20200303172149-c4470779-me.jpg


Let's mod that handle:
20200303172153-2314dc44-me.jpg

20200303172156-6320b0a7-me.jpg

20200303172200-9353df70-me.jpg

20200303172204-f6c1ed1b-me.jpg


Oh I can work with that. I'm done for today because I had to also fix a broken fence post and I managed to get my RealID from the California DMV. Busy day for sure with a trip to Home Depot mixed in. I'll keep working on this as time permits this week. I plan to determine the length dimensions, round the front corners with a jigsaw, round the edges with a router and possibly put a beer can holder in it, because why the heck not? Once sanded, then I will be standing it with Cognac colored stain and will then coat with marine spar.

Please join me on a future part of the front shelf project. 🍻
 
I am surprised at everyone wanting front shelf. The BroilMaster I had, had a front flip up shelf on it. I hated it. Pretty useless because when the shelf was up actually working the grill was a PIA. So I took it off and stored it. When I sold it the guy loved that I had it but as for me? No bueno
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top