Dave's Smokefire EX6 Experiences

[JimZ]

I've been curious about those mini-splits. do they come pre-charged with Freon? Seems like a great option for those hot rooms in a house.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

I've been curious about those mini-splits. do they come pre-charged with Freon? Seems like a great option for those hot rooms in a house.

Yes sir. They have a couple of options out there. Mr. Cool sells DIY mini-splits that have unique line connectors which do not require you to vacuum down the system. The problem is, the line-sets are fixed length and unless you get lucky, you'll end up with a coiled line-set. That's bad as it starts trapping oil and it looks ugly. You'll also pay more for the unit and IMO, you could put a portion of that money into some tools to do the job and the end result is a cleaner looking install.

The unit I bought is not a "DIY", but if you purchase a cheap set of manifold gauges and a vacuum pump, plus a 5/16->1/4 adapter for mini-splits, some Nylog, and proper flaring tool, you can pull a vacuum on the system in short order. I have a nice gauge set and a professional quality pump, but you don't need either for a mini-split install. Cheapie versions off of Amazon paired with some Nylog will get it done. The most important aspects of the mini-split install is proper line routing, the flaring of the line-set, using Nylog at each connection and pulling a low micron vacuum. If you have basic handyman skills and can install an electrical circuit, a majority of the tools are fairly common. Once you flare and connect the lines, you pull a deep vacuum. Verify the vacuum holds and then you open the service valves on the outdoor unit to release the refrigerant. Mini-Splits are charged based on weighing in the charge and most come with sufficient R410A refrigerant installed for up to a 25' line-set. This thing does work amazing in my office and heat is no longer a problem what-so-ever.

 

[Nushi E]

A LITTLE MODDING AND A LITTLE COOKING...

I think we almost forgot that the Smokefire is for cooking. With my front shelf project on hold because I didn't use my tape measure properly, I decided to dip into the recently arrived box of goodies. What I found was some stainless #100 mesh. I cut two pieces and clipped them to the main heat deflector/tent/house/triangle/roof/hood/discronificator. I wanted to see if ash would be reduced, especially during cook around 275-300 degrees. Now here's the deal, I'm hungry. I just got back from the butcher shop again. The dudes are starting to think that maybe I want to work there. I told them this is too close by for comfort. So it was $50ish last night and another $70ish tonight, but they had those bacon wrapped fillets again from an earlier cook. I bought four of them, more sausages and a rack of baby backs.

So first, let's look at this stainless mesh I bought:

Is it going to work? Who knows. I do know that after running it for a while, I hardly saw any ash on the grates and it was minimal on the outside of the unit. I didn't do anything special with this stuff. I didn't try to cut it to conform to the chamber or anything. I just draped it down in there and hit the go button. I used some stainless bag clips I had laying around. I really want less ash during longer cooks. If I'm running hot and short duration, I don't care so much about it.

I noticed that the flame exiting the right side has much less to do with temperature and more to do with over-fueling. This is because I vacuumed it out and it had a hard time starting up. I forgot to drop some pellets in the fire pot, but it did start up OK. It just didn't start up well, and as a result it started feeding in fuel when it wasn't quite ready for it. That caused a lot of side exiting flame when the EX6 was sub-200 degrees. The mesh didn't seem fazed by this at all.

Now, let's get to the food:

I'm going to run the EX6 at 275 degrees until the internal is at 105 and then I'm going to bump it up to 375-400 to finish to 133ish. Then rest for 10 minutes before eating. I added some fresh ground kosher salt and pepper to both sides, along with a little avocado oil drizzle.

I just got an EX4 and I'm noticing quite a bit of ash around grates and food. How is that stainless steel mesh working? I'm thinking on adding it to my EX4 tent, might go with #80 mesh though. Your thoughts!?

Thanks

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Just wanted to say hi and now that our fiscal year is winding down, I'll be back to cooking a bit more since it won't be so crazy at work. I did a nice deed last week and delivered my old Traeger Timberline 1300 to my friend's house. He works for me and was always drooling over that thing when he'd stop by. I hadn't really used it in quite some time, so instead of trying to make some cash, I just gave it to him. Ever had your boss show up with a nice smoker on a trailer and deliver it to you with 60 pounds of pellets and extras? I never have, so I thought it would be cool to do that. He even gave me a COVID hug because he was so emotional. haha. Was really cool and it's times like this that giving and being generous is important IMO.

Oh and it wouldn't be Dave if I didn't buy more crap. So I have a Masterbuilt 1050 gravity feed on the way with a number of mods for it as well. Just spent yesterday ordering stuff I didn't need, so things are pretty normal around here. If there's any interest here, I can post up some thoughts. I had an Assassin gravity feed smoker in the past, but this one seemed more appealing to me. Plus I have like 300 pounds of charcoal I needed to use, so I figured this would help. I may upgrade it to a Fireboard 2 for the control, but not out of the box. Right now I have some of the newest smoker equipment on the patio, so maybe a head to head shootout is in order.

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

 

[Bruno]

Just wanted to say hi and now that our fiscal year is winding down, I'll be back to cooking a bit more since it won't be so crazy at work. I did a nice deed last week and delivered my old Traeger Timberline 1300 to my friend's house. He works for me and was always drooling over that thing when he'd stop by. I hadn't really used it in quite some time, so instead of trying to make some cash, I just gave it to him. Ever had your boss show up with a nice smoker on a trailer and deliver it to you with 60 pounds of pellets and extras? I never have, so I thought it would be cool to do that. He even gave me a COVID hug because he was so emotional. haha. Was really cool and it's times like this that giving and being generous is important IMO.

Oh and it wouldn't be Dave if I didn't buy more crap. So I have a Masterbuilt 1050 gravity feed on the way with a number of mods for it as well. Just spent yesterday ordering stuff I didn't need, so things are pretty normal around here. If there's any interest here, I can post up some thoughts. I had an Assassin gravity feed smoker in the past, but this one seemed more appealing to me. Plus I have like 300 pounds of charcoal I needed to use, so I figured this would help. I may upgrade it to a Fireboard 2 for the control, but not out of the box. Right now I have some of the newest smoker equipment on the patio, so maybe a head to head shootout is in order.

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

He’s alive!! That was a nice thing to do! I’m sure he is pumped right now to get smoking!!
Good to see you are doing well and back at it! Keep us updated on the masterbuilt.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

I am alive! Glad to see the forum is active as ever. Today I had like three extra pounds of ground beef that I needed to use up, so I decided to find a meatloaf recipe and the rest is history. Cooked at around 360 degrees until 160 IT. I'm hoping it good since I just pulled it off and they're resting at the moment.

Glazed them once they hit 102 degrees IT.

Pulled at 160 degrees IT.

The EX6 ran flawlessly and came up to temp pretty quickly. It's running the latest firmware for reference.

But..... DAMN SON..... those meatloafs turned out pretty.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

That was the best meatloaf I've ever made or had. It made me dance when I was eating the little burnt bits off that cooking grid. I will also never hand mix a meatloaf again and will always use the big mixer. It really had a nice consistency.

Recipe

I doubled the recipe which created about two 2.1 LB pre-cooked meatloafs. I also added a bit more sweet onion (maybe a cup and a quarter vs. the cup it called for when doubled), which was very finely diced.

The EX6 nailed this cook. Nice smoke ring even at 360 degrees and a smoke/wood cooked flavor which was noticeable, but not overpowering in any way. Really complimented this recipe well and I loved the glaze. To kick it up a notch, add a bit of Montreal Steak into the mix (about a teaspoon) and sprinkle the formed loaf lightly with it as well before smoking. When I got the bites with the little bits from the Montreal Steak, it was money.

I'm going to go deliver the second one to my good buddy tomorrow morning. I will be using this recipe going forward. Easy, great consistency and very tasty.

 

[Bruno]

Looks great, I need to try that.

 

[LMichaels]

They look very nice!

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Need recipe! Love meatloaf.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Need recipe! Love meatloaf.

It’s linked in my post above. Hope you like it. I made a meatloaf sandwich with it last night. Was awesome.


I made garlic/cheese bread, toasted it on the griddle, melted some medium cheddar on top of the griddled meatloaf slices and put some ketchup/mayo on the bread. Very tasty. Apologies for the paper plate. Lol

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

That's right - I'm still around.

I'm about to throw in the towel on this thing though. I've used it here and there over the fall/winter/spring with mixed results. I find myself using the Masterbuilt 1050 more because it always works and produces great food with no frustration. As you know I have a Camp Chef Woodwind 36 and it never has ANY issues. Runs like a top. Smokefire still produces the best smoked BBQ of any pellet grill. So today, I cleaned it out completely, updated the firmware to the latest version *54 and fired it up to 230 degrees to smoke a pound of bacon. I'm then going to make burgers later, but wanted to get the bacon out of the way for a couple of dishes I'm making. It fires up and comes up to temp, I add the bacon and go inside. I decide to check the temps about 25 minutes later, 105 degrees. WHAT?!? I go outside, move the bacon around and find this.

That's after I took a handful of pellets off the slide. Vacuumed them all out and have restarted. Mine has the welded chute and pellet slide. Obviously not a pellet feeding issue. Firepot was 100% clean because I had just vacuumed the whole thing out before starting this cook. I want to love this thing because I've put a lot of effort into this thing, but it's to the point I just want to smash it! LOL

 

[Bruno]

That's right - I'm still around.

I'm about to throw in the towel on this thing though. I've used it here and there over the fall/winter/spring with mixed results. I find myself using the Masterbuilt 1050 more because it always works and produces great food with no frustration. As you know I have a Camp Chef Woodwind 36 and it never has ANY issues. Runs like a top. Smokefire still produces the best smoked BBQ of any pellet grill. So today, I cleaned it out completely, updated the firmware to the latest version *54 and fired it up to 230 degrees to smoke a pound of bacon. I'm then going to make burgers later, but wanted to get the bacon out of the way for a couple of dishes I'm making. It fires up and comes up to temp, I add the bacon and go inside. I decide to check the temps about 25 minutes later, 105 degrees. WHAT?!? I go outside, move the bacon around and find this.

That's after I took a handful of pellets off the slide. Vacuumed them all out and have restarted. Mine has the welded chute and pellet slide. Obviously not a pellet feeding issue. Firepot was 100% clean because I had just vacuumed the whole thing out before starting this cook. I want to love this thing because I've put a lot of effort into this thing, but it's to the point I just want to smash it! LOL

That sucks!! Good to see your still checking in!!

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

That sucks!! Good to see your still checking in!!

It really does. I think this new firmware is the root cause or something, because it just about crapped out again. I walked outside and it was down to 170 degrees on a set-point of 230 degrees. Thankfully it caught itself and is coming back up to temp, but this seems like a new issue. Pellets are from Weber as well and they're dry. If it craps out again I'm going to have to fire up something else to cook my dinner since this is a joke. I'm going to email Weber and see what they have to say.

Glad to still be around. I hope all is well my friend!

 

[Jon Tofte]

So the story continues...I wonder if the ones on their upcoming road tour will work the way they are supposed to! Every time I get tempted to try to get an EX-4 as a second pellet grill (as if I really need that - ask my wife ) I get knocked down by posts like this. A Recteq Bullseye rises back up to the top. It is different but has high heat capability and interchangeability with Weber kettle grill grates and with that GBS inserts.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

Yeah Jon, that Bullseye looks really cool.

 

[Lew Newby]

So the story continues...I wonder if the ones on their upcoming road tour will work the way they are supposed to! Every time I get tempted to try to get an EX-4 as a second pellet grill (as if I really need that - ask my wife ) I get knocked down by posts like this. A Recteq Bullseye rises back up to the top. It is different but has high heat capability and interchangeability with Weber kettle grill grates and with that GBS inserts.

Jon, you know how much I like my EX6 but also like Rec Tec. I like them but I'm a realist and don't get caught up in the "fanboy" mentality. I have read a ton of comments by folks who claim their grill performs perfectly. I don't see how that's possible with this grill. You learn it and monitor it and you can avoid disaster but you still have glitches that require owner intervention to avoid flameouts and other problems. In this old fart's opinion the Smokefire probably has at least another year before it becomes as reliable as a recteq. I'm keeping my EX6 with no regrets whatsoever but your Bullseye idea sounds good to me. Give Weber a couple of years and revisit it. That advise is probably worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Had the same problem on the EX4 I sold. It did improve when I took Lew's advice and removed the finger gard wire from the hopper. Is yours on or off?

 

[Bruno]

Jon, you know how much I like my EX6 but also like Rec Tec. I like them but I'm a realist and don't get caught up in the "fanboy" mentality. I have read a ton of comments by folks who claim their grill performs perfectly. I don't see how that's possible with this grill. You learn it and monitor it and you can avoid disaster but you still have glitches that require owner intervention to avoid flameouts and other problems. In this old fart's opinion the Smokefire probably has at least another year before it becomes as reliable as a recteq. I'm keeping my EX6 with no regrets whatsoever but your Bullseye idea sounds good to me. Give Weber a couple of years and revisit it. That advise is probably worth exactly what you paid for it.

Agree with Lew, it takes a little work on the SmokeFire, I found the WSM 22 to be pretty hands on and the few things I have to do to make sure the SmokeFire runs well enough to cook don’t bother me.
Now if you want to give yourself an aneurism stick an air probe from your SMOKE or similar thermometer in the SmokeFire over a long cook.

I just let it all happen these days and it seems to happen ok.
Is it perfect? No. My best friend picked up an RT-700 and he’s been killing it all year. Took a rook and turned him into a damn good BBQ man.
it is what it is, I just ordered a fancy new top grate and like I’ve said before I’m all in on the SmokeFire at this point. I just hope if Weber nails it a couple years from now all my accessories fit the new model.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

Jon, you know how much I like my EX6 but also like Rec Tec. I like them but I'm a realist and don't get caught up in the "fanboy" mentality. I have read a ton of comments by folks who claim their grill performs perfectly. I don't see how that's possible with this grill. You learn it and monitor it and you can avoid disaster but you still have glitches that require owner intervention to avoid flameouts and other problems. In this old fart's opinion the Smokefire probably has at least another year before it becomes as reliable as a recteq. I'm keeping my EX6 with no regrets whatsoever but your Bullseye idea sounds good to me. Give Weber a couple of years and revisit it. That advise is probably worth exactly what you paid for it.

Lew, I am sure their are many others like me who admire your honestly regarding the Smokefire as well as Dave and Bruno. My neighbor stopped by about 20 minutes ago I had rehabbed a Performer that he brought to me went to a lake house and has already used it 3 or 4 times loves it.

One of his sons is starting to look at pellet grills and since he knows I am a Weber guy he asked me whether Weber had a pellet grill and I took him thru a bunch of these threads specifically yours above, told him not certainly something I could recommend based on the issues really kind of hit him when he read your thread that your opinion is and that is not the end all I get it but to spend that kind of money with a grill that may need another year to be as reliable as a recteq he kind of said to me then why would my son not buy a reqteq. I don't own a pellet grill my answer was do your research on the recteq and the camp chef windwood a plus is recteq since we are in GA so its a local company.