Dave's Smokefire EX6 Experiences


 
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.
Brian, I know my grill and I can manage it but it's not set and forget yet. Since I'm willing to deal with it and ride it out because the capabilities are impressive and taste of the food is the best I've tasted. I know I can put food on it and I'll finish the cook on it but I may have to do some finessing to get it done. I had a Rec Tec and an old Camp Chef that I installed a Rec Tec wifi controller in. My DLX became a knockoff of the RT-590 and it was great. I am convinced that the controller and software is the key to a reliable pellet grill. For a first pellet grill, in my opinion, the Recteq or Camp Chef will not disappoint but the Smokefire might.
 
From some of the comments above it appears that my Weber Performer Deluxe is more a "set-it-and-forget-it" than the Weber Smokefire??
 
I've been following this tread since the beginning and appreciate all the sharing of the trials and tribulations of the Smokefire that have been shared. I really wanted to get a Smokefire and based on what I was reading it wasn't for me. I appreciate the honest information that has been shared
I have enough crap going on in my life right now, with that said I went with a basic Camp Chef and I've been happy with it.
I'm sure the Smokefire when working properly produces a better product than the CC, but at least I'm not fighting with the WSM like I used to.
Maybe someday when Weber gets their next generation of Smokefire I'll take another look.
 
Here's what mystifies me, though this thought is based on mindset rather than any actual analysis: it feels to me that among the SF users here a large majority speak of challenges with their units. I myself was so challenged that I returned one. Would Weber do a major roadshow if there were overwhelming numbers of dissatisfied users? It doesn't seem logical that they would. Does that mean they have data showing huge favorability among the entire user base?
 
Here's what mystifies me, though this thought is based on mindset rather than any actual analysis: it feels to me that among the SF users here a large majority speak of challenges with their units. I myself was so challenged that I returned one. Would Weber do a major roadshow if there were overwhelming numbers of dissatisfied users? It doesn't seem logical that they would. Does that mean they have data showing huge favorability among the entire user base?
While I'm not a Weber fanboy my Smokefire goes into the will, warts and all. I'm on a FB Smokefire group and the vast majority of the approximately 2500 members are satisfied with their grill. I looked at the customer reviews on the Smokefire and by June 2020 they were trending up. That's when I bought mine. They continue to improve. Weber knows that the grill/software still needs work but they're bending over backwards to respond to customer problems. With the latest firmware update the grill is running pretty solid. Weber seems committed to the Smokefire and SF owners.
 
From some of the comments above it appears that my Weber Performer Deluxe is more a "set-it-and-forget-it" than the Weber Smokefire??
Probably not, but a WSM, definitely a YES. I have a corned beef on my WSM18 right now. I got a super deal on a temp controller for it and I am thinking who needs it. It keeps 225 way better than the SF did by lid temp and probe. I need to adapt the temp controller to my performer to keep 375 for the rotisserie and that would be great!
 
Here's what mystifies me, though this thought is based on mindset rather than any actual analysis: it feels to me that among the SF users here a large majority speak of challenges with their units. I myself was so challenged that I returned one. Would Weber do a major roadshow if there were overwhelming numbers of dissatisfied users? It doesn't seem logical that they would. Does that mean they have data showing huge favorability among the entire user base?
Well you make a good point but is that damage control? I really wish I knew about this tour as they started in ATL and Marietta which is very close to me and since I am retired I certainly would have attended. What did they cook hopefully someone here attends one if its steaks which if I remember is all they did before the launch when the had Harry and a bunch of others attended they did not allow them to cook on them, no brisket no ribs so what are they cooking on the tour?

Maybe its me but if all they are doing is cooking hamburgers and hot dogs or steaks any grill can do that. I get the brisket might have been to long a cook but you certainly if they got their early enough could have done some ribs as my guess is people are buying these pellet grills to get into smoking otherwise just buy a performer so show me its a good smoker on your tour.
 
If you need evidence of how much smoke a SmokeFire puts out. This is from my wall after 1 cook. Keep it away from walls you don't want to repaint or clean.
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