First Cook On My "New To Me" EX4


 
Lew Newby

Lew Newby

R.I.P. 1/26/2024
4.5 lbs. of Beef Sticks. Because of the limited space I can't use my hot plate and smoke tube setup that I use in the EX6. I broke out my Craigslist Nesco Dehydrator and gave the sticks an hour each at 125 and 145. Then I moved them to the EX4 on smokeboost with a narrow water pan to accommodate my jerky rack tray. The sticks spent 5 hours on the EX4 and smokeboost ran mostly between 150 and 160 on a rainy 47 degree morning. For now I'll do most of my cooking on the EX4 just to compare it to the EX6. I found a sale on Spirit 300 GBS grates for the EX6 but moved them to the EX4 and they fit great. This grill is working out just fine. Having fun and learning how to deal with the difference in size. 1-25-22 EX4 GBS Grates.jpg1-25-22 Beef Sticks..jpg.
 
Lew, It looks like you are off to a very good start. I will be watching your posts and very interested in how you see the EX4 as a second pellet grill vs. the idea of having two big ones. I see some deals on used EX6 grills, but not on EX4s in quite a while.

That top shelf adds a lot (as does the one in the Camp Chef 24). My older RT-700 doesn't have the 2nd built-in shelf like their new RT-1250, but the guy I bought it from had sprung for the stainless shelf with legs that you can set in on top of the main one. It is nice stainless, and I am glad to have it, but I think Recteq now sees that many people want 2 "real" shelves.
 
I figured you would be posting something quickly to let us know how it was working. Glad to hear it works great.
The upper deck on the CC24 is huge compared to the SF24, that's one of the things that attracted me to it. That and it was about 50% of the cost of the SF24.
The downside .... it's an ugly sucker.
If I was to run across a good deal on a SF24 I might take a shot at one, so I'll be watching your posts as to what you think of it.
Although I would have to hide it from Barb and when she found it, I'd have to hid myself for a while.
 
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Rich, When I watched BabyBackManiac's review of the Camp Chef 24, that top shelf was a big positive factor to me. Small footprint but a lot of room for a bbq event. BBM gave that a thumbs up. I also like the openings in the grease tray and even the slide aside capability. BBM didn't find those features all that impressive, but I think they would help at least some. The openings in the tray are kind of a half-way step toward the SmokeFire's use of flavorizer bars vs. the typical pellet grill with a solid shield.

I missed on a good deal on a lightly used CC24, but like with your idea, I would be in the doghouse if I had done that right now. :rolleyes:
 
Jon. If I had to go down to just one grill, I would take the risk with a SF. Most likely a 36. I think it's probably the best of the do it all grills. The older I get the less grilling especially in the winter I'm doing. Mostly do simple things but on occasion I do larger longer cooks. I would want to do mostly grilling with some occasional smoking.
I have six grills now and only use two on a regular basis The E320 and the CC, during the summer with the charcoal ban we are pretty much just able to use the gassers, that's why I still have my Gen 2000. They haven't mentioned pellet grills, so I do use the CC in the summer a few times with caution.
I'll go through this summer and then make a decision about downsizing. By then maybe we will know where Weber is going with the SF. I think a 36 SF and the NG E320 for our summer outside oven would be all I would need.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Rich, When I watched BabyBackManiac's review of the Camp Chef 24, that top shelf was a big positive factor to me. Small footprint but a lot of room for a bbq event. BBM gave that a thumbs up. I also like the openings in the grease tray and even the slide aside capability. BBM didn't find those features all that impressive, but I think they would help at least some. The openings in the tray are kind of a half-way step toward the SmokeFire's use of flavorizer bars vs. the typical pellet grill with a solid shield.

I missed on a good deal on a lightly used CC24, but like with your idea, I would be in the doghouse if I had done that right now. :rolleyes:
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My dog house has went from a house to a shed :p. I'm even afraid to ask forgiveness anymore.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Lew, It looks like you are off to a very good start. I will be watching your posts and very interested in how you see the EX4 as a second pellet grill vs. the idea of having two big ones. I see some deals on used EX6 grills, but not on EX4s in quite a while.

That top shelf adds a lot (as does the one in the Camp Chef 24). My older RT-700 doesn't have the 2nd built-in shelf like their new RT-1250, but the guy I bought it from had sprung for the stainless shelf with legs that you can set in on top of the main one. It is nice stainless, and I am glad to have it, but I think Recteq now sees that many people want 2 "real" shelves.
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Jon. I've been thinking about your question. It would be easier for me if you just asked about things you want to know. I know I've only fired it up twice but I have a good feel for the EX4 and revised my original thinking about how I will use the two grills. Fire away knowing I will answer considering the RT700 as one of your mix of pellet poopers.
 
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May I ask a question? On my EX6 I have a habit of 1) using a drip pan between the grates and bars and/or 2) placing my food to either side because I assume the mid-section is hotter. I haven't yet cooked a volume of food at once that I cannot place it on the sides. Is the mid-section truly hotter? If so, would it be appropriate to rotate your food once or twice on the EX4? Thx
 
BFletcher said:
May I ask a question? On my EX6 I have a habit of 1) using a drip pan between the grates and bars and/or 2) placing my food to either side because I assume the mid-section is hotter. I haven't yet cooked a volume of food at once that I cannot place it on the sides. Is the mid-section truly hotter? If so, would it be appropriate to rotate your food once or twice on the EX4? Thx
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I have rotated the food in my EX6 because of the hot right side. I call that a Smokefire 2 zone fire. :D I once did ribs and my wife likes fall off the bone but that day my Son-in-law was here and he likes a little tug to his. I cooked the fall off the bone ribs on the right side and the tug bite ribs on the left. They both came out right and finished at almost the same time. I rotated the beef sticks half way through the cook on the EX4
and that evened them out.
 
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Beef sticks look awesome Lew, congrats on your first EX4 cook. I'd be tempted to take a soft wire wheel to the inside if it were mine, although in doing so might open pandora's box
 
ChuckO said:
Beef sticks look awesome Lew, congrats on your first EX4 cook. I'd be tempted to take a soft wire wheel to the inside if it were mine, although in doing so might open pandora's box
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Thanks Chuck. The sticks taste pretty darn good. :) The previous owner was not big on cleaning his grills and neither am I. I know it looks like rust on the end walls but it's grease and smoke. The light makes it show up rust colored. I have the same thing on the back side of the cook box. I'm slowly getting the outside cleaned up.
 
Lew, I think "seasoning" - not ash accumulation - is your friend in one of these grills. I am pretty serious about cleaning the bottom of my Recteq to minimize chance of ash blowing and to have a clean, primed firepot, but I don't worry about the nice lining of smoked on grease above the grate level. That stuff helps protect the metal :coolkettle:!
 
Today I fired up the EX4 to sear a pork steak and do a quick check on a couple of questions raised in the Facebook group. I got to use the new GBS stainless grates for searing and they work like a champ. I may get rid of my GrillGrates. The EX4 heats faster than the EX6 and, at 550 degrees, I noticed flame coming out the left and right of the flame deflector. I seared for 2 minutes and turned 45 degrees and seared for 2 minutes to check the grill marks. 3 minutes would have given very pronounced marks but 2 minutes still worked. At high temp the EX4 gobbles pellets but that's expected. My next cook will be a Pork Shoulder that's thawing. Until I get the EX4 checked out thoroughly it's my go to cooker for all cooks that fit. The previous owner mailed me his 2 spare glow plugs that he forgot to bring last Sunday. Both grills are still on the initial glow plug. So far, so good.
 
Great news. Please post some pictures of your next cooks.

I read a lot about the Camp Chef Woodwind 24. It lacks the style of the SmokeFire but has a lot of good things going for it. If someone offered me a free choice between a new one of each, it wouldn’t be easy to pick.

I would like to see a face-off comparison between them. Better yet I wish I was rich and could do it myself!
 
Jon Tofte said:
Great news. Please post some pictures of your next cooks.

I read a lot about the Camp Chef Woodwind 24. It lacks the style of the SmokeFire but has a lot of good things going for it. If someone offered me a free choice between a new one of each, it wouldn’t be easy to pick.

I would like to see a face-off comparison between them. Better yet I wish I was rich and could do it myself!
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I have the Dick's Camp Chef 24in Slide and Grill version, the ZG. I paid $499 I think? I have been pretty happy with it so far! The comparable Woodwind being $400 more was a no go for me, esp given that I already had the ThermoWorks Smoke giving me remote temp information (and probably more accurate). I think the PID itself is the same in both the Woodwind and the Slide and Grill or the Smokepro models. I also bought the Sidekick attachment. This was before I bought and rehabbed my Weber so in retrospect maybe I didn't need the Sidekick...

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JohnS FL said:
I have the Dick's Camp Chef 24in Slide and Grill version, the ZG. I paid $499 I think? I have been pretty happy with it so far! The comparable Woodwind being $400 more was a no go for me, esp given that I already had the ThermoWorks Smoke giving me remote temp information (and probably more accurate). I think the PID itself is the same in both the Woodwind and the Slide and Grill or the Smokepro models. I also bought the Sidekick attachment. This was before I bought and rehabbed my Weber so in retrospect maybe I didn't need the Sidekick...

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I have the same grill as you except I have the gen1 controller. I've had it over two years and just went over 200 cooks and absolutely zero issues with it. I also use a TW smoke to monitor my cooks which works great.
 
I missed out on Woodwind 24 with the stainless hood and Gen 2 controller for $450. You snooze, you lose. It's hard to find something not to like about that grill. I did see someone in Ohio trying to sell their for literally $100. Their honest ad, though, said that it was basically a lemon and that after numerous part replacements from Camp Chef, the warranty had expired so you would be on your own since it still didn't work. Last thing I would want to mess with. :rolleyes:
 
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