Going a different direction, looking for a more polished product right now


 
S

Shane - glitchy

TVWBB Super Fan
I talked to Weber over the weekend and am returning my SmokeFire. I like the grill and feel it's very innovative and think it will be awesome some day, It just isn't polished and dependable enough to be my primary grill and get used multiple times a week right now. When I got it in June, I absolutely loved the grill for 2-3 months until Weber did the iPhone app rewrite and pushed out the Firmware changes in the fall and broke notifications, introduced a bunch of temperature inconsistencies, created some bugs causing the probes to stop responding at times, etc. I've stuck around waiting for fixes and I think some of the issues with the app were possibly fixed a week ago and others are in the Firmware appear due to arrive soon, but that has answered a lot of questions for me as to where they are in their technology development side of things right now. It appears they are running on roughly quarterly updates to firmware and I'm not patient enough to endure some of the bugs they introduce for 2-4 months at a time. The mobile app seems to be able to respond more quickly than that, but it still appears they are monthly. However, they don't always get all known bugs fixed as I'm pretty sure notifications were broken longer than one release cycle.

Someday, Weber is going to get the SmokeFire nailed down and start making just minor adjustments in releases and it's going to be an awesome all around product. I just hope when they do they are going to be able to recover from the negative image they've created around the product and get it selling.

I still love Weber and am keeping my WSCG. This place is a great source of information on so many things BBQ, so I'll be around learning from ya'll and keeping an eye on the progress of the SmokeFire. I want to thank you all here for making this such a great place to share and learn about the SmokeFire as it continues to evolve. Many bbq forums wrote it off after the first couple weeks of release mayhem so there's not a lot of places to welcomely share experiences with other SmokeFire users without just getting responses related to why do you own that piece of trash, how's your GreaseFire, etc.?
 
Shane sorry it did not work out so if I understand you they took it back when you bought it in June meaning a refund. Since you have a WSCG that probably helped you since you are a high end customer the kind they don't want to make angry.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Shane sorry it did not work out so if I understand you they took it back when you bought it in June meaning a refund. Since you have a WSCG that probably helped you since you are a high end customer the kind they don't want to make angry.
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Correct, I bought it in June and they are picking it up this Wednesday for a refund. However, when I bought it in June, the CEO had posted a letter stating:

"The vast majority of SmokeFire owners have had good experiences and made absolutely amazing food. For anyone who has any type of issue, we will provide full assistance and if needed, on-site service at no cost to you. And finally we will fully guarantee your satisfaction or we will take your grill back. We stand behind the SmokeFire grill, as with all our grills, and we stand behind Weber customers."

I reminded them about this statement when calling. It was a great grill when I got it and I was ecstatic cooking on it several days a week for the first 2-3 months, then fall updates hit and I've been pretty unsatisfied since. Yes it still works, but it doesn't perform consistently like it did before and I always have a Fireboard hooked up to it babysitting it, which you shouldn't need on a $1000 grill with WiFi built into.
 
Forgive me for opening this can of worms but I'm going there. Do we know why they didn't extend the hopper length to--say--make the opening to the chute near center? I don't necessarily say that to insinuate that I'm an Engineer and that having the feed more centered would help with potential feed issues but even if it wouldn't help with that [occasional] issue it would at least give us a larger hopper capacity.
 
Well Shane that's a big shout out to Weber for doing that also allowing you to dodge an expensive purchase which you are un happy with. Somebody surfing will find this thread and probably never thinking after 6 mos or whatever they would take it back for a refund you might have opened a can of worms hey I am not happy with mine take it back and give me a refund. :unsure:
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Well Shane that's a big shout out to Weber for doing that also allowing you to dodge an expensive purchase which you are un happy with. Somebody surfing will find this thread and probably never thinking after 6 mos or whatever they would take it back for a refund you might have opened a can of worms hey I am not happy with mine take it back and give me a refund. :unsure:
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I debated long and hard before asking for it...actually dwelling on it for a few weeks. Normally, I would have sold it locally and ate a 30-50% loss. However, Weber guaranteed it themselves, the thing would likely have had little to no value on the used market because of it's reputation, and they don't sound like they are honoring any warranty stuff for 2nd hand buyers. With it's still unproven stability I couldn't consciously get myself to even try to sell it. So, my choice was eat it, buy a 2nd grill as a stop gap until it works great, or call Weber and ask them to honor their promise as it was a factor in my decision when purchasing the product.

I'm not bashing the product at all either. I still thing it's a good grill with the potential to be great. I just don't think they're ready on the technology side quite yet for this product to be out in the wild. They shouldn't be breaking notifications for 2 months, they shouldn't have the strange temperature issues myself and several others have asked/posted about here have had. Probes shouldn't stop reading mid cook. They should also ask before starting to update firmware...that's actually big issue to me. I went out to cook dinner after work and had to wait 10-15 minutes for a firmware update to complete to use my grill. I would have liked to cook, then update the grill after dinner.

It is a huge shout out to Weber for honoring their promise and without hassle.
 
BFletcher said:
Forgive me for opening this can of worms but I'm going there. Do we know why they didn't extend the hopper length to--say--make the opening to the chute near center? I don't necessarily say that to insinuate that I'm an Engineer and that having the feed more centered would help with potential feed issues but even if it wouldn't help with that [occasional] issue it would at least give us a larger hopper capacity.
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It would look better too IMO.
 
Michael Smotch said:
Get a memphis beale street.
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I had a Memphis Pro when they were made in the US. It was a piece of art and a tank. However, I hated it. Everyone jumped on a couple early SmokeFire grease fires like it was the end of the world and I had more grease fires in the Memphis in a year by myself than there are videos of SmokeFire grease fires compiled by the entire world on YouTube. I cleaned it almost every cook and I‘ll be every time I started a cook on a spotless grill and raised the temp on something 25-50 degrees a few hours in it would start a fire. Drip pans in a Memphis are far less practical with their upper shelf design and really no where to put one below the grate with their deflector design.

In the time since then, Memphis moved all manufacturing overseas and kept American pricing, so I’m not much of a fan.
 
I looked at RecTeq and Grilla both. They both appear very well made for imports. However, I went American and am anxiously waiting for delivery.
 
I have an over 10 year old American made Memphis Pro and I only had 1 grease fire which was my fault. Since then, I figured out an easy method to avoid grease fires and keep my grill clean from grease which involves a raised cooking rack with folding legs over a large disposable tray where the grease drip into the tray directly under the meat. It's raised enough for smoke to get underneath the meat. I've made my own with the disposable tray perfectly fitting inside a cookie sheet for strength.
 

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Mark Silver said:
I have an over 10 year old American made Memphis Pro and I only had 1 grease fire which was my fault. Since then, I figured out an easy method to avoid grease fires and keep my grill clean from grease which involves a raised cooking rack with folding legs over a large disposable tray where the grease drip into the tray directly under the meat. It's raised enough for smoke to get underneath the meat. I've made my own with the disposable tray perfectly fitting inside a cookie sheet for strength.
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Yeah, I could have done more with pans, but I was stubborn about a product that price not performing as I felt it was advertised to. I didn’t want to be tied to capacity restrictions from pans as this was my only outdoor cooker. The US models were definitely quality constructed grills and just beautiful.
 
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