I think Weber messed up with the Smokefire

[JKalchik]

Believe it or not there are a lot of people who want to monitor their grill/smoker from their iPhone.

WIth my long cooks of 16 hours or so, being able to eyeball temps remotely (like when I'm having a tasty beverage down at my local taproom,) from my HeaterMeter is awfully nice. Although, truthfully, I rely on configured thresholds to tell me when something needs to be done, like more charcoal, wrap brisket, or <DING!> Food's done!

My monster gravity fed smoker has completely and utterly spoiled me in regards to the smokes. I can work on improving my food, making other dishes, knowing that I don't have to keep half an eye on the smoker.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

I grill at least once a week on my SmokeFire and it’s pellet use IMO is way less than charcoal in a kettle. I’ve never been one to shut down my vents to use some old charcoal the next day though so maybe that is what others do. The SmokeFire is far from perfect but I use it to both smoke and grill a lot.
Weber as usual has taken great car me of me on any parts or warranty issues I wanted addressed.
I BBQ because I like to be outside cooking and drinking a beer, the SmokeFire is way better to cook on than gas IMO. Personally for me the smoke flavor is way better than my WSM 22. Good luck!

Bruno, I like to be outside cooking and drinking a beer also whether that be the Silver C, the UDS or the Performer I can't cook on any of those inside the house. I re-use charcoal all the time not like you have enough to do another cook your always adding and if you are using Weber Charcoal not shutting down your vents to me is just wasting charcoal cause that stuff is a beast on how long it lasts especially in the UDS.

All good and by the way I don't do all the grilling in the house my wife does alot and of course if you asked her to fire up the UDS or the Performer with charcoal she would look at you like you lost your mind, you want me to get my hands dirty with charcoal? What is a chimney supposed to do ain't gonna happen. Easier to just fire up the Silver C for her she has that down the charcoal as she would say is my job.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

These pictures should help.

The picture of the oddball shaped assembly on the fixture table is the burn assembly. The ash box on the bottom (1/4" plate,) the firebox on top of that (1/2" plate) with the 10" C channel for the flue vent into the cook chamber, and the charcoal column (1/4" plate again,) on top of the firebox. When my neighbor & I lifted that off the fixture table, it was just about all we could do to slow it down before it hit the ground.

The other picture shows the burn assembly mounted in the frame. It's been turned around, so you can see the round air inlet (2".) The ash box door is mounted on the ash box face to the right of the air inlet once I mounted the skins. The frame stock is 2" x 1/8", stuffed with rock wool insulation. The wall cavities are also filled with 2" rock wool batts, and the entire cavity around the firebox is also filled completely with rock wool insulation. The only place that you really can't touch after it's been burning at 225 F for 12 hours is the face around the ash box door for about a foot. When the whole thing was welded up and in use, it's about 1,200 lbs, and will hold about 20 lbs. of charcoal in the feed chute. It burns about 1.5 lbs of charcoal per hour. And there's between 30 and 40 lbs. of MIG wire in it.

Did you put a heat diffuser across the bottom ? The Old Country GF has a big heat diff from side to side.

And I guess there's a grease drain in the bottom ?

 

[Tony R]

Had mine for over a year. It works fine. No issues. I clean the grease to prevent a grease fire. Guess I been lucky.

 

[JKalchik]

Did you put a heat diffuser across the bottom ? The Old Country GF has a big heat diff from side to side.

And I guess there's a grease drain in the bottom ?

No heat diffuser, actually. The C channel is dead level across the cook chamber and that alone seems to do awfully well. Okay, there is a 6" piece of 1/4" plate stock right at the cook chamber entrance.

Yes, there's a 2" grease drain in the bottom. The bottom has a slight slant to it, and will hold a few gallons of crud.

BTW, it's insulated well enough that running at a cook chamber temp of 225 F in an ambient temp of -6 F (yes, that's not a typo!) it won't melt snow underneath it. It really is an all weather device.

 

[ChuckH]

Love bells and whistles,, fluff not so much.
Believe it or not there are a lot of people who want to monitor their grill/smoker from their iPhone. I think the cook programs are silly but to turn off the grill, change temps and monitor up to 4 probes from my phone is awesome.

You are absolutely correct, some people do like to be able to monitor their cooks from their phones, or push a button to set the temp. But for me personally, I enjoy the hands on side of a cook. If my cook turns out good or turns out bad it is all on me. And I have yet had to call Weber customer service because of a software glitch in my WSM or kettle. But I will never begrudge someone who likes and wants all the bells and whistles.

 

[TimA]

The overall question raised by the OP, is did Weber " mess up " with the SmokeFire ? Should they have built a GF ?

If that's not the case ........... then why has Weber put the SmokeFire on sale, not once, but twice now ? It appears to me, they can't sell these without discounting them

I don’t recall a previous sale? Right now it’s on sale and they’re doing a tour to show people “hey, it wasn’t perfect when it came out. But it’s closer now” and that’s totally fine.

Weber is aware of the issues and done a great job addressing it. If you wanted to return it, fine no problems. If you wanted to swap parts, here they are, no charge. They’ve done a pretty good job with it thus far.

I’ll be buying one in July I do believe.

 

[JKalchik]

Having spewed a whole bunch of words in this thread..... I'd love to see Weber introduce a gravity fed. I know folks with the pellet smokers who love them to death, and I think there's a place in the market for them. My pet suspicion is that gravity fed smokers are both more controllable, as well as being more "self-sufficient." I can run my gravity fed completely without power if necessary, all I need is a valve on the air inlet to control the draft. Unfortunately, the market for gravity feds is a whole lot smaller than pellet smokers. Personally, my experience with my gravity fed compared with pellet smoker users and owners leads me to suspect that use of gravity feds is actually easier. All I really need to do is scoop out the ash box, fill the charcoal chute (if necessary, may have a lot left over from the last cook,) open the stack and light it off. At the end of the cook, drain out the grease while things are still warm, and close the stack and air inlet while I wait for the fire to extinguish. I should heat the smoker up and pressure wash the cook chamber, there's a little "flavoring" built up.

 

[Bruno]

Having spewed a whole bunch of words in this thread..... I'd love to see Weber introduce a gravity fed. I know folks with the pellet smokers who love them to death, and I think there's a place in the market for them. My pet suspicion is that gravity fed smokers are both more controllable, as well as being more "self-sufficient." I can run my gravity fed completely without power if necessary, all I need is a valve on the air inlet to control the draft. Unfortunately, the market for gravity feds is a whole lot smaller than pellet smokers. Personally, my experience with my gravity fed compared with pellet smoker users and owners leads me to suspect that use of gravity feds is actually easier. All I really need to do is scoop out the ash box, fill the charcoal chute (if necessary, may have a lot left over from the last cook,) open the stack and light it off. At the end of the cook, drain out the grease while things are still warm, and close the stack and air inlet while I wait for the fire to extinguish. I should heat the smoker up and pressure wash the cook chamber, there's a little "flavoring" built up.

I’ll tell you what if Weber comes out with a heavy duty gravity fed I will buy one, even if the wife will spin her head a little!

 

[ChuckH]

I’ll tell you what if Weber comes out with a heavy duty gravity fed I will buy one, even if the wife will spin her head a little!

Me too. She may get the house, but I’ll get the cooker

 

[Lew Newby]

I don’t recall a previous sale? Right now it’s on sale and they’re doing a tour to show people “hey, it wasn’t perfect when it came out. But it’s closer now” and that’s totally fine.

Weber is aware of the issues and done a great job addressing it. If you wanted to return it, fine no problems. If you wanted to swap parts, here they are, no charge. They’ve done a pretty good job with it thus far.

I’ll be buying one in July I do believe.

This is the third Smokefire $200 off sale. I bought last June when it went on sale, there was a Christmas sale Nov/Dec, and the current sale is for a longer duration than the previous 2.

 

[AHoneyman]

Lew, there was also the pre-order sale price. Same $200 off.

 

[Lew Newby]

Lew, there was also the pre-order sale price. Same $200 off.

I completely forgot about that one.

 

[Bruno]

Quick Turkey burger on the SmokeFire, 14 minutes to 490, 5 minutes a side and maybe 4-5 handfuls of pellets, shut her down and eating. That’s a week day cook.

 

[BFletcher]

Bruno cracks me up because he just simply knows how to run his SF. "4-5 handfuls of fuel and 24 minutes later I shut it down and we eat." I love it.

 

[Bruno]

Bruno cracks me up because he just simply knows how to run his SF. "4-5 handfuls of fuel and 24 minutes later I shut it down and we eat." I love it.

 

[Bruno]

I threw on the cast iron grates because it feels like summer over here, I’ll take a pic of the pellets next time.
And it was some simple burgers nothing fancy I’d rather Q em them let the wife cook em on the stove.
I did have some issues early w my SmokeFire and the updates and auger chute made all the difference. I do need to dial in temps on long smokes because I think it’s running lower than what it’s telling me. I can adjust that, It does amazing on pork butts, but my flats on brisket are drier than I would like still.
If the wife would let me I’d practice every Saturday.

 

[TimA]

This is the third Smokefire $200 off sale. I bought last June when it went on sale, there was a Christmas sale Nov/Dec, and the current sale is for a longer duration than the previous 2.

Gosh dang, I just don’t remember that. Possibly one last summer but I know......well now that I think about it I may remember not seeing it listed off at local dealer? I had completely spaced that out. Although to be fair, around that time I was pretty wrapped up in trying to secure a Glen Blue 26” so I was REALLY focused on that! Haha. Thanks for the jump start on the ol’ memory bank

 

[Bruno]

Gosh dang, I just don’t remember that. Possibly one last summer but I know......well now that I think about it I may remember not seeing it listed off at local dealer? I had completely spaced that out. Although to be fair, around that time I was pretty wrapped up in trying to secure a Glen Blue 26” so I was REALLY focused on that! Haha. Thanks for the jump start on the ol’ memory bank

I picked up a 26” glen blue and let me tell you it makes me smile every time I see it in the backyard. Such a cool color.

 

[TimA]

I picked up a 26” glen blue and let me tell you it makes me smile every time I see it in the backyard. Such a cool color.

Yessir, it’s a beaut! Mine is rolling as I type!