It’s SmokeFAIL official... the UPDATE! Weber refunded my money and is picking up the EX6.


 
I ran a couple test by placing tin foil strips on the left and right side of the cooking grated simulating the size of a St. Louis spare ribs and very little ash landed on the right side and almost none on the left side in a 4 hour pellet only burn.
I'd like to see you do this test again, but with something sticky like aluminized foil tape to see if you can catch ash on the adhesive surface. I'd think ash would land on and then blow off of a plain, flat piece of foil.

Then repeat the test at high temp with the fan running fast.
 
Wow is clear to me now that the message that Amazon display about review is likely a Weber influenced decision. There are thousands of products on Amazon with bad reviews 80% of the time and a review can still be written.
I am now clear that Weber is 100% conscious and aware of this issue. If there were issues in the preproduction does not even matter at this point.
At this production stage to me Weber cares nothing about their SF problems.
Not sorry I will Not be buying any SF.
 
Wow is clear to me now that the message that Amazon display about review is likely a Weber influenced decision. There are thousands of products on Amazon with bad reviews 80% of the time and a review can still be written.
I am now clear that Weber is 100% conscious and aware of this issue. If there were issues in the preproduction does not even matter at this point.
At this production stage to me Weber cares nothing about their SF problems.
Not sorry I will Not be buying any SF.

Why does this mean they don't care about the problems? I'm sure they did have the reviews shut down, but it's not necessarily because they don't care. It could just as easily be they know the problems, are working on them, and will open back up reviews once they fix some things. Anything now will just be re-hash of what they already know.
 
Hi Chris. This seems like a good recommendation for being able to detect the presence or absence of ash but--in your opinion--is there some amount of ash that you would deem acceptable?
Yes, there would be some small amount that would be acceptable. I think we get a small amount of ash on food in the WSM due to the movement of air out of the cooker. Blowers in the WSM might contribute to it, too. I'd have to see the accumulation on a piece of tape to get a sense of how much we're talking about. I think I'd know what too much is if I saw it. :)
 
Wow is clear to me now that the message that Amazon display about review is likely a Weber influenced decision. There are thousands of products on Amazon with bad reviews 80% of the time and a review can still be written.
I am now clear that Weber is 100% conscious and aware of this issue. If there were issues in the preproduction does not even matter at this point.
At this production stage to me Weber cares nothing about their SF problems.
Not sorry I will Not be buying any SF.

Funny, I interpreted that completely opposite. I saw it as Amazon recognizing a lot of fake reviews and I attributed thsoe to Weber's competitors . I'm suspicious of some of what I see on YT.

This site claims they can recognize fake reviews, I don't put much faith in reviews to begin with so I've never bothered with it , but it could be handy.

https://www.fakespot.com/
 
I fully support Amazon being verified purchases only!!
As for the sticky tape it would probably melt and make a hell of a mess.
I am kind of fascinated by the split emotions on the SmokeFire, it’s just a smoker and pretty damn capable as well.
I also always got the feeling it was Weber owners spirit to come up with unique ways to maximize smoking, searing and whatevering, why no such effiort on the SmokeFire? I tried to make mine work well and it did a fantastic job. Isn’t that what we are all about? BBM who I enjoy looked like he was going To cry slamming those unseasoned steaks on his SmokeFire, what was that all about.
 
Last edited:
I fully support Amazon being verified purchases only!!
As for the sticky tape it would probably melt and make a hell of a mess.
I am kind of fascinated by the split emotions in the SmokeFire, it’s just a smoker and pretty damn capable as well
IF and I mean IF I were to EVERY buy one it's the only way I would use it. I have 2 VERY capable gas grills for anything high heat. However there have been documented instances of hazardous malfunctions with it even used as only a smoker. (grease fires, embers leaving the designated flame area, etc.) that if I was in the market I would think long and hard. But, again given my past experience with being let down by the company I will only by something else (if new) or wait for one to be sold used and cheap.
 
...
As for the sticky tape it would probably melt and make a hell of a mess.
I am kind of fascinated by the split emotions in the SmokeFire, it’s just a smoker and pretty damn capable as well
A 1/4 sheet with a thin layer of oil rubbed on it should work. I find it difficult to believe no ash is landing on the food after seeing the amount of ash spewed out the back vents (which are above the main grate) and landing on the pellet hopper lid in Harry Soo's first video.

As I recall, you had some pretty split emotions yourself about the SF, Bruno. ;) I hope Weber can work the bugs out because that beef rib was one of the best looking pieces of cooked meat I've ever seen on this website.

Yes, there would be some small amount that would be acceptable. I think we get a small amount of ash on food in the WSM due to the movement of air out of the cooker. Blowers in the WSM might contribute to it, too. I'd have to see the accumulation on a piece of tape to get a sense of how much we're talking about. I think I'd know what too much is if I saw it.

Even with a 10CFM equipped ATC on my WSM 22, I've never noticed any ash on my foiled water pan that catches the drippings, on my food or coming out of the top vent when I cook. Next time I fire it up, I'll include an oiled 1/4 sheet to see.
 
Last edited:
A 1/4 sheet with a thin layer of oil rubbed on it with a paper towel should work. I find it difficult to believe no ash is landing on the food after seeing the amount of ash spewed out the back vents (which are above the main grate) and landing on the pellet hopper lid in Harry Soo's first video.

Even with a 10CFM equipped ATC on my WSM 22, I've never had ash on my foiled water pan that catches the drippings, my food or coming out of the top vent when I cook.
Yep that should work, good call.
 
Admitting there are problems and wishing they had it more"finished" before they released it is fine.

But this thread and this board is littered with comments like Weber is now going bankrupt, Weber might completely die because of the SmokeFire, and threatening to never buy another product from them is just absolutely ridiculous.... Especially when the grill has been out a month.

It is extremely rare that any new product launch is perfect and everything works the way it's supposed to. Apple doesn't do that, Samsung doesn't do that, Microsoft sure as hell doesn't do that, and it's not the end of the world that Weber didn't do it on the SmokeFire.

But what everyone on this board should know is that Weber will keep working towards making it right and if I was a betting man I'd bet they will get it right. And yes, the early adopters get the product first and often times that means they get to put up with some crap. Just the way it is. So, yes, my contention is that being a bleeding edge early adopter and expecting it to work to 100% flawless performance IS too much to ask.

And if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty on this, let's look at the fact that the SmokeFire is by far the most complex and truly new technology they've ever attempted that wasn't their innovation. Charcoal grills and propane grills are way easier to create and develop than the SmokeFire. Overnight Weber became a software and computer development company and had to design a whole new concept for them. This is a whole different world for Weber. In my opinion that alone should buy them some patience, especially from their most familiar customers.

I will owe up to being one of those who made some of those “littered” comments. When a product was hyped the way Weber did this one, with big name (at least in the barbecue world) “influencers” videoed for the big dog and pony show all acting wowed, I reasonably had high expectations. But when literally the majority of first reviewers mentioned stalled pellets, pellets spewing all over, non-functional app and controller and, worst of all, heavy ash and burning grease in spite of all that was promised, I think my feeling that Weber was headed for big trouble was soundly based. Then add BabyBackManiac “throwing in the towel” and apparently feeling used if not betrayed, and you have a disastrous rollout of a product quickly being labeled “unsafe.” I would still submit that a full recall or even an overall market fiasco for this product could definitely endanger Weber’s future. Gas grill sales seem to be declining and you hardly even see kettles or WSMs at major retailers. This thing is Weber’s future, at least for right now. If pellet grills prove to be a fad, maybe not forever, but my hunch is that these are where things are going like it or not. A total failure of the SmokeFire - or worse yet lawsuits and related - could IMO definitely do in Weber as a company.
 
Am I alone in wanting to see MikeLucky buy a SmokeFire and giving us his opinion about it, rather than his opinion about other people's opinions?

I will own a SmokeFire and I will definitely share my experiences, even though most of you will have me on ignore by then at this rate. Lol
 

 

Back
Top