Keeping my SmokeFire!


 
Matt Q said:
Did my first slow smoke today on the Ex6 with the new auger. Five and a half pound brisket flat. Cooked for a little over 8 hours at 250 using the Weber performance blend pellets. Temp fluctuations were less than 5 degrees throughout the cook (other than when I opened the lid). I had the brisket on the upper left shelf and the temps (according to my ambient probe) ran about 15 degrees cooler than the grill ambient (but temps were stable). Pulled it off a bit too early but the smoke ring from the ex6 was awesome! Overall I am happy considering it was my first attempt at a brisket.
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I should say so! Killer smoke ring! Looks really good to me. I hope it will be just the first of many successful cooks for you.
 
A6FB6612-2A71-47FE-BA54-C0749B0D40EF.jpegJust did some quick Monday night sausages and dogs for the family, ran it at 200 for as long as I could (30 minutes) before the natives got restless, cranked it to 350 and banged em out.
I really am enjoying this grill. So easy and seems like I used such a small amount of pellets.
I have some prime tri-tip I picked up yesterday to throw on this week.
My plan is still to do a monster brisket Friday night, wife pending.😉
 
Bruno, throw that packer on the top shelf with a big water pan underneath. Made the best brisket I've ever done that way before I returned mine.
 
Over the weekend I did a venison tenderloin and two 3 lb boneless turkey breasts. Both came out very good. Yesterday I did three thick cut boneless pork chops and a 3 inch thick filet mignon. Cooked them to medium rare and them bumped up the temp for the sear. Tasted amazing.

Honestly I haven't had any real trouble with my SmokeFire. I approach it objectively and do what makes sense. I keep an eye on the hopper and use a drip pan for fatty meats. I couldn't quite hit 600* yesterday for the sear but it was very windy so I'm sure that had an effect since I've hit it before. I also have talked to Weber and they are sending me the hopper mod and a new auger, so hopefully I won't feel like I have to monitor the pellets anymore. Should make an overnight cook easier. And, for what it's worth, I haven't noticed as much ash flying around the more I've cooked with it. It was noticeable at higher temps at first, but it seems to have settled down as I've gone along. I do clean it every few cooks, but I do that with my WSM or kettle too.
 
I think it is pretty interesting to watch this roller-coaster adventure sitting on the sidelines since I don't need a pellet grill right now.

We've gone from flaming catastrophe to "Hey, this thing is pretty sweet!" Trying to sort this out, I would say that (1) Weber over-hyped and over-sold to some extent. The dog and pony show in Chicago may have not been a totally honest try out. I don't know. (2) The original version has clear short-comings, but it looks like Weber is starting to address them in an appropriate way. It is going to be a "need to clean regularly" pellet grill like any other. You will need drip pans. But if you want to sear (and are willing to work around some hot/cold spots), this grill can do it. (3) Putting searing aside, the more practical use of the SmokeFire - low and slow Q - is showing some really great BBQ results. I am especially impressed by several user comments that the SmokeFire generates more smoke than any other pellet grill they have tried. Compare that to comments about the much pricier Traeger Timberline.

So, I think the rough start is going to cost Weber in that they aren't going to just sweep away the pellet grill market as I am sure they were hoping. However, if they follow through and fix these problems - especially for the early adopters - and ultimately bring out a 2.0 model with more realistic expectations and advertising, I am hoping there is still a future for the SmokeFire.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I think it is pretty interesting to watch this roller-coaster adventure sitting on the sidelines since I don't need a pellet grill right now.

We've gone from flaming catastrophe to "Hey, this thing is pretty sweet!" Trying to sort this out, I would say that (1) Weber over-hyped and over-sold to some extent. The dog and pony show in Chicago may have not been a totally honest try out. I don't know. (2) The original version has clear short-comings, but it looks like Weber is starting to address them in an appropriate way. It is going to be a "need to clean regularly" pellet grill like any other. You will need drip pans. But if you want to sear (and are willing to work around some hot/cold spots), this grill can do it. (3) Putting searing aside, the more practical use of the SmokeFire - low and slow Q - is showing some really great BBQ results. I am especially impressed by several user comments that the SmokeFire generates more smoke than any other pellet grill they have tried. Compare that to comments about the much pricier Traeger Timberline.

So, I think the rough start is going to cost Weber in that they aren't going to just sweep away the pellet grill market as I am sure they were hoping. However, if they follow through and fix these problems - especially for the early adopters - and ultimately bring out a 2.0 model with more realistic expectations and advertising, I am hoping there is still a future for the SmokeFire.
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It is good to see that Weber is, as some expected, taking care of the issues. It's amazing the difference a few days make. lol. But, hey, glad to see that the tide is turning due to Weber taking care of some issues and a few awesome owners that have accepted the challenge of being a first adopter and rolling with the growing pains to start kicking out some stellar looking BBQ. Far more brave that I am and I am glad to see that when I am ready to take the pellet plunge, I can confidently go buy a Weber to do it.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I think it is pretty interesting to watch this roller-coaster adventure sitting on the sidelines since I don't need a pellet grill right now.

We've gone from flaming catastrophe to "Hey, this thing is pretty sweet!" Trying to sort this out, I would say that (1) Weber over-hyped and over-sold to some extent. The dog and pony show in Chicago may have not been a totally honest try out. I don't know. (2) The original version has clear short-comings, but it looks like Weber is starting to address them in an appropriate way. It is going to be a "need to clean regularly" pellet grill like any other. You will need drip pans. But if you want to sear (and are willing to work around some hot/cold spots), this grill can do it. (3) Putting searing aside, the more practical use of the SmokeFire - low and slow Q - is showing some really great BBQ results. I am especially impressed by several user comments that the SmokeFire generates more smoke than any other pellet grill they have tried. Compare that to comments about the much pricier Traeger Timberline.

So, I think the rough start is going to cost Weber in that they aren't going to just sweep away the pellet grill market as I am sure they were hoping. However, if they follow through and fix these problems - especially for the early adopters - and ultimately bring out a 2.0 model with more realistic expectations and advertising, I am hoping there is still a future for the SmokeFire.
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The "dog and pony show did more damage to this roll out than everything else. For all the reasons that have been discussed at great length.

However, with everything already said, I don't recall any mention of why the Smoke Fire produces so much more smoke flavor. And I've been thinking about that for a while. Same pellets, same temperature, same cook time, same cuts of meat, different smoke. So far the only thing I've come up with is the heat defuser/drip pan that is the standard in all other smokers. I've wondered if the heat defusers that puts the heat and smoke around the edges of the smoker before it gets to the cooking area is a factor. VS the far more open design of the Smoke Fire that really doesn't have a defined separation between the heat/smoke source. At least not a defined separation by comparison. So the smoke makes a lot more contact with the food before finding it's way out the vents. Opposed to a shield between the smoke and meat that directs the smoke away from the food before it finds its way out of a vent.
 
Jon Tofte said:
It is going to be a "need to clean regularly" pellet grill like any other.
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This was one of my big misconceptions about SmokeFire, that it operated more like a gas grill, something that you thoroughly clean only once or twice a season. It sounded like everything went into a little drawer that you dumped before each cook, then you preheated the grill, scraped the cooking grates, and started cooking. Well, the owners manual says to thoroughly clean SmokeFire every 12 cooks or 20 hours of use. After the controversy, it's now a grill where you should remove the cooking grates and Flavorizer bars before each cook, examine the bottom of the cooking chamber, and scrape down the contents, if necessary.
 
Jason in CA said:
The "dog and pony show did more damage to this roll out than everything else. For all the reasons that have been discussed at great length.

However, with everything already said, I don't recall any mention of why the Smoke Fire produces so much more smoke flavor. And I've been thinking about that for a while. Same pellets, same temperature, same cook time, same cuts of meat, different smoke. So far the only thing I've come up with is the heat defuser/drip pan that is the standard in all other smokers. I've wondered if the heat defusers that puts the heat and smoke around the edges of the smoker before it gets to the cooking area is a factor. VS the far more open design of the Smoke Fire that really doesn't have a defined separation between the heat/smoke source. At least not a defined separation by comparison. So the smoke makes a lot more contact with the food before finding it's way out the vents. Opposed to a shield between the smoke and meat that directs the smoke away from the food before it finds its way out of a vent.
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I think that observation makes a lot of sense. People definitely are saying there is a notable difference. I tend to discount some comments about smoke because one person says a Traeger, for example, does great another that it doesn't. This is said for all the brands. But the SmokeFire seems to be getting very strong compliments about smoke even with all the teething issues.
 
Chris Allingham said:
This was one of my big misconceptions about SmokeFire, that it operated more like a gas grill, something that you thoroughly clean only once or twice a season. It sounded like everything went into a little drawer that you dumped before each cook, then you preheated the grill, scraped the cooking grates, and started cooking. Well, the owners manual says to thoroughly clean SmokeFire every 12 cooks or 20 hours of use. After the controversy, it's now a grill where you should remove the cooking grates and Flavorizer bars before each cook, examine the bottom of the cooking chamber, and scrape down the contents, if necessary.
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Basically, just like any other pellet grill. That wouldn't be such a big deal if they hadn't promised so much more. Once you accept it, though, I think a person can move on to evaluate this new grill a lot more realistically.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Basically, just like any other pellet grill. That wouldn't be such a big deal if they hadn't promised so much more. Once you accept it, though, I think a person can move on to evaluate this new grill a lot more realistically.
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Exactly!!
 
Just put on a hunk of prime tri-tip, I love the fact that I can just turn this bad boy on and be ready to go quickly.
I also like the simplicity of the app, you don’t have to enter the type of cook just your pit temp and meat temp is shown.
I’m going to keep this on til 110 and crank it up to 500 or so.
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That's more like the nice, straight up Rec Tec app. So are you saying the stuff with all the recipe and step by step instructions is optional?

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