Keeping my SmokeFire!


 
The thanks go to you for checking it all out for those us us who aren't in the grill market - right now. Very happy for you Bruno. Now you can talk your co-workers ears off again with your head held high. :)
 
Bruno,
It's been an adventure and an emotional rollercoaster. It sounds to me like you have a plan to keep the more difficult issues at bay. I would look at Dave's ideas for the hopper which look fairly doable to me. (OK, you may have to do something less tech and more basic than 3-D printing a divider, but I am sure there are other ways.)

With the hopper working a lot better, using drip pans and faithfully using the Shop Vac you are getting, I think you will be turning out plenty more good stuff.

Does this mean that the SmokeFire has lived up to what Weber claimed? No! But it still can be a very usable grill, maybe even still an advance in smoking at lower temperatures. Keep it clean and keep it safe!
Oh, and keep those great food pics coming!!! :coolkettle:
 
Thanks Jon, truthfully the aluminum drip pans to me are a non-issue, I would have used them either way, as for the hopper I had to laugh at the guy who said he had a special tool for that and held up his hand :oops:. I have that tool too, I really don’t mind piling the pellets to the left of the hopper, I actually pushed them to the extreme left as high as I could and I did not have an issue.

It’s been fun doing these cooks the last couple weeks and after that easy beef rib cook I know I have my brisket maker. That was a pretty intense smoke ring I got on the beef rib and really it was so easy. I’ll be busy next weekend but plan to do something big the weekend after, ribs or a pork shoulder for sure.

Oh and you were 100% correct the Grill Master Blend pellets are a really nice blend of flavors.
 
What about ash embers flying around and that possible fire hazard? And do all these pellet grills have embers flying out of them on to your deck? I am asking for a friend :D who may want to try one out but NOT a SF as they're just too much $$$ fro his blood and he's been let down by Weber before on an expensive product
 
I've only used my Camp Chef six times but two of those were when it was fairly windy and very dark and I didn't see any glowing embers flying around.
 
I’m on concrete, but I haven’t seen any embers hit the ground, is it and ashy mess at high temps? Yes so far. Again as stated in a lot of my posts I was looking for a brisket maker and I have found it.
I have kettles for reverse searing steaks. Heck they put plenty of ash on the ground too as much as I use them.
SmokeFire ain’t for everyone but I’m enjoying mine. It puts out the smoke I’m looking for.
 
I 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.
 
Bruno said:
I’m on concrete, but I haven’t seen any embers hit the ground, is it and ashy mess at high temps? Yes so far. Again as stated in a lot of my posts I was looking for a brisket maker and I have found it.
I have kettles for reverse searing steaks. Heck they put plenty of ash on the ground too as much as I use them.
SmokeFire ain’t for everyone but I’m enjoying mine. It puts out the smoke I’m looking for.
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Hope do you compare the smoke flavor to charcoal grills?
 
Bruno said:
I 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.
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I'm still amazed at the response by actual Weber people. By far the most crying and angry fist waving I've ever seen about a Weber product. And, boy did my discussion of it in another thread hurt some feelers. Lol. You would think I told them they needed to cook their family pets on the SmokeFire by the reactions. I've been posting on internet message boards for 23 years and today was the first time I've ever been on someone's ignore list. That's some funny stuff. And all because I had the audacity to argue that they should chill out a bit and have some patience to see if Weber gets the issues worked out.

I mean the most ridiculous thing Weber ever did was the Summit Charcoal. A $1600 BGE replacement for a bunch of Weber folks that don't have BGEs because we are Weber guys. And that was generally met with "eh, not for me, but to each his own." The SmokeFire comes out and it's torches and pitchforks. I don't get it.
 
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Bruno said:
It was awesome! Honestly it was the best BBQ I’ve made and I can’t wait to do a brisket.
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Good to know. Have you ever used other pellet smokers before? Sorry if you mentioned this earlier but I missed it.
I will never use any pellet smoker for searing or go above 400 and if at those temps the SF is safe to use then that would make or a strong contender it once was.
Let's see how Dave's Camp Chef preforms and his impressions.
 
MikeLucky said:
I'm still amazed at the response by actual Weber people. By far the most crying and angry fist waving I've ever seen about a Weber product. And, boy did my discussion of it in another thread hurt some feelers. Lol. You would think I told them they needed to cook their family pets on the SmokeFire by the reactions. I've been posting on internet message boards for 23 years and today was the first time I've ever been on someone's ignore list. That's some funny stuff. And all because I had the audacity to argue that they should chill out a bit and have some patience to see if Weber gets the issues worked out.

I mean the most ridiculous thing Weber ever did was the Summit Charcoal. A $1600 BGE replacement for a bunch of Weber folks that don't have BGEs because we are Weber guys. And that was generally met with "eh, not for me, but to each his own." The SmokeFire comes out and it's torches and pitchforks. I don't get it.
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Your comments were not directed at me nor my drinking buddies but when I read 2 or 3 of your posts I took it as, among all that you posted, there was a recurrent dig that people were stupid because they were the first to try the SF. Intended or not that's how this very old man read it. I enjoy this forum and enjoy how it is usually very civil. I had hoped that Chris's post trying to calm the waters would be understood by all of us.
 
Lew Newby said:
Your comments were not directed at me nor my drinking buddies but when I read 2 or 3 of your posts I took it as, among all that you posted, there was a recurrent dig that people were stupid because they were the first to try the SF. Intended or not that's how this very old man read it. I enjoy this forum and enjoy how it is usually very civil. I had hoped that Chris's post trying to calm the waters would be understood by all of us.
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I also really enjoy this form, admittedly it’s been exciting with the SmokeFire making its debut, but I agree this is a civil place and we all need to keep it that way.
I’ve been on this forum for 8 years or so and I never did have much success with my WSM, I’ve always loved my Q-320 but not a lot to talk about with that.
I’m enjoying the SmokeFire conversations.
 
Bruno said:
I 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.
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I think as a community, Weber fans will get there eventually after the launch issues are resolved. The initial reaction was caused by the hype and expectations. Call them unrealistic but that was Weber's doing and I think many people wanted them to surpass the existing pellet brands. Now they will have to fight for market share while downplaying the initial negative reviews by some. I am looking forward to the SmokeFire mods forum and plenty of food pix!
 
Lew Newby said:
Your comments were not directed at me nor my drinking buddies but when I read 2 or 3 of your posts I took it as, among all that you posted, there was a recurrent dig that people were stupid because they were the first to try the SF. Intended or not that's how this very old man read it. I enjoy this forum and enjoy how it is usually very civil. I had hoped that Chris's post trying to calm the waters would be understood by all of us.
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I certainly would never call anyone stupid. What I was saying was that early adopters assume a certain level of risk, with any product. And, I said it's unreasonable to expect such a new and fundamentally different product to be absolutely perfect from day one.

Yes I said some were unreasonable, but not stupid. I certainly don't want to disturb the peace here. I guess I came on too strong or something. I'll just leave it at BBQ and grilling from now on.
 
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