Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Thanks, John for your in-house perspectives! It is great to be able to hear things first hand.
New Searwood pic.
- Thread starter Bob Erdman
- Start date
GarciaWork
TVWBB Member
Are you able to share any sort of timeframe for release? Q2? 2024? If the reviews stand up, and the sucker can "grill" pretty well, I think I have the wife on board if I get rid of my Traeger.
Bob Erdman
TVWBB All-Star
I think the same can be said about the SmokeFire. I still use drip pans though, less clean up afterwards. You could still use a drip pan in the SW by cooking on the top grate. That's how I roll.
Todd K Wisc
TVWBB Super Fan
Thank you sir! You should be paid more for your work here!
JimK
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I didn't know until just now that you can griddle with it too.
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Yeah, I still would love to know how they're working on that "lid up" and griddling function. IMO that may be the biggest trick of all. Because how else do you over come the RTD wanting to keep trying to bring up the temp, and forcing more and more pellets into the pot? Unless they turn off the PID and go to a "timed" mode something like the "smoke" mode on some grills like my Member's Mark. Where it over rides the PID and just feeds pellets at a timed interval feeding more or less pellets for more or less smoke.
So I'd love to know 2 things. 1, how they did (or do) it, and 2 how long can it be used with lid up in any one stretch of time
Darian Hofer
TVWBB Pro
“provided you are properly cleaning/maintaining the grill between cooks”
This is obviously a key statement with emphasis on “properly”.
To me, this sounds like another finicky grill.
I know this pellet stuff is not your specialty so let’s hit you up…Haven't seen anything new in Weber charcoal grills in years. Anything new coming out that you can talk about?
JimK
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I can't imagine how quickly it'd burn through pellets with the lid up. But it would be fun to try and find out.
TimA
TVWBB All-Star
I have to wonder how often @John Burns and his cronies just go fire up a kettle at work, you know for testing purposes haha. Or his buddies from R&D, “hey why don’t you come over and taste test which of our new grills produces better food!”
What an awful day at the office those must be!
What an awful day at the office those must be!
TimA
TVWBB All-Star
Re: cleaning. I make it a point to not clean my Smokefire. And it rarely has an issue, and any issue is not related to cleaning. It’s typically that random “I’ll dump pellets but not hit the glow plug” that the software seems to enjoy tossing out at us occasionally.
I do believe I will add a 24” Searwood and look forward to not cleaning it either
I do believe I will add a 24” Searwood and look forward to not cleaning it either
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
That is an aside I hadn't thought of. Also gotta wonder if the auger system is actually going to be able to keep up. Quite honestly even at full tilt I don't see them move a lot of fuel. So, now it adds an even more interesting twist
The fire pot etc, all looks a bit finicky & flimsy to me as well.
Bob Erdman
TVWBB All-Star
Is it random? Or ash caking in the fire pot preventing the pellets from igniting? I don't clean after every cook either because I use drip pans most of the time, but I do check the fire pot occasionally to clear any possible build up in the fire pot.
In this example picture you can clearly see ash can cake up in the fire pot. That's why I check/clean the pot every few cooks or so. I've never experienced a random failure to ignite yet.
In this pic I had a flame out, due to a pellet void. The caking in the pot, while cleaning up, got my attention so I decided that was something I should keep an eye out for in the future.
I haven't figured out what causes the caking, but suspect it's pellet and/or humidity related. Most of the caking I see is close to the glow plug because it's the lowest point in the fire pot.
If I was a new SW owner this is something I would keep an eye on too.
Bob Erdman
TVWBB All-Star
LOL. If the auger in the SW is anything like in the SmokeFire that will not be a problem! I don't need to dump pellets when I change pellet type, I just set to max temp and the pellets magically disappear.
Jay D in Jersey
Closed Account
I might understand issues with moisture and pellets kept in the hopper and auger tube if left outside for weeks or months without use. But if you're using any pellet grill one or more times per week and you have to clear out the pellets...forget it. The convenience of cooking with it is negated by the hassle of emptying it out completely.
Bob Erdman
TVWBB All-Star
Never been an issue for me, even during our hot & humid jersey weather.
Jay D in Jersey
Closed Account
Well my grill isn't too far from yours so good to hear. OTOH, it could be a different story at the beach...in fact the metal components of the pellet grills themselves would be at risk. I learned that the hard way with gas grills.
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
In my grills, the auger motor is actually more like one of those old fashioned timer motors you would find in an old washing machine, or such. A small AC synchronous motor into a little gearbox. Then the output of the gearbox is tied to the auger. Which turns at a pretty continuous 1.5 or 2 rpm. Some "high output" motors turn at 2.5. Nice thing is they're all generic, and you can fine tune your grill by using different a different motor. No fancy speed control. Either on or offLOL. If the auger in the SW is anything like in the SmokeFire that will not be a problem! I don't need to dump pellets when I change pellet type, I just set to max temp and the pellets magically disappear.
Bruno
TVWBB Hall of Fame
We had a disaster at the house last year, long story for another day, lost all our stuff and we are rebuilding a huge portion of the house. I’d left my SmokeFire for the last 6 months, this thread motivated me to pick it up and get it fired up for spring.
I’m bringing it home tonight to the rental. I had to order a new shop vac to clean it and I need to grab some pellets on Saturday, I’m going to try out the Cabellas everyone says are lumberjack made, like Weber’s.
Hopefully I can get the new update downloaded that Chuck liked and do a test run.
I lost the new parts Weber had sent out in the Incident, unfortunately. so now I’m still rocking the old stuff. I did for some reason put the flavorizer bars in storage so I have new ones to grab this weekend as well.
I haven’t even looked inside the SF for 6 months so I hope it’s not moldy.
Should be a fun weekend.
I’m bringing it home tonight to the rental. I had to order a new shop vac to clean it and I need to grab some pellets on Saturday, I’m going to try out the Cabellas everyone says are lumberjack made, like Weber’s.
Hopefully I can get the new update downloaded that Chuck liked and do a test run.
I lost the new parts Weber had sent out in the Incident, unfortunately. so now I’m still rocking the old stuff. I did for some reason put the flavorizer bars in storage so I have new ones to grab this weekend as well.
I haven’t even looked inside the SF for 6 months so I hope it’s not moldy.
Should be a fun weekend.
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Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
Analysis paralysis has set in. What we need is someone to get a hold of one of these Searwoods and do some cooks and report back. I'm not a player in this as I'm very happy with my little Camp Chef, it does all I need it to do.
But like the rest on here I want to know if Weber got it right this time.
But until they are available speculation shall rule supreme.
But like the rest on here I want to know if Weber got it right this time.
But until they are available speculation shall rule supreme.