New Searwood pic.

[Jon Tofte]

It's a conventional design pellet grill with the big drip pan and a side hopper. I'm betting that they stay with the Weber Connect software so that will be the same as a Smokefire. The design eliminates the flavorizer bar brackets and the interior pellet slide. Those were the most prone to corrosion/ heat erosion. The big and heavy drip pan puts a big heat sink between the fire and the food. That will stabilize the temps across the cooking grates and satisfy those who didn't like the big temp differences inside the Smokefire. My Smokefire gives good smoke at 400 F so I'm interested to see f the Searwood gives good smoke above 300 which is where my conventional design pellet grills ran out of smoke The Searwood is coming but I have no idea what Weber plans for the Smokefire.

Lew, It looks like the drip tray is the Genesis-style removable tray on the bottom. If this new Searwood also has a large shield above the fitepot, how does the grease get down to the bottom? That’s what made me think that the flavorizer bars were being retained. Also, they ate clearly still promoting searing. Without the open style, that would seem challenging, although the newer Recteqs claim 700 degrees without that.

If the open cooking is toast, that makes me want a SmokeFire all the more!

 

[timothy]

I apoligize if I missed this, but is it called " Searwood " because it can sear wood chunks along with pellets?

 

[Lew Newby]

Lew, It looks like the drip tray is the Genesis-style removable tray on the bottom. If this new Searwood also has a large shield above the fitepot, how does the grease get down to the bottom? That’s what made me think that the flavorizer bars were being retained. Also, they ate clearly still promoting searing. Without the open style, that would seem challenging, although the newer Recteqs claim 700 degrees without that.

If the open cooking is toast, that makes me want a SmokeFire all the more!

I don't know anything about gas grills so maybe I just assumed what I saw was a conventional drip tray. I assumed that their grease management was similar to Recteq but all internal. That's an excellent point. I guess we'll know when they release it.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

I prefer the hopper in the back as is. Fits my grill area better.

Not being a wise guy but I am trying to understand why the hopper in the back fits your grill area better. If this picture is accurate then the new grill is not any wider than the old grill at least from pictures so your not getting any benefit say overall width if that was an issue. I am like Larry for my setup the hopper on the side would work better and it looks more convenient to load additional pellets.

The RecTec is kind of a different beast with the rear hopper because if I am not mistaken it holds 40lbs of pellets and my quess alot easier to load pellets because of their design but it also makes the grill alot more deeper from front to back which would not work for me either. My Silver C is on a deck close to the railings so its not in open space and its close to the l shape of the railings not sure describing that correctly I will say not having casters in my setup would not bother me at all especially if it keeps the cost of the grill down a bit because it never gets moved unless I need to restain the deck which I need to do in the spring but all that means I move it to the left stain that half of the deck then move it back to the original position to stain the other half.

 

[BFletcher]

What I don’t like. Visually the grease drain is bad, they’ve tried to make it look good and I applaud the effort, the red stripe is nice. The apparent change from rear hopper, meh. I like the rear hopper, it works just fine and folks make way too much out of it, but is what it is.

I agree with all your comments aside from the current rear hopper; mine does not work fine, persistently. And so since there are occasions when pellets don't flow adequately to the auger it is a big deal to me

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

I don't know anything about gas grills so maybe I just assumed what I saw was a conventional drip tray.

So basically its kind of the same setup on our Genesis Gas Grills the 1000 or Silver C or whatever. Those have flavorizer bars where the grease drips into the large pan then funnels into the small pan from an opening in the middle of the large drip pan. Its very easy to slide that large pan out with the small pan and clean the large pan. For the small pan that has disposable liners so no need to clean that but the large pan needs to be cleaned.

Obviously the fire box has a fairly large opening at the bottom to feed the large drip pan not the size of the large drip pan by any means.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

If the open cooking is toast, that makes me want a SmokeFire all the more!

Here is your chance and my guess its your last chance. Don't come crying if a year from now the new model turns out to be better possible its worse who knows.

SmokeFire EX4 (2nd Gen) Wood Fired Pellet Grill | SmokeFire Series | Wood Pellet Grills | Weber Grills

SmokeFire delivers the best wood fired flavor, no matter what you have a taste for. Its 200-600° temperature range gives it the versatility to sear, smoke, bake, and everything in between. Whether you’re craving a juicy steak, BBQ ribs, pulled pork, pizza, burgers, or dessert, it’s the only...

www.weber.com

Let me add I am sure your wife would be thrilled you spending $769 for another grill which does not include sales tax.
I thought you were warned not bring any more grills inside kidding you bud kind of.

I can get away with that since my Silver C and Performer were all used and the UDS only cost about 120 to build and basically on year 14. So three grills. She probably spends more on my 2 girls in a month than a 1000 for a grill or whatever.

 

[BFletcher]

I didn't think to look until Brian B posted the Weber link but it is $695 at Amazon.

 

[Bob Erdman]

Brian, if the length is the same, I would still prefer the hopper in the back. The shelf on the Searwood looks like the lid for the hopper also, bummer if your using it and you have to move stuff to refill the hopper.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

I didn't think to look until Brian B posted the Weber link but it is $695 at Amazon.

Wow you are correct there is no doubt in my mind its going away and Amazon can move more units quickly than anyone. This is the lowest price we have ever seen so if you want a EX4 now is your time.

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

Brian, if the length is the same, I would still prefer the hopper in the back. The shelf on the Searwood looks like the lid for the hopper also, bummer if your using it and you have to move stuff to refill the hopper.

That is fine you buy what you like and if you prefer the hopper on the back who am I to say you should buy one with it on the side. I don't own a pellet grill but Larry has been steering me to the dark side since he owns 2. I want a Weber so in a year if this new model pans out and I am not an early adopter then maybe going to the dark side myself. Would never replace the Silver C that is my wife's grill she would kill me and the Performer stays but starting to getting intrigued on the pellet world. My UDS is getting near the end but as I said I need to see reviews for a year.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Really wish it was a charcoal gravity to compete against Masterbuilt;-(

 

[Lew Newby]

Lew, It looks like the drip tray is the Genesis-style removable tray on the bottom. If this new Searwood also has a large shield above the fitepot, how does the grease get down to the bottom? That’s what made me think that the flavorizer bars were being retained. Also, they ate clearly still promoting searing. Without the open style, that would seem challenging, although the newer Recteqs claim 700 degrees without that.

If the open cooking is toast, that makes me want a SmokeFire all the more!

Jon, I think you're right about the Genesis like setup. My son owned a Genesis and he agrees with you. I'm liking the Searwood more.

 

[Darian Hofer]

Brian, if the length is the same, I would still prefer the hopper in the back. The shelf on the Searwood looks like the lid for the hopper also, bummer if your using it and you have to move stuff to refill the hopper.

A little common sense with pellet management and using the hopper lid as a shelf is not a real big issue. Far less of an issue as checking the back hopper for pellet flow now.

 

[Greg Ross-MN]

It's fun to guess how it will be designed. If it has a Genesis style pull out grease tray then how is the firepot going to be attached? Just sitting there floating, attached to the back and front of grill chamber like a gas burner? It would still need a cover directly over it. So the ash and grease all falls into the same tray? Seems like there would still be a chance of grease fires.

 

[Darian Hofer]

It's fun to guess how it will be designed. If it has a Genesis style pull out grease tray then how is the firepot going to be attached? Just sitting there floating, attached to the back and front of grill chamber like a gas burner? It would still need a cover directly over it. So the ash and grease all falls into the same tray? Seems like there would still be a chance of grease fires.

My Pitts and Spitts pellet grill has a side mounted hopper with a pellet auger system that stems from the hopper and floats from the left side to the middle not touching the bottom of the pit. The thick deflector plate rests on the bottom of the pit but it’s wide enough that it could easily span a grease trap opening. There are many possibilities. At this point it’s more wishing and hopin.

 

[LMichaels]

Yeah, just dawned on me both of my grills have auger/hopper systems bolted to the right hand side of the grill, that are not supported by the bottom of the grill body (bottom) itself. There could be literally no bottom to either of my grills and it would still be supported fine

 

[TimA]

Really wish it was a charcoal gravity to compete against Masterbuilt;-(

I wonder how well they sell. They seemed to sell well initially but I haven’t seen one in a store in well over a year.

I’m guessing here, but I question whether the gravity units have made any serious inroads

 

[Greg Ross-MN]

I wonder how well they sell. They seemed to sell well initially but I haven’t seen one in a store in well over a year.

I’m guessing here, but I question whether the gravity units have made any serious inroads

I’ve had the Masterbuilt 560 for almost 4 years. I still see the larger 1050 at Home Depot but the 560 is discontinued. Although the Gravity imparts some great flavor it’s not built to last. My controller failed and the main grill chamber is deteriorating. I was scraping the interior with a plastic putty knife and it went through to the outside. It’s very thin metal and in hindsight I shouldn’t have used it for high temp grilling. It goes to 700F but just not built to withstand it.

 

[Bradley Mack]

The two wheel design makes it look like a cheap Spirit gas grill. Also, it would be dumb to name it “Searwood” and not have an ability to sear. Let’s hope that’s not the case. If it’s truly a traditional pellet style with a drip pan across the entire cooking area then it’s no different than anything else.

The fact it has a drip pan on the bottom like the Genesis tells me it just might still have flavorizer bars though.

I’m willing to forego looks if it performs well…

Purely guessing here, but the photo shows the temperature set to 600 F. I’m guessing the ability to sear will remain.

Call me the odd man out, but I think 2 wheels is a nice tribute to the Weber heritage. I’m guessing that’s what they‘re going for. Will be functional? Sure. Will it be easier to move around? Probably not. I can only speak for myself - but - the only times I’ve had to move my pellet grill are typically when I end up spilling pellets pouring them into the current rear hopper, or clearing snow from around the cooker. Otherwise my Smokefire doesn‘t move much.

I know some will disagree, and whlie I appreciate the rear hopper attempt…it’s not great. Whether you’ve added tape to the ramp to help your pellets along, or you’ve installed the upgraded ramp - there is no good reason anyone who bought a Smokefire should have had to alter anything inside the hopper. Same goes for replacing the 2 piece auger to the 1 piece.

Humour me if only for a moment. Imagine you buy a brand new vehicle and when you go to add gasoline, it doesn’t flow to the gas tank as designed. Further, the engine isn’t working as is should. Now imagine you call the manufacturer and they concur that there’s an issue…and they decide the best way to resolve it, is to send you all new parts for your vehicle and it’s engine, with the expectation that you’ll be the one to replace all the problem parts. Hilarious right? But that’s exactly what Weber did to Gen 1 Smokefire consumers. Sure, most of us did what was necessary and made the best of it… but there’s nothing that will convince me that the onus should have been on the customer to complete the repairs. Great customer service or not. The reason this happened, above all else, was because the design was awful. Period.

So, back to the vehicle analogy. You go ahead and complete your repairs. Now you have a healthy dose of paranoia every time you drive, so you pull over every few miles to make sure gas isn’t leaking. You also pop the hood to make sure everything is working as intended. You finally make your way home and head inside to relax. But every now and then you head out to your driveway or garage to make sure the vehicle is actually shut off. Here’s hoping it starts next time you need to use it.

Sound reasonable? This is the Smokefire experience that I bet many of you can relate to.

Now that being said, I love my Smokefire. It does what it needs to and I’ve been fortunate not to have had many issues. I decided to take the leap, and love my grill.. warts and all.

But, I for one, am pleased to see a traditional side hopper where gravity does the work.

What I do find interesting is why anyone would be against having a Genesis / Spirit like grease management system, tailored to the Searwood. The Genesis and Spirit have probably been the best selling grills for a number of years. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a single complaint on how those units manage grease. When you have a recipe that works…you use it.