New Weber pellet grills for 2020


 
Larry, I agree on both counts. I guess they would have to charge an extra $50 for SS solid rod grates and I immediately noticed the lack of shelf space on the pellet grills. I thought maybe there was something about pellet grills that didn't require as much shelf space some how.
 
BobJ said:
Wonder if you need to remove the heat distribution plate for the searing flames shown in Jon's image, I've seen other grills that call for similar.
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That could be, but I would think that might expose parts of the grill to drippings that would cause problems. Besides, that only opens the middle, and the grill is supposed to be able to sear over the entire grate.
 
Bruce said:
That could be, but I would think that might expose parts of the grill to drippings that would cause problems. Besides, that only opens the middle, and the grill is supposed to be able to sear over the entire grate.
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I think Weber has tried to merge their gas grilling engineering with the pellet fuel source. On my Rec Tec and virtually all pellet grills, the one piece heat deflector shield is a thick heavy piece of stainless they encourage you to cover with aluminum foil. There is no intention of trying to create the effect Weber was after on gas grills when they designed the flavorizer bars in the Genesis. That of course is INTENDED to create sizzling smoke and even flashes of fire while avoiding out of control flare-ups.

My Rec Tec is trying only to channel the grease to the side to drain in the bucket (which I agree with Weber is an annoying, gross thing to have out in the open). That is ideal for safe low heat bbq where you want the smokey gentle heat to do the cooking.

Weber, I think, is trying to deliver the sizzling performance of a gas grill by opening up things with flavorizer bars. They even purposely chose porcelain for the large tent/flavorizer covering the fire pot because it gives that effect better than stainless. No wrapping in aluminum foil here. The pictures look impressive. I would love to try it, that’s for sure. I do wonder, though, about how much heavy duty cleanup this grill will require. My Rec Tec is fairly easy to clean, but I can’t sear steaks with it either...
 
Bruce said:
That could be, but I would think that might expose parts of the grill to drippings that would cause problems. Besides, that only opens the middle, and the grill is supposed to be able to sear over the entire grate.
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Agree 100%
 
Camp Chef has their Slide & Sear where you slide the deflector plate out of the way leaving your fire box open to the grate for searing. I agree it sounds like drippings would make a mess, but that's how they do it. Will need to wait till I can actually see the Weber first hand.

Personally I've been waiting for a winter trip to GA on which I'll stop by Rec Tec and get a look at there units. Until Weber announced their entry, Rec Tec was the only grill on my radar, now I have another to check out before deciding and more choice is good. FWIW, RT's warranty is 4 years, as opposed to Weber's 5/3, not enough difference to matter to me.
 
I agree about the lack of shelf space that's why I built a cart for my 18.5 and one for my 14.5 mini WSMs. My Gen 2000 has two flip ups and two shelfs can't have too much shelf space. If I get a Smoke Fire I guess I'll just use a portable fold up table.

As far as the high heat and searing features I probably wouldn't use that much if at all because I'll still have my Performer, E320 and Gen 2000 for that type of grilling. Really don't need all the high tech wizardly to cook steak or burger.

Another thing that bothers me somewhat is buying something that's just being introduced. If weber gets a boat load of these out there and has some issues come up that need correcting they will surely make corrections going forward on the grills.
Might be wise to see what shakes out before purchasing one.

With all the features the Weber has the other builders of pellet grills are really going to have to step up their products to keep competitive with Weber, it's going to be interesting to watch.
 
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Watching those steaks play out was quite impressive; kudos to Weber! I'm also impressed with their price point compared to the comp.
 
As far as the price being cheaper it says right on the site "parts sourced from other countries". You know like China or wherever. Shipped the parts over to the USA, some flunkie assembles 2 or 3 parts together and I am supposed to believe that's its manufactured in the USA. LMAO. Assembling a few parts together is not manufacturing. Just another reason I wont buy a Nissan or Toyota. Guess that I am too old school.
 
Still interested in how this grill does with smoking. Otherwise, my only question is whether the ex4 is big enough or whether the ex6 is necessary.
 
Matt Q said:
Still interested in how this grill does with smoking. Otherwise, my only question is whether the ex4 is big enough or whether the ex6 is necessary.
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In that vid from BBM , they had a brisket on a ex4 and it looked like a tight fit , to me. The ex4 has an 18" X 24" cooking grate. It would also be hard to lay ribs across the grate, they would have to length wise, probably get three racks lenthwise.

Just depends upon how many ya cook for , or if you want to make cooks cost effective and get as meat per pellets used as possible.
 
russ olin said:
As far as the price being cheaper it says right on the site "parts sourced from other countries". You know like China or wherever. Shipped the parts over to the USA, some flunkie assembles 2 or 3 parts together and I am supposed to believe that's its manufactured in the USA. LMAO. Assembling a few parts together is not manufacturing. Just another reason I wont buy a Nissan or Toyota. Guess that I am too old school.
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Yeah, that is probably not too far from the truth. However, the same applies to Rec Tec, and I suspect that Traeger, Pit Boss, Camp Chef and some others aren't even "assembled" in the US. To get US Made you have to pony up a good bit more money for something like MAK or Yoder. You will get a more robust grill for the extra money, not necessarily one that cooks any better. Weber didn't take aim at the high end but went for the mid-market with some notable advances. I am most concerned about the hardware. I hope at least the critical bolts and hinges are stainless.

Here is a link to an article about US manufactured pellet grills:

https://www.pelletsmokergrill.com/a...rills-what-pellet-grills-are-made-in-the-usa/
 
"Just another reason I wont buy a Nissan or Toyota. Guess that I am too old school. "

Well then you're the one missing out on good product(s). Not in the case of Nissan which is now a conglomerate of Renault, Mitsu****ti and Nissan. Yes they ARE junque. Same goes for all the Fix It Again Tony stuff. But products from Honda and Toyota are the best of the best. I used to be one of those "no foreign crap in my driveway kinds" but now there is nothing but Toyota products and Honda products in my drive and garage.
2 Toyota Highlanders (wife and I)
1 Toyota Avalon (daughter) formerly Lexus
1 Honda snow blower
1 Honda lawn mower
1 Honda tractor
1 Highlander made in Japan, 1 in South Bend IN
Snow blower made in Japan
lawn tractor made in Japan
lawn mower made in USA
When I was in car rental I used to get these people saying they wanted "Made in USA" so I would offer a Camry. "I don't want no foreign crap" "Gimme that Buick" Sure sir but you do know that Buick is made in China right?" Then they'd bluster and stuff until I showed them for proof the point of mfgr. They'd always take the Camry LOL. Them come back raving about how they didn't know a Toyota was so nice.
In the automotive world today American names are just that "names" they typically come from Mexico and China. very few are made here anymore. Oddly though, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and many more are making their stuff right here.
 
Got to agree with you Larry, my 2002 4runner AKA dog hauler and Home Depot express just flipped over 200K. Runs perfect, everything works, doesn't burn any oil or leak any fluids. Best vehicle I've ever owned.
Also great for hauling Genesis gassers home to flip.
 
Man I can’t wait to get my hands on the EX6. Love everything I’ve seen so far. Thanks for sharing the videos.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Got to agree with you Larry, my 2002 4runner AKA dog hauler and Home Depot express just flipped over 200K. Runs perfect, everything works, doesn't burn any oil or leak any fluids. Best vehicle I've ever owned.
Also great for hauling Genesis gassers home to flip.
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When my Highlanders "grow up" they want to be a 4 Runner LOL or maybe a Sequoia of course it would not mind being a Lexus :D
 
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