New Weber pellet grills for 2020
- Thread starter Chris Allingham
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Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Yeah, I am sorry. I didn't mean to sound teacherish
... I do think the competition isn't going to sit around. That almost certainly means sale incentives and lower prices. I just think it is to Weber's credit that they appear to have blown away the Traeger model in the same price range as the SmokeFire and in many ways even surpassed Traeger's much higher priced model.
Bruno
TVWBB Honor Circle
No, I live here and nothing surprises me.
Bruno
TVWBB Honor Circle
Q: I see that the control panel has spots for four thermometer probes. Is there a probe port in the grill body to allow the wires to pass through? see less
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A: Hello! There is no special probe port, and they can be draped right through the front of the lid. The wires will not become damaged, as long as you don't slam the lid closed. Thanks!
Weber Grills Manufacturer · 11 hours ago
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I don’t love this answer from an Amazon question, do the probes go in a slot in the back or now they just go through the front? Weird. This question is supposedly answered by someone at Weber.
Answer this question
A: Hello! There is no special probe port, and they can be draped right through the front of the lid. The wires will not become damaged, as long as you don't slam the lid closed. Thanks!
Weber Grills Manufacturer · 11 hours ago
Leave a Comment
I don’t love this answer from an Amazon question, do the probes go in a slot in the back or now they just go through the front? Weird. This question is supposedly answered by someone at Weber.
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Ya sure......
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
My Rec Tec has a small port with a stainless swing cover. That was an upgrade that Rec Tec added even before they had their own WiFi temperature monitoring.
Paul Dalbey
New member
I would agree, but I think perhaps in some ways you are comparing three products with some definite distinctions. The Yoder is clearly the rugged and robust grill of the set. That doesn't mean it cooks better, and to be honest I would wonder if its electronics are as good as Rec Tec's. And it is priced a good notch higher. But this one is built like a tank to last a long time.
I think you hit it on the head about the Rec Tec being a "mature" product. They have been making the overall same basic design for a number of years. I have the RT-700 myself and can say it works VERY well and for the price is decently solid. I appreciate Rec Tec's more liberal use of stainless (not all 304) and their customer support (which I have not needed so far) is legendary. I have yet to have an unsatisfactory or unenjoyable cook with my Rec Tec. It doesn't look as cutting edge as it did a couple years ago, but I DO like how it looks. Those stainless bull horn handles are classic!
I think the Weber SmokeFire is an impressive move forward in the pellet grill world. It is still early, but the indications are good that Weber really worked hard at getting this right by investing serious engineering and comparison testing before they finalized this very important new product. Yes, I think the first adopters may have to put up with a few snags, but my belief at this point is that it will be overall a well functioning pellet grill and whatever software issues, etc. there may be will be worked out. It definitely does make my Rec Tec look a little bit dated in comparison, and my grill can't get to 600 degrees - ever.
I am laying money you will be seeing a new Rec Tec "flagship" pellet grill in the next year, or two years at the most. It will almost certainly do away with the unloved grease bucket and like Weber and Traeger go with vents rather than a smokestack and offer two or even three real shelves in a taller style. If Rec Tec does make a big change, I hope they will also bring new ideas to the market to keep everyone honest and interested. They are an excellent company and remind me of Weber back when Georgewas still at the helm.
Thanks so much for your very well thought-out and presented response. I couldn't agree more with most everything you said. The couple things I would point out, though, are as follows: Yes, the Yoder is built like a tank, but I'm not really planning to transport it anywhere, so I perhaps don't need something QUITE so robust. I do like how heavy the body is that with the heavy steel construction. That sure most certainly aid in temperature insulation and steadiness. My biggest concern about the Yoder, price excluded, are the smaller cooking surface compared to the Rec Tec and its reputation for almost certainly rusting. I wish Yoder would figure out a way to prevent the frame from rusting and making the customer repair it. I know they will usually supply the paint kit (or at least I think I read that somewhere), but it still takes a lot of time and effort on "my" behalf to actually go through the process of taping, sanding, and repainting. For a grill/smoker that's going to set me back upwards of $2k, that seems like a lot of work I don't want to do.
You mention the electronics in the Yoder... do I understand correctly that within the last year or so they have integrated Fireboard into all of their temperature control electronics? If that's the case, I've never heard a single negative mention of Fireboard's products (I'm actually about to pull the trigger on one myself for my WSM22), so unless they somehow screwed up the integration, I'd think the Yoder electronics should be pretty darn good.
Concerning the RT-700... didn't the 700 just come out within the last 18-24 months? I'm not sure what Rec Tec's product cycles usually are, but it seems they sat on the RT-680 for quite a while, and other than the lack of red paint, I don't think the 700 presents a revolutionary change from the 680. Perhaps, if for no other reason, Rec Tec will be ready to bring out a substantial upgrade sooner rather than later. I didn't realize the grease bucket was such a negative point on the Rec Tec, but regarding the vents vs smokestack, the smaller Rec Tec RT-590 Stampede already uses rear vents rather than a smokestack so it would certainly stand to reason that RT is moving in that direction.
As for high temperatures, I honestly don't know that I would use any of these options for high temperature searing. If I want to cook a steak (which is about the only thing I could at THAT high of a temperature), I would either use my Performer or my ancient Genesis Silver B (from 2004.. shhh, don't tell anyone). Both of those get very hot and are more appropriately sized, IMHO, for doing 4-6 steaks. The Yoder/Rec Tec/Smokefire would be used almost exclusively for longer, smokier cooks to replace my WSM22 for ribs, butts, briskets, turkeys, and maybe wings.
So that's a whole lot of words to really just say I still don't know which way I would go if I was buying right now.
Rich Dahl
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
My neighbor just got a new camp chef pellet grill at Thanksgiving. Cooked the turkey fine, then they started a Tri Tip yesterday an hour into the cook they heard a loud bang and went outside and the camp chef had exploded and was on fire. Not a good start with that one. I helped him get it out to his garage and his son was going to take in back to HD. The thing was pretty much toast.
russ olin
TVWBB Platinum Member
WOW, looking at that Yoder reminds me of a tank. You know a German Tiger Tanks surrounded by Sherman Tanks. The Tiger Tanks licking his chops ready to kick some tail.
I guess I watch a lot of WW11 stuff. It would take 5 or 6 Sherman Tanks to take out one Tiger Tank.
Any way the Yoder is very impressive. If I was going to get one, but I'm not. It would be between the Yoder & the MAK.
I don't know what the Yoder uses for a power source, but I do know the MAK uses 110 HIGH Torque motor made in the USA to deliver pellets.
On a tube assembly heavy enough to crush pellets and never jam up.
Who wants to be out on a cold day reversing a jammed motor? Not me.
So MAK or Yoder? Its nice to see some quality stuff still out there.
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Paul,
Definitely agree that the Rec Tec RT-700 was an incremental, evolutionary improvement over the RT-680. Biggest improvements were the addition of a stainless barrel and some other stainless parts. Rec Tec will help you retrofit any of the electronics improvements (and a number of the smaller stainless parts) to an older RT-680. This does give this model a good long track record and makes supporting it easier. I had noticed that Rec Tec briefly offered a black porcelain hood as an option on the 680 and then that disappeared. I thought something must be up, and, there you go, they came out with the RT-700 in black and stainless. I don't see any obvious signs on their site yet, but I agree that the Stampede may be pointing to their next offering.
I don't really hate the grease bucket, but I have already had more than one spill with them. I do wonder how well the Weber setup will keep up when you do a bunch of ribs or brisket, but it does look to be a better and neater plan.
I don't follow Yoder since it is out of my price range. I am glad they went with a high quality partner rather than trying to do a proprietary setup. This stuff is moving too fast for a small grill company to keep up. I am would imagine the Fireboard electronics are top notch. I had wondered how well their super-heavy but still powder coated regular steel would hold up. I guess, based on your comments, not as well as I would hope. MAK has all high grade stainless pellet grills, but now you are moving towards used car price for a grill. Very nice, but not at all in my league.
This is an interesting time for grilling. I am sure some more surprises are ahead!
Definitely agree that the Rec Tec RT-700 was an incremental, evolutionary improvement over the RT-680. Biggest improvements were the addition of a stainless barrel and some other stainless parts. Rec Tec will help you retrofit any of the electronics improvements (and a number of the smaller stainless parts) to an older RT-680. This does give this model a good long track record and makes supporting it easier. I had noticed that Rec Tec briefly offered a black porcelain hood as an option on the 680 and then that disappeared. I thought something must be up, and, there you go, they came out with the RT-700 in black and stainless. I don't see any obvious signs on their site yet, but I agree that the Stampede may be pointing to their next offering.
I don't really hate the grease bucket, but I have already had more than one spill with them. I do wonder how well the Weber setup will keep up when you do a bunch of ribs or brisket, but it does look to be a better and neater plan.
I don't follow Yoder since it is out of my price range. I am glad they went with a high quality partner rather than trying to do a proprietary setup. This stuff is moving too fast for a small grill company to keep up. I am would imagine the Fireboard electronics are top notch. I had wondered how well their super-heavy but still powder coated regular steel would hold up. I guess, based on your comments, not as well as I would hope. MAK has all high grade stainless pellet grills, but now you are moving towards used car price for a grill. Very nice, but not at all in my league.
This is an interesting time for grilling. I am sure some more surprises are ahead!
Rich Dahl
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
You're right Jon, I think Weber just kicked the pellet grill segment up a couple of notches and everybody will be revamping to get back into it. It's funny though my neighbor who had his camp chef blow up, his son is an avid Weber fan and when he came over to take the camp chef back to HD I asked him if he considered a smokefire instead of the camp chef. He responded what's that? I told him and he had no knowledge that Weber made a pellet grill now.
When this gets out to the general public this could be very interesting.
When this gets out to the general public this could be very interesting.
I had that conversation with the staff in a small hardware store 20 miles away 10 days ago. While they're an authorized Weber dealer, they had no idea that Weber had just introduced a pellet smoker.
BFletcher
TVWBB Platinum Member
You guys could rebound a collapsed economy; I'm almost wanting to buy an EX6. But I'll name something I would truly love to have: a beautiful open-frame E-W Weber propane grill... whichever configurations have a high-enough profile height making them optimal for rotisserie cooks, as well. But I would want a very clean one as I have no desire nor skill to do a rehab.
Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
You betcha.
Dan Leighton
TVWBB Pro
Rich:
Wow! I just received and assembled my Camp Chef pellet grill (SG24) at a price of half of a new Smokefire including tax. So far I've only done a burn off of the packing oils. I bought it on two features, the pellet dump and the fire pot cleanout cup. I didn't really care about the direct flame option since my Genesis only a few feet away. There is nothing to explode on the grill that I can see. Mine does not have the propane sear box. I'm wondering if that is what exploded. I can see a situation where the pellets are overfed and result in a fire in the grill itself. Even in that case, the fire would be contained inside the grill. As a new owner, I'm very interested in finding out more.
Wow! I just received and assembled my Camp Chef pellet grill (SG24) at a price of half of a new Smokefire including tax. So far I've only done a burn off of the packing oils. I bought it on two features, the pellet dump and the fire pot cleanout cup. I didn't really care about the direct flame option since my Genesis only a few feet away. There is nothing to explode on the grill that I can see. Mine does not have the propane sear box. I'm wondering if that is what exploded. I can see a situation where the pellets are overfed and result in a fire in the grill itself. Even in that case, the fire would be contained inside the grill. As a new owner, I'm very interested in finding out more.
Rich Dahl
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Dan, I really didn't get a good look at it inside but it looked like it was enough of a blast to bend the hood a little and by the control panel there were some black soot marks. I will ask Lew's son if they have any idea what caused it.
Kind of spooked me as I was looking at that model too.
Lynn Dollar
TVWBB Emerald Member
Kosmos Q sears a rib eye on a Traeger .... Weber must've put the idea in his mind haha
I could not bring myself to mutilate a fine piece of meat the way he has , but hey, he's won the Grand Champion steak cooking contest ..... so who am I to question.
I've thought about entering one of those steak comps. And grill my steak on my Kettle and before I turn it in, I douse it really good with Heinz 57 or A-1 I bet that would raise a judges eyebrow.
I could not bring myself to mutilate a fine piece of meat the way he has , but hey, he's won the Grand Champion steak cooking contest ..... so who am I to question.
I've thought about entering one of those steak comps. And grill my steak on my Kettle and before I turn it in, I douse it really good with Heinz 57 or A-1
I bet that would raise a judges eyebrow.Robert Dilbert
TVWBB Fan
Kosmos Q sears a rib eye on a Traeger .... Weber must've put the idea in his mind haha
I could not bring myself to mutilate a fine piece of meat the way he has , but hey, he's won the Grand Champion steak cooking contest ..... so who am I to question.
I've thought about entering one of those steak comps. And grill my steak on my Kettle and before I turn it in, I douse it really good with Heinz 57 or A-1
1. How did he mutilate it?
2. is he sponsored by Traeger?
Lynn Dollar
TVWBB Emerald Member