New Weber pellet grills for 2020


 
From my view point it wont affect what I would buy after the new pellet smoker, each type of cooker has its own flavor profile and I like to have a variety of cooked foods. There are no 1 cooker does all imo. Folks chase the same taste profile for pellet smokers that they get from other types and it will not happen, close maybe but absolutely not the same. No magic method to make it happen. You will have great food no matter what. You will have to retrain your taste buds to not being blasted by heavy smoke and you will need to concentrate on flavorings to providing how your food turns out just like cooking has been since fire was first used.
 
Oh, I think this will cut into sales of all of Weber's other offerings. I have seen several people on this thread and others say they are considering replacing two or three grills with one of these pellet grills. This grill is being billed as a "one grill does it all" type grill. So, it stands to reason that it will have some affect on the sales of their other lines. However, Pellet grills are growing fast in popularity and for Weber to sit back and not jump in would be disastrous in the long run. It isn't going to kill any of their grill line ups, but there will be some affect. When Weber added the WSM, it likely had some affect on their kettle grill sales, but it didn't kill that either. As long as their pellet grills are quality and work well, this will be a huge benefit for the company over all.
 
I don’t plan on selling any grills when I get the EX6. You always are going to need a good kettle and may want to go old school one day on the WSM. I cook all my veggies on my Q-320 and plan on keeping them all around.

I think the comments about continual revenue are spot on, Weber gets enough of these out and they can constantly sell pellets. From what I’ve read about Traeger pellets and the lack of real flavor wood it shouldn’t be hard to stand out.
 
I think Bruce is correct, when I get my pellet grill I will be downsizing my fleet. I would have done so even if I didn't get a pellet grill. I just don't use them like I used too. The performer, Jumbo Joe, both smokers mini and WSM just sit during the summer due to fire restrictions. I haven't taken the cover off the Skyline in a year and the 1985 Genesis 2 sits waiting a restoration and I've had that a year.
I would suspect that pellet smoker/grills will take off shortly now that more manufactures are getting into the game. Also you may see Weber cut back on having so many variations of three burner and up grills.
The WSM line should be able to hold it's own as yes it's a money maker but not the heart of Weber and there will always be those that want to have the charcoal experience vs. set it and forget it.
From self driving cars, trucks and even small private planes that can find the nearest airport and land themselves in the event the pilot becomes disabled and now smokers/grills will be becoming automated.
They call that progress I guess.
 
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I do believe this could have great potential for Weber. Do not think the grills or kettles will be affected much. Maybe a bit. The wsm would seem to be the direct obstacle. However, the wsm is really for enthusiasts. So they may not lose sales. Once the pellet grill is established, the market may bring more people onto the mix. Saving some wsm sales to new enthusiasts. Either way I am glad Weber is moving forward. As stated above, if they did not it could be a mistake.
I know the SmokeFire is billed as a do-it-all and that is good for sales, but I do not hold it to that. Sure use it to sear and cook, but I will be very happy if it just produces reliable bbq! A wood oven automatic brisket ticket.
Thanks
 
I will be attempting to make this an all-in-one grill for me. I do not have the space for multiple grills on my patio. I convinced my wife to let me go for an ex6 but need to wait for my 40th bday in April. April feels like a very very long time from now!!!

I noticed a person on a different forum talking about charcoal pellets that are made by Pit Boss. I feel like that could be very useful with the Smokefire for high heat searing (if it works).
 
Matt Q said:
I noticed a person on a different forum talking about charcoal pellets that are made by Pit Boss. I feel like that could be very useful with the Smokefire for high heat searing (if it works).
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In one of Harry Soo's videos about the SmokeFire, he made a point of saying that Weber had designed the width of ash slots in the firepot to be compatible with other brands of pellets. Yet while reading the Owner's Manual, I noticed that Weber says only Weber pellets should be used in SmokeFire. I'm sure it will be fine to use other brands, but...
 
Wow, I think it would be a HUGE mistake to make a grill that would not run well on any other quality pellets.
 
Matt Q said:
I noticed a person on a different forum talking about charcoal pellets that are made by Pit Boss. I feel like that could be very useful with the Smokefire for high heat searing (if it works).
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I have not seen the Pit Boss charcoal pellets in my stores, but I ordered a package of Smoke Daddy’s version. Seem like a very quality oriented company. My Rec Tec does fine with their house brand, Lumberjack, CookinPellets.com and these Smoke Daddy pellets. I am sure the Smoke Fire will as well. I pretty much discount Weber’s comment in the manual, except that it does give them an out if someone has a problem while using cheap pellets.

The Smoke Daddy charcoal pellets are recommended for adding as a blend to regular wood pellets. I suppose you could use 100%, but Smoke Daddy doesn’t suggest that. I find when blended that they add a greater charcoal impression but are not overpowering.

I am eagerly waiting to at least try a couple Weber pellet types.
 
Bruce said:
Wow, I think it would be a HUGE mistake to make a grill that would not run well on any other quality pellets.
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There have been a couple of questions about this on Amazon and the responses have been inconsistent. One response stated that they don’t recommend other pellets due to varying sizes in pellets and a second response said they couldn’t recommend the pellets because their performance testing was done with only Weber pellets.
 
I was looking into the Augur design...and wondering if they lifted any of it (or licensed it) from Ravelli, an Italian pellet stove manufacturer. I have a ravelli pellet stove and the augur design (knock on compressed wood pellets) doesn't clog AND the pellet hopper never needs to be vacuumed out because of the vertical augur design also lifting the pellet dust and dropping it into the burn pot. BTW Ravelli Rv100 is an amazing pellet stove..
 
Someone linked a Podcast with Weber Pitmaster involved in the development of Smokefire. He was asked about pellets and said. While we would like you to use Weber Pellets, any pellet will work in the Smokefire. The Pellet Grill companies I've looked at recommend their brand of pellets and, like Weber, a pellet fuel company makes their branded pellets.

Pit Boss pellets are carried by Lowes and that's all I use. I use the Competition Blend and that's their cheapest. I never thought I could get too much smoke on Jerky but I came close with the Camp Chef after a 6 hour smoke. My daughter who likes tasting smoke on her meat tried the Jerky and her first comment was "WOW that's smokey" and recommended a little less next time. I credit that to the Rec Tec wifi controller and that shows me that the industry can get more smoke flavor but it takes an investment on their part.
 
Lew Newby said:
Someone linked a Podcast with Weber Pitmaster involved in the development of Smokefire.
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If your interested in the SmokeFire the interview was VERY informative. BBQ central from 11-20, thanks to John Tofte for posting about it. I’m pretty confident in my purchase at this point and can’t wait to try it out. I’ll have to find a good way to post pics between now and then as I’m done with photobucket.
 
Well I pulled the trigger on an Amazon exclusive Camp Chef, if you go to Camp Chef’s web site you won’t find it, you have to do a search to have it come up on their web site and they tell you it’s an Amazon only. PG24MZG.
This unit will hit 600 degrees like the Weber they call their version Slide & Grill Technology.
This will fit the needs we have. After all was said and done it was less than half of the Weber’s cost. Yes I would have liked to get the Weber but those saved dollars will be used for other needs we have. Selling my surplus grills and smokers this spring should more than cover the cost of the Camp Chef.
That was the agreement that I made with the Finance Minister/War Department (Barb) that I could get it now and sell the others in the spring when it will be a lot easier…..I hope.
My next issue is getting the beast assembled at 133 pounds the box is a pain to move, but at least I got them to put in the garage for me and most of you know my aversion to cold, so it may be awhile as my garage at 1pm was 29 degrees.

And yes Chris, I used the forum link to Amazon. :)

Yesterday a big 'ol truck dropped off my new toy.

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[/url]100_5450 by Richard Dahl, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Rich,
I think you made a very well thought out choice for what you are wanting to accomplish. I hope it will be an all year long grill in compliance with your area's fire restrictions.

I also think your financing plan and moderate downsizing make sense, even if my crazy interests keep pointing me to "just one more" opportunity. If anybody around here needs to reduce their excess, I am certainly at or near the front of the line:rolleyes:! At least having a workspace is starting to make a difference for me. I hope you can still keep a few cool Webers around, though. The 1985 you picked up is a VERY special grill for sure.

Look forward to seeing how your early Christmas present does in actual use, especially the 600 degree part. Do post some pictures for us!
 
Rich:
If it is like mine, it was very well packed. I got the SG24M and added the shelf. It was easy to put together. Said you needed 2 people to invert it to add the legs, but I put legs on one side and it added a leverage point to get it inverted to add the other 2 legs. Just make sure the lid doesn't flip up when you do it. I had one bent part (flange on stack), but it pulled in flush with the bolts. Only other wrinkle was mounting the pellet lid. I dropped the screws in the hopper and needed to use my retrieval tool to get them
back. I did the burn in, but have not yet done a cook. Ash dump and pellet dump works pretty slick which were the main selling points for me. This will supplement my sidewinder. Don't know if I will ever use the grill feature.
 
The camp chef looks real nice, looking forward to seeing how it works out and what you guys cook. Nice to see your wife involved with the cooking and the forum.
 
Dan Leighton said:
Rich:
If it is like mine, it was very well packed. I got the SG24M and added the shelf. It was easy to put together. Said you needed 2 people to invert it to add the legs, but I put legs on one side and it added a leverage point to get it inverted to add the other 2 legs. Just make sure the lid doesn't flip up when you do it. I had one bent part (flange on stack), but it pulled in flush with the bolts. Only other wrinkle was mounting the pellet lid. I dropped the screws in the hopper and needed to use my retrieval tool to get them
back. I did the burn in, but have not yet done a cook. Ash dump and pellet dump works pretty slick which were the main selling points for me. This will supplement my sidewinder. Don't know if I will ever use the grill feature.
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Not sure how the grilling feature works and after all the incentives it wasn't much more than those without it, plus it came with the shelf and two temperature probes. With six mavericks I really don't need the Wi-Fi. It was funny we opened the box and like you said it is well packed. Barb walks over to the freezer and gets out a 15 pound brisket and places it on the top of the dome. She then say's "it fits so it's a keeper" I think she is more excited than I am about it.
 
Congrats, Barb & Rich! I hope the assembly goes smoothly and I'm a believer that it will perform well for you.
 
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