New Weber pellet grills for 2020


 
I belong to a Pentax camera forum.
A friend/member there, from New Zealand, is a Weber charcoal grill enthusiast too.
When I told him Weber is coming out with a pellet grill he said this:
"Pellet pooper! The Weber Rabbit. Defecating in stores near you soon.
I think I'll pass."
It takes some of us a little time to adjust to the times. :)


 
Traeger, I believe, started the pellet grill revolution. The story I understand is the same sad one we have discussed here about other companies. Started out making them here in the US, but now outsourced to China. Complaints by some of sagging quality. Their newest models look very sharp and have what seem like some great new features. Plenty of fans but a number of detractors citing various flaws. There are quite a few players now, so Weber has some catching up to do. If they have a good auger, solid electronics and use stainless as much as possible, I think they can make a big splash. But if the reviews come back with middling quality and wonky electronics, then they may find an uphill fight.
 
Traeger does seem like one that everyone measures themselves against. Not to say they are the best, but they seem to be what Weber is to coal burns as Traeger is to Pellet grills.

I will be interested to see where this goes, but most likely it will be from the outside looking in.
 
LMichaels said:
I want to know more about the high heat St Louis Ribs screw the grill :D
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Here you go Larry. I'm still tweaking it a little but the last three cooks have been spot on.
Remember I'm cooking at 5300 Ft so your temps and times may have to be adjusted a little.
Haven't tried it on a gasser yet but will the next time I make them.

High Heat St Louis Spares on the Performer

Ingredients.

Rack of Swifts premium St. Louis spares
Rub of your choice (I use Weber’s original dry rub or my own)
Half a cup of apple cider or apple juice
Tin foil to wrap the ribs.
Smoke wood of your choice (I use cherry and apple)
BBQ sauce if using

Directions

Season the ribs and let rest in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 hours.

Start with a fully lit large chimney of KBB on one side of the performer. You’re looking for a dome temperature around 375- 400.
Place the ribs bone side down indirect. Close lid and let cook for 75-80 minutes.

Remove ribs and place in foil add ½ cup of apple cider and seal well.
Leave in foil indirect for 40 minutes.

Remove from foil and sauce if you are using sauce and place indirect for 15 minutes or until sauce sets.

Let the ribs rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
 
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Bruce said:
Traeger does seem like one that everyone measures themselves against. Not to say they are the best, but they seem to be what Weber is to coal burns as Traeger is to Pellet grills.

I will be interested to see where this goes, but most likely it will be from the outside looking in.
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Bruce,
Traeger May have been first and the best known name because of that, but they are not the best. That title probably goes to MAK or Yoder, although you will definitely pay to be in that league. There may be another high end or two I don’t know about. Dropping back to the middle of the road there are a number of decent brands and some models that are kind of thin and use lower grade materials. I am really hoping Weber didn’t go that route.

I would not compare my Rec Tec to Yoder or MAK for durability, but my hat goes off to the two guys who own Rec TEC and who are passionate about their product and are continually improving it. I think Rec Tec is a leader in the mid-price range for the quality of their electronics, design features, use of stainless steel instead of cheaper metal, and most importantly their superb customer service. The owners give you their cell phone numbers! Check out their website and their YouTube videos, especially the ones where they compare their grill to other brands.
 
Right. I agree Jon. But just like Weber, they are not the best, but just the baseline that everyone else is compared to....better or worse.
 
Jon, Which Rec Tec do you have? I went to their web site and was quite impressed. For the two of us the smaller RT340 would be fine, about the same size as the earlier Genesis gassers.
 
FWIW, I had dropped Rec Tec an email 2 or 3 months ago asking if the 340 was the same build quality, metal types, thicknesses and such, as the 700, I was told that it is.

I'll be in Augusta this winter, plan on stopping by their shop and looking them over.
 
One thing I thought about, is how well will these electronic boards, fans, fare sitting outside all year long?
Even with a cover your still dealing with moisture, extreme cold ( in some cases) dust dirt etc..

Tim
 
BobJ said:
FWIW, I had dropped Rec Tec an email 2 or 3 months ago asking if the 340 was the same build quality, metal types, thicknesses and such, as the 700, I was told that it is.

I'll be in Augusta this winter, plan on stopping by their shop and looking them over.
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I came very close to pulling the trigger on a 340 early in the summer. I fixed/modded my WSM 22 instead. It's my understanding that pellet smokers don't generate as much smokey flavor as smokers unless cooking at super low temps. But man, those Rec Tecs sure look nice.
 
Based on Jon's post about rec tec and several videos I've watched, I am very impressed with them. If Weber is getting in, they need to have the features and quality. Unfortunately, the RT-700 has features that the 340 doesn't like the shorter rear feed auger. Also, for the amount of smoking vs. grilling we do, the price point for the 700 looks to be unjustified for us. I'd looked at Camp Chef and Traeger grills, and was much more impressed with the Camp Chef features like ash cleanout and pellet removal. The electronics there also seemed better than Traeger. I share Timothy's concerns about the electronics. While not that much of an issue here in Las Vegas, it is still a concern. For now, unless someone has a big sale that gets a model I want in a price range my pension can handle, my Genesis will stay as our smoker.
 
I agree with Dan the RT340 is about the same size as the earlier genesis 340 sq. in for the rt340 and 350 sq.in. for the genesis. For us that would be ideal. The price point seems right also.
We are on a tight budget and just had to buy a new freezer so we will have to wait a little while. That will also give me some time to do more research.
Although Barb can handle any of our ten Weber's she is warming up to the idea of the simplicity of the pellet grills. Also the promise of going from ten down to five grills and giving our small back yard a little more room.
I have a suspicion that once Weber introduces their pellet grill you might see some sales from the other makers to get a bigger piece of the market share. With Weber being a well known and trusted product they might take a big bite out of the pellet grill sales.
 
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I actually have the RT-700 “Bull”. I got it because the prior owner was selling it off at a great deal after only a few uses due to job relocation. It is bigger than my family needs but I do cooks for groups, so being able to do 8 or 10 racks of ribs or a bunch of pork shoulders is definitely very nice. The smaller versions are also great pellet grills. I am not as sold on their one that looks like a kettle.
 
Not sure why, but I have not seen the attraction to a pellet grill. Think I will stick with my WSM and kettles.
 
Bob H. said:
Not sure why, but I have not seen the attraction to a pellet grill. Think I will stick with my WSM and kettles.
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Bob,

I can see that. For me, I like that I can do real low and slow BBQ even when my work and life hassles would normally make that impossible. Also, I genuinely LIKE the results and experimenting with different pellets. I will say again, though, I still love my kettles (and Green Egg) and do enjoy doing it the traditional way when time is on my side. I have also used a kettle AND my Rec Tec at the same time to prepare multiple meats when the temperature requirements were different.

My Rec Tec makes burgers that taste very good, just take a little longer. For steak, I have started with "pre-cooking" them on the Rec Tec but I finish on my Weber gas grill. The Rec Tec can't deliver real high-heat searing. Weber apparently is claiming 600 degrees which is 100 more than my Rec Tec can do. That will be interesting to find out more about. It could open up more high-heat grilling, although I still don't see bypassing my gas grills all that often.

I suppose a pellet grill that can do low and slow and also searing high heat COULD be a person's "one grill does it all" solution, but for the low price of a used Genesis (and the fun of restoring) and similarly used kettles, I can't see a good reason to not have and use them as well.

Jon
 
Bob H. said:
Not sure why, but I have not seen the attraction to a pellet grill. Think I will stick with my WSM and kettles.
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I totally get where you're coming from there Bob, and about a year or two ago I would totally agree. Fast forward to the mid-spring of this year and my mind has changed. Not because I love pellet grills, but because of how busy the last few years have been and how little time I've had to get my WSM and kettles fired up (especially for longer cooks). That's why when my father-in-law started downsizing I volunteered to give his pellet grill a new home.

Now that I've got a few cooks under my belt, I'm still not convinced I can produce food with it that meet my standards. Again, whenever I talk about my personal experience cooking with a pellet grill I feel obliged to point out that I don't have a high-end unit. As such there may be subtle (and/or not so subtle) differences in grill performance and thus the final product. That being said, now after a few months of ownership, I think the pellet grill has the potential to become my weekday quick cooker/outdoor oven.

What I mean is in the dead of summer when I don't want to use the oven to fix the kids a frozen pizza, I can crank up the traeger throw in a pizza stone, and keep the house cool. Or my wife/I can "bake" chicken in it, "grill" some burgers and dogs on a weekday when I'm running late after work, roast some veggies... basically anything that doesn't require direct heat. However, my WSM will remain my primary smoker and as long as I have the time (both to plan and execute) I'll likely rely on my kettles for my true grilling.

That's exactly what I did on my last cook. Overnight brisket on the WSM, corn on the cob on my 22" OTG, and crammed a foil pan full of taters, onions, carrots, etc. along with another pan crammed with brussel sprouts into the traeger to roast while the guests arrived and being social.

Bottom line, at this point anyway, the pellet grill will just be another tool in my arsenal of outdoor cookers.
 
I belong to a couple of brand specific motorcycle forum sites. The same discussions happen there, and I suspect anywhere there are groups of enthusiasts that gather to discuss their passions.

Speaking personally, I can't wait to see what Weber has to offer. Although just like my passion for motorcycles, my budget (read: spouse) and my physical space limit me to what I can actually own, I am fascinated by all of it though.

I would equate the motorcycle equivalents of grilling evolution to this: carburetors to EFI (charcoal/wood to gas), linked ABS brakes (constant probe temperature monitoring), DCT/auto transmissions (pellet grills).
 
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