New Weber pellet grills for 2020


 
Rich,
We will be looking forward to your first cook experiences, with pictures, of course! I think you made a good choice for the parameters you set. You are also blessed to be in Rustfree, AZ so that issue which would concern me here in Rustaway, FL isn't one for you to worry about. I think the Weber is a great choice for someone who was ready to splurge on a Traeger Ironwood (or REALLY splurge on a Traeger Timberline). I think Weber's SmokeFire offers a lot more and is a great value in that price level - and a lot LESS than the Timberline. But just like we have been discussing about thermometers over on the gas grill section, sometimes a really great product isn't cost effective for every user. With an arsenal of gas and charcoal grills like you have, you don't really need a thousand dollar pellet grill.

p.s. Do you know for sure yet if you can use a pellet grill during your fire season?
 
I was reading the instructions manual, it states that you should use a water pan inside the fire box for longer cooks. I know that many pellet smokers use water pans but I don’t think it will be included with the grill. Does anyone have experience with pellet smokers and know what you can use as a water pan? Are there generic ones that you can buy?
 
Jon Tofte said:
Rich,

p.s. Do you know for sure yet if you can use a pellet grill during your fire season?
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I did talk to one of the people that is on the board that makes those kind of decisions and he said that they were still studying how the pellet grills work and so far they don't see any reason to ban them. The chance of hot ash or embers escaping is pretty remote although they will require adult supervision just like gas grills when in use.
The final decision will probably be made in March or April.
I pulled the trigger in part for winter use so I don't have to run back and forth adjusting the vents on the WSM when doing long cooks and getting chilled and taking hours to warm back up. It was worth it just for that.
Right now it's 16 degrees outside with 15-20 mph winds, perfect smoking weather :p
 
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Timothy F. Lewis said:
My brother and I built a 13 foot Adirondack guide boat in his basement but did realize that had we done the planking we would not be able to get it out so we ended up taking out a post at the bottom of the stairs and carefully got the ribbed frame out, then quickly reinstalled the post! You have no idea how close we were to begin the planking!
Dodged a bullet on that!
Glad that no door frames had to come out to get your smoker out Rich!
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The dad of a friend of mine I grew up with (he was an old school tool and die maker a true craftsmen) used to build boats in his basement. I recall him building a small cabin cruiser fully in the basement (small meaning around 21'). He did the entire build, fitting, pegging, screwing and numbering each piece of wood (teak or mahogany IIRC), then carefully disassembled it and carefully rebuilt it again on a trailer in their garage. He made every metal piece on it as well. Every badge, cleat and so on. The guy was a craftsmen like I never knew before or since. When my friend's older brother had wanted an electric train............yep you guessed it. He bought some American Flyer track (for reference size) and made an entire set out of brass. That set of trains is not in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago BTW
 
Rich Dahl said:
I did talk to one of the people that is on the board that makes those kind of decisions and he said that they were still studying how the pellet grills work and so far they don't see any reason to ban them. The chance of hot ash or embers escaping is pretty remote although they will require adult supervision just like gas grills when in use.
The final decision will probably be made in March or April.
I pulled the trigger in part for winter use so I don't have to run back and forth adjusting the vents on the WSM when doing long cooks and getting chilled and taking hours to warm back up. It was worth it just for that.
Right now it's 16 degrees outside with 15-20 mph winds, perfect smoking weather :p
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Rich,
I cant believe they have the right to ban ALL charcoal grills. Its a bunch of BS. It should be on a case to case basis. If a person has a back yard that's cleaned up with no weeds, a good hose & water source. And has a heavy 1st class charcoal grill such as my M1 they should be allowed to use it. My M1 weighs 350 lbs. Combination grill/stick burner and there is no way its going to start a fire using charcoal in the grill. If I lived down there they would just have to catch me. Then I'd hire a good lawyer & we'd see. I could understand banning light weight cheaper grills. The ones that the ashes just fall through & hit a metal plate underneath are on the dangerous side. But a heavy charcoal grill where all sealed up where the ashes stay inside is safer than any propane or pellet grill. Fire gets going, what happens when it gets to that propane bottle? Oh just a bomb waiting to blow. Some restrictions just go to far. On my back deck with the wind wall they would never know what grill I'm grilling with anyway. So hopefully that never comes our way. I'm sure in the end you will be able to use your pellet grill. Can see no reason why not. Any way that's my 2cents worth. By the way its 11* firing up the M1 stick burner to do a nice rib roast. Cold weather is great to smoke in. I can run the wood fire hotter that way. Suppose to be cold all week. No way will I miss a day. Keep BBQ'n & chilling.
Regards,
Russ & Debby
 
russ olin said:
Rich,
I cant believe they have the right to ban ALL charcoal grills. Its a bunch of BS. It should be on a case to case basis. If a person has a back yard that's cleaned up with no weeds, a good hose & water source. And has a heavy 1st class charcoal grill such as my M1 they should be allowed to use it. My M1 weighs 350 lbs. Combination grill/stick burner and there is no way its going to start a fire using charcoal in the grill. If I lived down there they would just have to catch me. Then I'd hire a good lawyer & we'd see. I could understand banning light weight cheaper grills. The ones that the ashes just fall through & hit a metal plate underneath are on the dangerous side. But a heavy charcoal grill where all sealed up where the ashes stay inside is safer than any propane or pellet grill. Fire gets going, what happens when it gets to that propane bottle? Oh just a bomb waiting to blow. Some restrictions just go to far. On my back deck with the wind wall they would never know what grill I'm grilling with anyway. So hopefully that never comes our way. I'm sure in the end you will be able to use your pellet grill. Can see no reason why not. Any way that's my 2cents worth. By the way its 11* firing up the M1 stick burner to do a nice rib roast. Cold weather is great to smoke in. I can run the wood fire hotter that way. Suppose to be cold all week. No way will I miss a day. Keep BBQ'n & chilling.
Regards,
Russ & Debby
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Russ,
I think it boils down too they don't have the personal to check and certify everyone's personal grill. I really don't have a problem with it. Even though someone might be in an environment that would be safe such as you described, a hot ash can travel a long distance and start a fire. We are completely surrounded by grasslands that get explosive in the summer.
It's not just charcoal grills it's weed eaters, firepits, campfires, weed burners, welders, tiki torches any thing that could start a fire.
If you remember a couple of years ago we had a grass fire here and Barb and I walked to the end of our street and watched peoples homes burn too the ground less than a 1/4 mile from our home. It started at about 11am and by 12:30 it had burned 1800 acres of grass land on the ranch next to us and into our development, that's how explosive it can be.
Better safe than sorry.
Rich

Sorry Chris I'll tap the brake.
 
I suggest everyone thinking of moving to a new home in the future research the Condo/homeowners associations and and any other set of regulations that could limit their use of the property. I understand not wanting a dump of a neighborhood, but those outfits go way to far much of the time. We have all seen the stories of Veterans no being allowed to have an American Flag in his own yard. All I am saying is don't go in blind and make sure that if there is an association that you participate and keep tabs on what they are doing.
 
I will just hope that pellet grills will be an answer for Rich and others where fire hazard is so serious that it has to be regulated. If pellet grills bring safe wood cooking for that time of year, that is just one more positive. Pellet grills do have incidents, although I am convinced the vast majority are due mostly to failure to clean properly and occasionally to operator error.

Gas, pellet, charcoal...you do need to be careful. You might remember my Skyline's loose burner almost starting a disaster on my deck. I have read some other stories here about charcoal embers falling on decks. So, you can't be too careful working with fire:eek:!
 
I just looked at the Smokefire on Amazon "will be released 1/25/20" and Lowes "Estimated to ship by 01/14/2020". The retailers are not singing the same song but they both have a January shipping date. We just have to wait and see and look forward to the first user reports. I hope Lowes has the right date.
 
The way this thing is going, I would be skeptical of any claim of a set shipping date. I have a feeling that the actual shipping date hasn't been released by Weber yet and the sellers claiming a date are just trying to get as many signed up as possible before hand. They know they can keep extending it and not lose anyone as long as it doesn't become available anywhere else in the mean time.
Even after it does start shipping, my guess is that most of those who have pre-ordered will keep getting bumped back until Weber can get enough in the system to cover all of their retailers. Weber can't afford to favor one or two retailers or they risk alienating the others.
 
Bruce said:
The way this thing is going, I would be skeptical of any claim of a set shipping date. I have a feeling that the actual shipping date hasn't been released by Weber yet and the sellers claiming a date are just trying to get as many signed up as possible before hand. They know they can keep extending it and not lose anyone as long as it doesn't become available anywhere else in the mean time.
Even after it does start shipping, my guess is that most of those who have pre-ordered will keep getting bumped back until Weber can get enough in the system to cover all of their retailers. Weber can't afford to favor one or two retailers or they risk alienating the others.
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Some people stated that they called Lowe’s after some of the orders weren’t showing up online and they were told that the Smokefire was scheduled to ship from the manufacturer on January 3rd. I emailed Weber to ask if they had a date where they were going to start shipping and they responded that there was no set date but the Smokefires are scheduled to ship in mid to late January.
 
Don't shoot the messenger here but I asked a salesperson at Home Depot when they were going to get the new Weber SmokeFire in he said "what's a SmokeFire?" Now this guy works in the garden dept. and has been there for years. After I explained what the SmokeFire was he told me they probably won't be carrying it. He also said that they weren't going to be carrying as many of the Weber's as in the past, mostly the smaller grills and charcoal models due to the lackluster sales the last two years.
So maybe that's why HD wasn't on the pre sale list.
 
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Rich Dahl said:
Don't shoot the messenger here but I asked a salesperson at Home Depot when they were going to get the new Weber SmokeFire in he said "what's a SmokeFire? Now this guy works in the garden dept. and has been there for years. After I explained what the SmokeFire was he told me they probably won't be carrying it. He also said that they weren't going to be carrying as many of the Weber's as in the past, mostly the smaller grills and charcoal models due to the lackluster sales the last two years.
So maybe that's why HD wasn't on the pre sale list
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I think Weber has an exclusive contract with amazon and Lowe’s, that only allows them to sell the Smokefire to them and smaller retailers.
 
Well, I’ve voiced my opinion of HD before and I will let that dog die.
If I’m lucky I may have the luxury of being a guest for Super Bowl (I generally have a less congenial name for it), it would be nice to have someone cook for me once in a while!
 
Bruce said:
I agree if you are able to stand over them the whole time and give them "suggestions".
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Well, you saw right through it didn’t you? Or else sit on my duff and complain when dinner comes to the table!

That’s it, I’m making a Madison visit to fight back in person buddy!
Happy New Year!

Sorry Chris, “I’m just going to leave this here” might have been a more appropriate thread for this but...
“Bruce started it, Dad!”
I’m going back to my corner now.
 
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Lew Newby said:
I just looked at the Smokefire on Amazon "will be released 1/25/20" and Lowes "Estimated to ship by 01/14/2020". The retailers are not singing the same song but they both have a January shipping date. We just have to wait and see and look forward to the first user reports. I hope Lowes has the right date.
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I don't think there is an official date. To be honest, I am pretty surprised. I would think they would have sent a few to Youtubers for some free advertising by now as well. It won't matter a few months from now, but my anticipation is pretty high.
 
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