SmokeFire issues on YouTube.


 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I don't like the idea of the low vent. I guess it can work, but I've had a food out of a reverse flow insulated cabinet smoker where the smoke has to go down to go up and it tasted like an ashtray. That's a system that already has low airflow, though. A pellet smoker should move air pretty well with that fan either way I'd think.
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Dustin, Cant comment on cabinet smokers. Sometimes you get what you pay for. but on the Hasty Bake you learn early on to use a great charcoal & very little wood. And you can rival a stick burner. I know as I have one of those too. Also I do all of my Bobs Bacon on the Hasty Bake. Because I can keep the temp @ 150-160. Open the side door add a small chunk of wood every hour or so. And then the bacon comes out perfect. No ash tray to it. And that's with the exhaust vents 7/8 closed. Sometimes you just have to learn your unit. And like I said they have had the same design since 1948, so they are doing something right. By the way Meat Head rates the Hasty Bake as his favorite smoker. So people who know what they are doing the low vent does work.
Russ
 
russ olin said:
I don't agree that having the air vent below the grate is nonsense at all.
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I don't know, you may be right Russ. But when I read marketing blurbs like this one from Traeger about Traeger Downdraft Exhaust, my first thought is "nonsense."

DOWNDRAFT EXHAUST®
Old smoke is cold smoke. By forcing old smoke to exit below where you food is cooked, Traeger is ensuring you get the best Hardwood Flavor in every meal. Downdraft Exhaust® gives you precision control of smoke output, while simultaneously increasing the penetration of smoke into your food, for unrivaled wood-fired flavor.

Old smoke. Cold smoke. Precision control of smoke output. Increasing penetration of smoke into meat. I don't know...
 

Guess in the next few weeks we will see if the early adopters can figure out all the quirks. In any case, this doesn't seem to be the smoothest roll out.
 
J Grotz said:
Russ, how does the Hastybake work as a charcoal grill?
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Actually its a outstanding charcoal grill also. Because you have the ability to move the charcoal right up under the grate or lower it down about a foot.
Which allows you to have great temp control at the grate. If you want higher temps you just open the top & give it a little more air or open the side door a jar for more air. You can even move the charcoals when you are in smoker mode. they are nice units with a cult following esp in Oklahoma where they are made. I know I wont be giving mine up. Even the wife can/will use it.
 
Chris Allingham said:
I don't know, you may be right Russ. But when I read marketing blurbs like this one from Traeger about Traeger Downdraft Exhaust, my first thought is "nonsense."

DOWNDRAFT EXHAUST®
Old smoke is cold smoke. By forcing old smoke to exit below where you food is cooked, Traeger is ensuring you get the best Hardwood Flavor in every meal. Downdraft Exhaust® gives you precision control of smoke output, while simultaneously increasing the penetration of smoke into your food, for unrivaled wood-fired flavor.

Old smoke. Cold smoke. Precision control of smoke output. Increasing penetration of smoke into meat. I don't know...
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That does resemble gobbledygook .
 
I will just say again that I am not ready to throw in the towel on the SmokeFire. Some of the negative comments, I think, are partly due to such high expectations. It’s not a $2,400 grill. But for its price range it looks like a nice one to me, sloppy caulk (that isn’t seen and doesn’t affect anything) not withstanding. I think the software issues are a direct result of aiming too high while trying to meet self-imposed deadlines. Given time, they can - and I believe will - be resolved.

The hopper issue is definitely a bummer and must have some basis since it is being reported by a number of users. I don’t know enough to understand why this is happening. I have yet to see a real SmokeFire in person since none of the Lowe’s anywhere around me have gotten one yet, and they keep pushing back the date.

I have to do a thorough cleaning of my Rec Tec soon. I hope to post some pictures and maybe video for people here to contrast it with the SmokeFire. I will focus on the hopper, grease and ash management and overall construction. The Rec Tec has performed just about flawlessly for me, but it won’t do reverse sear steaks like we saw in the video above.
 
Jon, I was ready to throw in the towel and order a rec tec from Amazon. The RT-700 looks awesome. How does the ash cleaning work on that one?

I think the SmokeFire has plenty of hope to be a great smoker, it definitely is a monster of a grill.

FWIW I need a brisket making machine.
 
Bruno,
I like my Rec Tec very much, but I think once you get past the teething problems you are also going to be happy with that stylish SmokeFire.

The Rec Tec has a solid stainless steel shield that covers almost the entire grill between the firepot and grates. The firepot has another stainless shield under that. I have had almost no ash ever get up and onto my food. I do clean it after every second or third cook, depending on what I was grilling. There is a fine dusting of ash underneath the shield. I would bet that if I let that accumulate it would start blowing up and onto my food. The grease seasoning the grill develops is enough to hold a couple cooks worth of ash.

The grease runs down the large shield (which I cover with foil as Rec a Tec recommends). It drains into a bucket, like most other pellet grills. I line the bucket with Pit Boss foil liners I get at Lowe’s. The pain is if you forget the bucket and it rains - or you try to put on the cover with it still on - you have a mess to deal with. Weber’s enclosed tray is a lot neater if it works as they say it will.
 
Watching in that video about how the pellets don't slide down the hopper toward the auger...wondering if this is an EX6 problem and not an EX4 problem. Can someone measure the slope of the bins in each model? Maybe the EX4's is steeper.
 
Weber PR say they had to try to make grease fires deliberately. Others make grease fires just by using the product normally. Interesting. Among other things.
 
I cooked 12 sausages and realized this thing needs drip pans. This is going to be interesting, I wish Amazing Ribs would do a big test on this. It could possibly come up as unusable and then what would Weber do?
 
Everyday BBQ is a channel I like on YouTube he just posted his SmokeFire video, couldn’t watch it all yet but it is another negative review.

 
Chris Allingham said:
Watching in that video about how the pellets don't slide down the hopper toward the auger...wondering if this is an EX6 problem and not an EX4 problem. Can someone measure the slope of the bins in each model? Maybe the EX4's is steeper.
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Maybe we need some non-chloric silicon-based kitchen lubricant that Griswold's company developed. It creates a surface 500 times more slippery than cooking oil!

griswold sled.jpg
 
Matt Q said:
Newest video from Baby Back Maniac... not good
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i mean it sucks that the smoker is not working for him, but not as much as this guys videos. he just rambles on and on about nothing. that should be a 10-15min video. i put it on as background noise just to listen to it, i couldn't image someone actually watching it.
 
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