Thin blue smoke from Smokefire, is this impossible?


 
Joseph K said:
Hi Chuck, yes, finally I got it working. I had to struggle quite a bit. The problem was that the reset instruction was missing an important piece of information. Unless you do this important step, I realized that the connection will not happen and the controller will show the frozen screen. That important step is that you need to disconnect from the grill first and then reconnect. If one does not disconnect from the previous connection (on your Weber connect app on your phone) to the grill, this connection will prohibit the new connection request coming from the factory resetted grill. I hope this makes sense. The situation is like this. From your phone you already have a connection to your grill. However, that connected grill is trying to connect since it is now newly resetted. So, the previous connection, which is bogus now is blocking the new connection because it is coming from a grill which you already have connection with. There should be software workaround for this but for now, we have to live with an extra step to enable this factory reset process.

Lew and Darian, perhaps we should keep this information somewhere so that whoever needs to reset in the future does not have to go through the trouble. I spent whole day trying to figure out what is going on and was not able to test the grill. Will do that tomorrow. BTW, it has come out of recovery mode and the sw is updated.
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I will be as pissed as you if all this work does not produce food you are happy with.
But I’m happy all the cleaning and resets are completed.
 
Joseph K said:
Hi Chuck, yes, finally I got it working. I had to struggle quite a bit. The problem was that the reset instruction was missing an important piece of information. Unless you do this important step, I realized that the connection will not happen and the controller will show the frozen screen. That important step is that you need to disconnect from the grill first and then reconnect. If one does not disconnect from the previous connection (on your Weber connect app on your phone) to the grill, this connection will prohibit the new connection request coming from the factory resetted grill. I hope this makes sense. The situation is like this. From your phone you already have a connection to your grill. However, that connected grill is trying to connect since it is now newly resetted. So, the previous connection, which is bogus now is blocking the new connection because it is coming from a grill which you already have connection with. There should be software workaround for this but for now, we have to live with an extra step to enable this factory reset process.

Lew and Darian, perhaps we should keep this information somewhere so that whoever needs to reset in the future does not have to go through the trouble. I spent whole day trying to figure out what is going on and was not able to test the grill. Will do that tomorrow. BTW, it has come out of recovery mode and the sw is updated.
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My Son, the computer Geek, agrees that disconnecting and reconnecting is how he got my grill unfrozen. Joseph, I’ll check with Chris and see if I can do a reset write up and get it pinned.
 
Joseph K said:
The problem was that the reset instruction was missing an important piece of information. Unless you do this important step, I realized that the connection will not happen and the controller will show the frozen screen. That important step is that you need to disconnect from the grill first and then reconnect. If one does not disconnect from the previous connection (on your Weber connect app on your phone) to the grill, this connection will prohibit the new connection request coming from the factory resetted grill. I hope this makes sense. The situation is like this. From your phone you already have a connection to your grill. However, that connected grill is trying to connect since it is now newly resetted. So, the previous connection, which is bogus now is blocking the new connection because it is coming from a grill which you already have connection with. There should be software workaround for this but for now, we have to live with an extra step to enable this factory reset process.
Click to expand...
Wow, that's a major important piece of information missing. I applaud your stamina in the effort you've put into fixing your grill. I don't know too many who would have seen it through. I truly hope that doing this reset gets the grill to operate as it should, which is to produce excellent BBQ. Good job Joseph!
 
Joseph K said:
Hi Darian, yes, I test run yesterday but yet to undertake a real test with food. Busy with work. With a very thorough cleaning and sw/fw updates, I think I am having better smell. Hopefully, better smoke, too. Will do some real test over the weekend or over July 4th. Thanks for asking. Will update soon after. (y)
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Hi Darian and All,
So, the verdict after a couple of tests is that I notice a bit of difference in smoke appearance and smell after very thorough cleaning. But, to be honest, not whole a lot. I am thinking it could be the nature of the Smokefire grill with pellets as the fuel. I am also thinking perhaps it is universal for all pellet grills. After all, I am still learning to get to know how to operate this grill... My journey continues. Thank you again, All. Thanks, Chris for having this amazing site. I will be back with my questions and findings.
 
Yeah when pellet grills start off they're like a cold diesel engine. Lots of smoke. Also best not when starting to have the lid down. Sometimes as you might see happen in documentaries about house fires. There is a "flashover" of all that heavy smoke when the pot finally "kicks off". Just about 45 min ago, I was prepping my Z Grill for an early am start to a pork roast I am making for my dad today. Air was quite still and a little damp. Given the amount of smoke you would have thought I was Canada. But, once you hear the pot "light off" (afterburner) that will clear and you will have nice clean smoke. Close the lid, stabilize temps and throw on the goodies.
Wood is wood. Whether compressed into pellets or cut into splits. The burn characteristic is the same.
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah when pellet grills start off they're like a cold diesel engine. Lots of smoke. Also best not when starting to have the lid down. Sometimes as you might see happen in documentaries about house fires. There is a "flashover" of all that heavy smoke when the pot finally "kicks off". Just about 45 min ago, I was prepping my Z Grill for an early am start to a pork roast I am making for my dad today. Air was quite still and a little damp. Given the amount of smoke you would have thought I was Canada. But, once you hear the pot "light off" (afterburner) that will clear and you will have nice clean smoke. Close the lid, stabilize temps and throw on the goodies.
Wood is wood. Whether compressed into pellets or cut into splits. The burn characteristic is the same.
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Thanks for the tip, Larry.
 
Joseph K said:
Hi Darian and All,
So, the verdict after a couple of tests is that I notice a bit of difference in smoke appearance and smell after very thorough cleaning. But, to be honest, not whole a lot. I am thinking it could be the nature of the Smokefire grill with pellets as the fuel. I am also thinking perhaps it is universal for all pellet grills. After all, I am still learning to get to know how to operate this grill... My journey continues. Thank you again, All. Thanks, Chris for having this amazing site. I will be back with my questions and findings.
Click to expand...
Truth is in the taste of the food. Doesn’t really matter what the smoke looks like. If you still don’t like the taste profile of the food then this chapter is over. You have done all you can do. You gave it a fair shake. If I use decent lump in my Big Green Eggs, I can bake bread with little to no smoke flavor. I have to add wood chunks to get my smoke flavor, more or less to taste. Disadvantage is consistency. My Smokefire is more consistent if my goal is a mild smoke flavor. And when all goes right, it’s just stupid easy.
Bottom line, maybe the Smokefire profile is just not your thing. And that’s OK.
 
Darian Hofer said:
Truth is in the taste of the food. Doesn’t really matter what the smoke looks like. If you still don’t like the taste profile of the food then this chapter is over. You have done all you can do. You gave it a fair shake. If I use decent lump in my Big Green Eggs, I can bake bread with little to no smoke flavor. I have to add wood chunks to get my smoke flavor, more or less to taste. Disadvantage is consistency. My Smokefire is more consistent if my goal is a mild smoke flavor. And when all goes right, it’s just stupid easy.
Bottom line, maybe the Smokefire profile is just not your thing. And that’s OK.
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Perhaps... Thanks, Darian.
 
I’m not an expert in this matter, but after reading through every response in this thread, I can’t help but think it’s your pellets. I understand you’re likely using the Weber brand per their recommendation, however their pellets are made by Lumberjack. That’s not a bad thing, but I would also advise that your grill will work just fine with just about any brand of pellet. Myself, personally I am a big fan of the Jealous Devil brand pellets for use in my EX4. They‘re a hickory, cherry and maple (I think) blend. It’s not as bold and I also found they don’t produce as much smoke as Weber / Lumberjack. (They’re also a smaller diameter pellet, like Weber.) Wonderful flavour profile however.

I would simply suggest trying a different brand of pellet and see if that solves your issue. You may just have a bad batch of pellets on your hands that may have been exposed to some slight moisture. Who knows? It’s worth a shot anyhow.

Whatever you choose, best of luck on your research.
 
If you have a Costco or Sam's membership they have excellent store brand pellets (Member's Mark or Kirkland) at VERY good pricing and IMO they're excellent pellets. The flavor profile, quantity and quality of smoke are exactly what I had hoped for from my pellet cookers.
 
Bradley Mack said:
I’m not an expert in this matter, but after reading through every response in this thread, I can’t help but think it’s your pellets. I understand you’re likely using the Weber brand per their recommendation, however their pellets are made by Lumberjack. That’s not a bad thing, but I would also advise that your grill will work just fine with just about any brand of pellet. Myself, personally I am a big fan of the Jealous Devil brand pellets for use in my EX4. They‘re a hickory, cherry and maple (I think) blend. It’s not as bold and I also found they don’t produce as much smoke as Weber / Lumberjack. (They’re also a smaller diameter pellet, like Weber.) Wonderful flavour profile however.

I would simply suggest trying a different brand of pellet and see if that solves your issue. You may just have a bad batch of pellets on your hands that may have been exposed to some slight moisture. Who knows? It’s worth a shot anyhow.

Whatever you choose, best of luck on your research.
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Hi Bradley, I am kind of leaning towards that direction as well. The thing is, I bought so many of them. I bought 25 bags of them (Hickory and Grillmaster) before Lowes were closing down on them. Simply because people have been posting complaints about having trouble using other brands of pellets and also difficulties in finding Weber branded pellets. Perhaps, I should try different flavors/brands as well. Do I think mine were exposed to moisture? Perhaps... but, maybe not. They were stored in the garage in plastic containers sealed. If there were exposed, is there any way to test and/or cure them? When I open and use mine, they snap cleanly and easily and observe no evidence of moisture. I recall seeing folks on Youtube microwaving their pellets. I am not sure if that is really necessary. For one thing for sure, I will not purchase 25 bags ever again. ;) Perhaps 2 bags per visit per 2 cooks. I do have a couple of Kingsford brand Apple pellets. Will try them next time.
 
I guess I am kinda failing to to understand if it's the aesthetics of the smoke or the flavor left behind? Another thing people REALLY tend to forget is how the rub/seasoning and the binder if used affects the final product. Maybe try doing something with only plain S&P or nothing at all season to taste later.. Gives you a baseline. I cannot imagine how quality pellets would cause an off flavor. It could be something extraneous as I mentioned. If it's simply the aesthetics of the smoke IDK what to tell you. Pellet grills (all wood fired grills for that matter) change their smoke output and characteristic as the fuel burns down and or is added to the burn pit/pot. I am seeing it right now. I have a boneless beef shortrib on my Z and a tray of veggies in it. And sometimes it smokes like an old Caterpillar diesel starting in cold weather (as fuel is called for and added) and then as soon as that fresh load of fuel "lights off" it subsides a little. Nature of the beast. Especially running at low temps (under 275). As the controller is programmed to push a few extra pellets in there. Just like when a person running a stick burner needs to add fuel, they have to get more air into it to light off the fresh split they put in. Which will make a little thicker smoke until it gets lit off and burns steady.
That is the nature of wood burners (coal burners too if you are needing to add fuel without pre-burning it).
 
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