Weber says something big is coming


 
It does look like whatever it is, they're not dragging out the suspense like they did with the SF, and the Summit charcoal grill.
I go along with the smart something or other since they bought out June.
www.weber.com

Weber Acquires June | Behind the Grill | Weber Grills

Weber is the world's premier manufacturer of charcoal, gas, and electric grills, and grilling accessories. Includes recipes, grilling tips, parts, and support.
www.weber.com www.weber.com
 
I have a hunch it will be “Smart” stuff for those too lazy to learn something. Plug it in and watch your phone, that is not how most of us learned it!
 
I could see it being the smart grill thing. It's not something that interests me a whole lot But it might interest other people. I was listening to the BBQ Central show and Greg Lempe brought up the question of why there weren't thermostatically controlled gas grills. Most of the time when we use gassers we think hot and fast cooking but that's not always the case. I guess we'll see. I'd be the least interested in that travel grill.
 
The popularity of the Masterbuilt gravity feed is pretty amazing. I had no idea till I bought one on sale and began looking around the internet for experiences .

The common theme I see whether its on social media or message forums, is wishing someone would build a quality gravity feed. Masterbuilt is just not trusted. Its wide open for someone with a rep for quality, to enter the market between the Masterbuilt and the upper end gravity feed smokers, i.e. Stumps, Myron MIxon, Assassin, Limo, et al , which are all over $2,000 price point and mostly , $3000 and up.

Old Country built a gravity feed they released last year with a $1,300 price point, but it seems to have disappeared as fast as it was released. They can't be found in Academy stores and user reviews are sparse.

There's two or three Facebook groups of Masterbuilt users, I saw one yesterday that just topped 10,000 members.

If you visit Academy Sports page on grills/smokers, their top seller is the MB 560. WalMart is offering deep discounts to clear out the 560 model, but I suspect that's just to make room for the new MB 800. All other retailers are still asking MSRP .

Mods for the Masterbuilt units have become a cottage industry. Owners want to improve on their smokers, with doubting Masterbuilts quality being part of the motivation. Some have even replaced the MB controller with Fireboard, there's a $12 cable available that makes it as easy as unplugging one controller and plugging in the Fireboard.

I've done three cooks with mine, yardbird, sausage, and a brisket, which is really not enough to form an opinion. But right off, I like how it fit into what I was already doing. I did not have to buy pellets. I already had several varieties of charcoal and I've got wood for my stick burner.

The major complaint with pellet smokers is lack of smoke flavor. The problem with gravity feed is just the opposite. Its very easy to over smoke meats. MB 560 produces a thin blue smoke throughout the cook.
 
The idea of a gravity fed still boggles my mind. Still can't figure out how they work. I have watched the videos and looked at the diagrams and still SMDH
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Gassers are on the way out. Why in the world keep pushing them.
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They might be declining, but still a big market to capture for some time. The new grills are essentially take a $949-999 product they already have and $129 product they already have, slap them together, paint it slightly different and sell it for $1200-1300. Business wise a great way to make more profit with things they already have.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I could see it being the smart grill thing. It's not something that interests me a whole lot But it might interest other people. I was listening to the BBQ Central show and Greg Lempe brought up the question of why there weren't thermostatically controlled gas grills. Most of the time when we use gassers we think hot and fast cooking but that's not always the case. I guess we'll see. I'd be the least interested in that travel grill.
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It doesn’t appear to be thermostatically controlled, just looks like it will display the temp of the grill on the left shelf and in connect app.
 
I sure hope its not anything to do with their pellet, or a new gravity. I just ordered a smokefire, if a gen 3 or a gravity smoker comes out I'll just have to return it.

Gas Grills still have a HUGE following, they are at almost every single household in the US.
 
I doubt it’s a pellet refresh, they just released the “gen2” smoke fire (Ive had it a month and it’s awesome). Their teaser hinted at something big, my prediction is a 26” WSM or performer.
 
Gassers are on the way out. Why in the world keep pushing them.

You'd never know it from sampling the demo on this board. But gas is still very dominant.

According to the grill industry group in 2020, 70% of grillers use gas (61% propane, 9% NG), 49% use charcoal (but rising), 10% electric, 3% pellets.
 
Robert Dilbert said:
Gas Grills still have a HUGE following, they are at almost every single household in the US.
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I agree they do, but I really think it’s declining. I’ve been a pellethead for a decade and rarely saw another in the wild when I started. Now every time I go for a walk I see another neighbor with a pooper (and no gasser beside it like us junkies here with multiple grills). I don’t think gassers will disappear anytime soon, but I think you’ll see a big drop in both gas and charcoal over the next decade in favor of pellets...until someone builds a better gravity charcoal solution and it takes off...but a lot of people will still think of charcoal as dirty/messy to deal with.

I bet 10 pellet grills have shown up within 1/4 mile of me in last year alone. Both of my neighbors to my south bought one just last summer.
 
I would think anyone in the smoker/grill business, has to be forward looking. They can't count on what's happened in the past. I suspected that was behind Weber's move into pellets.

But also, I could easily be wrong, as its easy to be misled by reading this and other forums. Most people purchasing smokers/grills aren't visiting these sites.
 
but I think you’ll see a big drop in both gas and charcoal over the next decade in favor of pellets

Weber certainly thinks pellets are here to stay (i.e. Smokefire). But a paradigm shift in this consumer market is happening very slooooooowly.

Traeger's base pellet patent expired in 2006. By 2020, only 3% of all grillers used pellets. Hard to believe based on what you see in the big box hardware store, but it is still pretty small. But it is growing and new -- hence very attractive to grill makers.

Among my group of guy friends, EVERY single one has a gasser -- mostly Weber cart-type models, but a few have fancy built-ins with one trillion BTUs. There's a couple that are grilling enthusiasts (like me) and those are the ones with smokers, pellets and/or kettles.

I think pellets are most often a second grill added after the cornerstone gasser. I can think of only one person that has a Traeger and nothing else.
 
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We live in a housing development that is made up of mostly retired seniors
What I'm seeing here is that almost everyone has a gasser. Also a lot of NG grills as all the homes here were built with a NG gas bib on the patio. But in the last couple of years pellet grills are being added by quite a few but not replacing the gas grill. Charcoal grills are not very popular.
 
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Jim C in Denver said:
I think pellets are most often a second grill added after the cornerstone gasser. I can think of only one person that has a Traeger and nothing else.
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I have 4 immediate neighbors that have just one grill, a pellet grill. All of them are Traeger. But that is not surprising seeing that Traeger has its lineage here in the PNW. Still I don’t see gassers going away anytime soon.
 
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