Weber Smokefire - My Perspective


 
LMichaels said:
I get the point Lew. My thing is I would know the foibles and IF not WHEN I do attempt to acquire one it would be knowing full well what I could be in for. I would be approaching it much like I did the MM purchase. "Experimentally" (notice the word "mentally" is in there), and given our hobbies I would say with good reason :D
Now for sure an EX6 would be FAR too big for me to play with. Even if it worked 100% I have no need for something that big. Witness my Wolf which sits under a cover and is rarely used. Heck, with the ability to roast so nicely on the pellet grill (thanks to the fan), even rotisserie may become a rare thing now. Doing that chicken I did on it, gave me results so nice if you told me it was spun I would have believed it!
Anyway, my thoughts were if I could find one (an EX4) inexpensively enough, it might be worth my time to play with. Then again, IDK.
I didn't mean to start anything controversial. I was just thinking out loud to a bunch of fellow enablers. :D
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Larry, I quoted you because you raised a good question. My NO answer was not intended for any one individual and especially not you. What you did with the Members Mark grill showed me a little Mississippi Riverboat Gambler in you. You would do what it takes to tame an EX4 and you would approach the purchase with your eyes wide open.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Funny Lew brought up my Camp Chef, because yesterday I fired it up to do a rack of St Louis cut ribs, I found lurking in the freezer.
No drama, no hassles just set it and forget it. No WiFi. no updates just hook up the Thermoworks smoke, set a timer and go do other things.
It ain't fancy but it's as reliable as a brick, its done hundreds of faultless cooks. 2 1/2 hours at 250, one hour wrapped in foil with a little apple juice and brown sugar and 10 minuets out of the foil to set the sauce and dinner was served.
It's not that I wouldn't like to have a SmokeFire, but at my age and physical limitations I just don't need the hassles that could happen.
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Rich, I always bring up your Camp Chef. I am a big Camp Chef fan.
 
Yeah, now that "gambler" almost wants to try out that Char Griller Auto Komado. Heaven help me, I'm becoming a different kind of "addict" :D Though, one thing I do love about the MM is like some have pointed out about some Traegers and the CC. It's no frills, I set it, forget it and as long as pellets are in it, then it simply chugs right along. Last night I made chicken kabobs on it. Delish, though again another lesson. I began my cook at 350 on the bottom rack. I should have perhaps done them a touch higher 380 or so. But, the chicken breast meat I used was fork tender and juicy. So no complaints. My biggest reason for the EX4 was that from what I have seen, it appears to be a little better ergonomically than the MM even though about the same size overall. Next trip to Farm and Fleet I am gonna look more closely at one.
But, overall, even though I may have "gambled" a little on the MM, I gotta say I am over the moon happy with it. Especially for it's simplicity, reliability and overall performance. And the quality is an unexpected bonus. I never expected that kind of quality in anything costing $200, heck let alone it's original $500 price. Maybe I should quit gambling while ahead :D
The other day I did a nice NY Strip. It's one I cut from the "tougher" end of the primal. So I thought would benefit from a slower cook. So I did it at 235 until I hit 115-120. Then while I had the little Q320 running for my taters I slapped the strip on it for a few minutes. Another nice cook.
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Lew Newby said:
I'm a big Camp Chef fan and Rich Dahl has a great grill that he got for about $500. I had one of those and they're great. Christmas last year my 32 year old grandson visited us and cooked on my Smokefire. He lives in a townhouse and normally cooks for 2. The Smokefire was bigger than he needs and way more than he could afford. When he got back to Colorado, he sent me a link to a small Pit Boss to use on his balcony and asked for my opinion. I think it cost him about $300 and I encouraged him to get it.. I just like the new design cooking chamber of the Smokefire and it replaced my Camp Chef. There are many good pellet grills. They all have pros and cons.
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Lew, it’s nice to have a civil conversation with someone on a forum.
 
Sorry, I haven't been around in this section for a while. Great discussion. From my still a non-owner 🥲 perspective, it seems to me that the SmokeFire paved new ground by eliminating the solid grease tray and opening up the cooking chamber to get more smoke. The price of this innovation (and the choice by the bean counters at Weber to skimp in places on material quality) has been a horrible product launch and sometimes very temperamental individual units, but ones that can deliver results when working. It does seem that the worst issues are more under control now, but there is more to do. I do believe you will see a SmokeFire II - or a maybe a renamed pellet grill. Not sure when it will arrive, but Weber cannot abandon this critical market. Whatever it is called, I think you will see some more meaningful changes.

Meanwhile, it sure looks like Camp Chef has raised the bar with its new Woodwind Pro. Instead of opening up the bottom, Camp Chef went for increased smoke (when you want it) with that insert smoker box that lets you add real wood chunks or even charcoal to your grilling. The early results are certainly amazing. Is this the better way to go? I think we need a little more time. But the WW Pro is priced right at the SmokeFire. It looks to be a real challenger to me.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Sorry, I haven't been around in this section for a while. Great discussion. From my still a non-owner 🥲 perspective, it seems to me that the SmokeFire paved new ground by eliminating the solid grease tray and opening up the cooking chamber to get more smoke. The price of this innovation (and the choice by the bean counters at Weber to skimp in places on material quality) has been a horrible product launch and sometimes very temperamental individual units, but ones that can deliver results when working. It does seem that the worst issues are more under control now, but there is more to do. I do believe you will see a SmokeFire II - or a maybe a renamed pellet grill. Not sure when it will arrive, but Weber cannot abandon this critical market. Whatever it is called, I think you will see some more meaningful changes.

Meanwhile, it sure looks like Camp Chef has raised the bar with its new Woodwind Pro. Instead of opening up the bottom, Camp Chef went for increased smoke (when you want it) with that insert smoker box that lets you add real wood chunks or even charcoal to your grilling. The early results are certainly amazing. Is this the better way to go? I think we need a little more time. But the WW Pro is priced right at the SmokeFire. It looks to be a real challenger to me.
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Yep that thing sure looks interesting! If the SF dies it would certainly come into play.
 
Lew Newby said:
I'm a big Camp Chef fan and Rich Dahl has a great grill that he got for about $500. I had one of those and they're great. Christmas last year my 32 year old grandson visited us and cooked on my Smokefire. He lives in a townhouse and normally cooks for 2. The Smokefire was bigger than he needs and way more than he could afford. When he got back to Colorado, he sent me a link to a small Pit Boss to use on his balcony and asked for my opinion. I think it cost him about $300 and I encouraged him to get it.. I just like the new design cooking chamber of the Smokefire and it replaced my Camp Chef. There are many good pellet grills. They all have pros and cons.
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Actually, my Camp Chef was an Amazon exclusive model and Amazon had it on a special sale. $385 with free delivery. I wasn't really looking for one but like Larry the price was too good not to take the gamble on it. Sure glad I did.
 
Jon Tofte said:
....I do believe you will see a SmokeFire II - or a maybe a renamed pellet grill. Not sure when it will arrive, but Weber cannot abandon this critical market. Whatever it is called, I think you will see some more meaningful changes....
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Jon, I agree with you. The Stealth is a step in the right direction and I think it signals Weber's intention to stay in the market but I'm sure no expert at reading corporate signals. If they do come out with a new model they need to redesign the pellet hopper to improve pellet flow. The Stealth hopper is still not good enough on the EPX6. There are 4 things that I see creating about 90% of the problems. Assembled firepot improperly, glow plug ground, finger guard/hopper impedes pellet flow, and not using drip pans on long cooks. Of those pellet flow is the most frequent problem. The owner can take steps to mitigate all of them but some folks just don't think they should have to do that on a $1,000 cooker. No argument, but, if I can modify a $1,000 cooker and equal cookers twice that price then I'm going to make the mods.
 
The pellet pooper wasn't for us-didn't use it much, didn't want to deal with constant wifi updates or electronic breakdowns which will be inevitable . Back to Performer and Genesis.
 
Lew Newby said:
Jon, I agree with you. The Stealth is a step in the right direction and I think it signals Weber's intention to stay in the market but I'm sure no expert at reading corporate signals. If they do come out with a new model they need to redesign the pellet hopper to improve pellet flow. The Stealth hopper is still not good enough on the EPX6. There are 4 things that I see creating about 90% of the problems. Assembled firepot improperly, glow plug ground, finger guard/hopper impedes pellet flow, and not using drip pans on long cooks. Of those pellet flow is the most frequent problem. The owner can take steps to mitigate all of them but some folks just don't think they should have to do that on a $1,000 cooker. No argument, but, if I can modify a $1,000 cooker and equal cookers twice that price then I'm going to make the mods.
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How haven't they fixed the hopper yet?
 
Derrick H said:
How haven't they fixed the hopper yet?
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The long and narrow hopper still causes pellet bridging at times. The new design has an improved finger guard and relocated the low fuel sensor to a better location. In my opinion the new design is a step forward but they need to do something about the pellet bridging problem.
 
Too many more affordable and dependable options out there. Weber shot itself in the foot with the price point. If it was bulletproof then maybe but as it stands i think it's weber die-hards that own these things and are largely the only reason they are out there.
 
JimZ said:
Too many more affordable and dependable options out there. Weber shot itself in the foot with the price point. If it was bulletproof then maybe but as it stands i think it's weber die-hards that own these things and are largely the only reason they are out there.
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You may be right. Maybe not. Time will tell.
 
Lew Newby said:
I'm a big Camp Chef fan and Rich Dahl has a great grill that he got for about $500. I had one of those and they're great. Christmas last year my 32 year old grandson visited us and cooked on my Smokefire. He lives in a townhouse and normally cooks for 2. The Smokefire was bigger than he needs and way more than he could afford. When he got back to Colorado, he sent me a link to a small Pit Boss to use on his balcony and asked for my opinion. I think it cost him about $300 and I encouraged him to get it.. I just like the new design cooking chamber of the Smokefire and it replaced my Camp Chef. There are many good pellet grills. They all have pros and cons.
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I still have mixed emotions as I'm a diehard Weber fan. I still have and use the first Weber I bought in 1998 and have four others in my backyard. But like a lot of us as I'm getting older and fiddle farting with a grill that has issues isn't on my bucket list. My three year old Camp Chef has yet to have any problems at all. Yes, it's a bare bones model and that's probably why it doesn't have any issues no wi-fi, no apps, no software upgrades and a well proven design. I monitor it with my Smoke and it just does its thing.
I'm sure the results of a cooks on a SmokeFire are going to be superior to my Camp Chef, but at this stage I don't know what I'm missing, so I'm a happy camper with what I have. But still when I see a SmokeFire on display I still wonder..... what if.
 
JimZ said:
Too many more affordable and dependable options out there. Weber shot itself in the foot with the price point. If it was bulletproof then maybe but as it stands i think it's weber die-hards that own these things and are largely the only reason they are out there.
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I think I've said it before; if not, I'm saying it now: I'm happy that the folks at Weber were bold and ingenious with their design of the SF. My hat is off to them for that effort.

I don't know what their failure rates are nor the customer satisfaction rating but I'm happy and would not want to be without my SF and I own other brand cookers :)
 
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