Where we stand on the smokefire


 
T

Tony-Chicago

TVWBB Wizard
Was going to write about how much this section has slowed down so much lately. It reminded me of an early post about the coming excitement , how a disturbance in the force this large would be all the rage. Then I saw this excellent post by Jon and I wanted to see how the smokefire had lived up to the original benchmarks, and what is its status today. Again all hail Jon and his original post.
Jon Tofte said:
Tony,

I think there are several pellet grills that Weber has to look at as benchmarks. There are high-end ones like Yoder and MAK that are priced out of the middle market that Weber operates in. Both great brands with very different approaches. Excluding them (and maybe a few other high end brands I am not thinking about) that leaves at least two in my mind:

Traeger Ironwood (Traeger's Timberline is better, but appears to be their attempt to go upmarket. Priced a lot higher than what we are being told Weber will be offering.) Anyway, there are still things to like:

1.) High chamber that allows three grate racks or cooking something like turkey or beer-can chicken.
2.) Up to date WIFI and computer controls.
3.) Double wall cooking chamber
4.) "Downdraft" exhaust which makes sense at least in principal.

A few things not as good:
1.) Looks like non-stainless grates
2.) Ditto for the body...what about hardware? Probably not.
3.) Dinky side shelf

I would offer that the Rec Tec RT-700 Bull would be the other target. I can directly vouch for these comments since I own and use one.

Things to like:
1.) Stainless grates of decent quality, certainly perfect for BBQ
2.) Stainless barrel, heavy stainless heat deflector & firepot, and lots of stainless hardware
3.) Available large stainless fold-down front table (extra cost, however)
4.) Well respected up to date controller and WIFI. The WIFI app works really well.
5.) Very large center rear mounted hopper which allows for a short auger that is less likely to jam.

A couple things not as good:
1.) A second stainless shelf is available. That's good, but it is not a grate that slides in like Traeger's but a shelf that rests on top of the main grates.
2.) The typical - and I think going out of style - grease management with the bucket on the side is messy and a pain.

I think Weber has to meet or exceed these two pellet grills. The limited teaser pictures seem to show that the Weber SmokeFire will have a more modern grease management system and maybe something like Traeger's "Downdraft" smoke system. They are also claiming 600 degrees to allow for true high heat searing. Neither Traeger or Rec Tec can genuinely claim this.

It is going to be interesting to see what it will be like. I sure hope they don't skimp on using stainless steel. Using stainless in key components and great customer service, are two of the big positives about Rec Tec in my mind.
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Wow, well I don’t know about that!

My comments at this point would be that on designing the SmokeFire Weber swung for the fences in a number of respects. Innovative design ideas and sharp styling. But obviously anyone reading through this mountain of posts would have to conclude that in spite of their claims of ample testing, the SmokeFire was pushed out the door too quickly with inadequate testing. The teething problems and the sometimes pretty harsh internet reaction (Weber GreaseFire) has had to have hurt Weber’s sales. It seems like the worst problems are getting resolved as time has gone by. When this grill works right we have seen some amazing looking food it can produce. But the introduction was pretty much a disaster and not worthy of Weber’s history. Compare to the introduction of the Genesis that revolutionized gas grills.

Weber skimped here and there, such as using cheap grates, but keeping this grill in the price range of the Traeger Ironwood and Rec Tec RT-700, I believe, was a key objective. I think they surpassed the Ironwood in almost all respects and while using less stainless and not being as reliable as a Rec Tec, they brought newer ideas to market that look more modern than what the RT-700 offers.

The huge early stumbling has had to cost Weber a lot of lost profits. What remains to be seen as they get these problems resolved is whether they can still capture a significant market share in what I believe is a crucial area for Weber to compete in. I would have to say that with limited major selling venues and so much bad publicity, that may be a lot more difficult than what I (and I am sure Weber) would initially have expected. If the sorry display at my local Lowes is any example, Weber has their work cut out for them.
 
I hear you Rich. I wasn't going to pay $1000 to be a beta tester of the Smokefire, went with a Rec Tec. It's also my only non Weber.
 
I bought my SmokeFire on 4/26 fully realizing what I was getting into. But, I only did it because I had full faith in Weber to get their issues sorted out. It was an easy decision for me because it wasn't going to be my primary cooker. I would have never even entertained a pellet grill if not for the Weber logo on lid. In the time since, I installed a couple of update parts, replaced a glow plug, and installed some new software/firware. During the whole time the grill never made a bad meal. Weber did not let me down.

The grill as it sits today is nothing like it was when it was released. Is it cool that they released with some of the problems it had? With a neutered phone app? No, not really. Did they make good by me during very trying events in the world? Yep. I've had over a half dozen cooks on this grill since the last firmware update with no issues. The grill has gone from, "meh, needs some work" to "great" in 6 weeks. Some people don't have the patience or other equipment available to ride it out, and for the money this grill is sold for, I get that totally. But, for us that did wait it out, I feel that things turned out OK.

As far as a "disaster" launch .. Let's just say that I've heard from reliable sources that the grill is nowhere near the disaster it appears to be in these small forums and social media groups. Things have calmed down online because those who were going to bail, bailed and the software/firmware has been fine tuned. There are alot of us out here enjoying our SmokeFires. I for one am surprised at how good a cooker this pellet cooker has been from day 1.

I won't hesitate to recommend it now. I will say though, if you're not willing to keep it clean, and assembled exactly as instructed, then this is not the grill for you. This isn't a Genesis that can be cooked on for a entire season or two without any upkeep.
 
Chris,
Great post. I agree with most all you are saying. ANY pellet grill needs to kept clean and operated correctly or it will start having issues. I do think Weber's early dog and pony show introductions gave the impression that this was going to be different and somehow not require as much hands on maintenance. That proved to be unrealistic. Also, the searing aspect - which is very impressive for a pellet grill - comes at the cost of requiring removable pans for low and slow. Not at all a big deal, but again Weber seemed to promise otherwise when it came out.

I do agree that a forum like this (and some others and grill oriented social media posts) don't reflect the greater reality. And, I have said all along that the cooking results we have been seeing are phenomenal. However, the display at Lowe's (the only retail outlet near me with SmokeFires in stock) is not encouraging with regard to the SmokeFire being the big home run I am sure Weber was counting on. Of course, I have no access to sales statistics, but I do wonder how they are doing. Then there is all the extra cost for beefed up customer support and rolling out all these replacement parts and software patches. But, give Weber credit for facing their issues, doing it and apparently pretty successfully, based on what you and others who have stuck this out are now experiencing.

I would love to add an EX-4 to my arsenal and even gave some thought to selling my Rec Tec rather than moving it and then using the money to buy a new EX-6. I don't think I will do that, but I would be tempted by a good deal on an EX-4 that someone else gave up on. Dave in KC recently got an EX-6 pretty cheap that he flawlessly restored and installed all the needed parts and updates. So, the same can be done on an EX-4.

Anyway, VERY BEST WISHES on continued success with your SmokeFire. Show us some new pictures of it in action when you can!
 
I agree. The testing was not comprehensive or it would have revealed some flaws. The original idea of not having a pan, and getting a all-in-one high temperature grill was perhaps a mistake. The embers and fan still worry me.
 
Chris Z said:
This isn't a Genesis that can be cooked on for a entire season or two without any upkeep.
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This was one of the big learnings for me that kind of turned me off. And the blowing ash issue...I'm still highly skeptical that ash blows everywhere except on your food. It's magic!

As for the initial comment about SmokeFire discussion slowing down here, I assume it's all been sucked into the 20+ SmokeFire FB groups that popped up after rollout of the grill.
 
I just saw a Smokefire commercial on 📺. It looks nice, I’m willing to forgive teething pains, but I agree with Chris.
 
Still hoping they can really solidify this pellet grill. It would be a boon to Weber. With the limited stock at the big stores, they may need a win in their column.
 
Chris Allingham said:
This was one of the big learnings for me that kind of turned me off. And the blowing ash issue...I'm still highly skeptical that ash blows everywhere except on your food. It's magic!

As for the initial comment about SmokeFire discussion slowing down here, I assume it's all been sucked into the 20+ SmokeFire FB groups that popped up after rollout of the grill.
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It still blows on your food, but you just don't see it. It's got a health benefit :D Now you don't have to take charcoal capsules LOL
 
I took a look at the smokefire reviews on weber.com. I was surprised by the number of recent (within a month) bad reviews. These weren't troll bot reviews. The reviews included a variety of specific problems with the grills. The one thing they all had in common was universal condemnation for Weber customer service. There's also been at least one thread on tvwbb and lots of comments about Weber CS lately. It appears they are not adapting well to covid. The one thing I noticed has changed in the reviews is that the number of 4&5 star reviews is greater than the number of 1&2 star reviews. That wasn't the case a couple of months ago.
 
J Grotz said:
It appears they are not adapting well to covid.
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In regards to that, who really is adapting well? Especially when it comes to dealing with hard parts?

If you didn't have the ability to work remotely before, it's a very hard and difficult transition. My client has had issues with remote network access, although those were remediated fairly quickly. There are a couple of thousand people now working remotely that used to work in 3 buildings on the corporate campus (one of which is less than 3 years old.)
 
I’ve never cooked better food, has it been a pain in the *** every now and then? Yep!
But I’m glad I have it it and love using it as a grill and as a smoker. I believe it does both better than any other pellet smoker.
 
Chris Allingham said:
As for the initial comment about SmokeFire discussion slowing down here, I assume it's all been sucked into the 20+ SmokeFire FB groups that popped up after rollout of the grill.
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I can attest to this. Being a glutton for punishment, I joined three of the Smokefire FB groups in order to conduct broader research. Lots of good cooks pictured but also lots of venting about problems. Quite a few international users as well which is rather interesting since their launch was later and the grills are configured differently.
 
As much as I love Weber grills I'm so glad I went with the Camp Chef... Faultless and super great cooks and at my age and condition I need faultless.
Weber get me back!!! I would love to get a an EX-4, but make it work!
 
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