Can't decide on new smoker! Halp!!

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.

Rec-Tec or Weber SmokeFire


  • Total voters
    30
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I have heard(don't have a source) from a forum to where someone said they knew someone who works for Weber and they are having lots of issues with temp swings with their PID and that's the real reason why it wasn't available this year and not till next year. That does make sense as I heard it was supposed to come out on Black Friday. So I won't say for even a milisecond that Weber's controller has one up'd Rec Tec at this point. I can attest from experience that it is insane how accurate Rec Tec's PID controller is. For hours and hours and hours, it will hold within a degree or two.
I read that same post as well. He said that he heard from a friend who has a friend that he thinks works at Weber say there was an issue with temperature swings on the Weber PID controller. Weber allegedly delayed the release to address this issue. I don't know how much faith I have in a rumor from a friend of a friend. But you know how these things go, the more it is repeated in these forums the more it gets exaggerated and the higher the perceived truth.

I pre-ordered my Weber SmokeFire EX6 from Lowes yesterday. With the military discount (10%) it was $1,080. Here is another rumor: I believe I heard in one of the videos that Weber is providing something extra for customers who pre-order. I hope it is a grill cover!
 
  • Like
Reactions: kstone113
I read that same post as well. He said that he heard from a friend who has a friend that he thinks works at Weber say there was an issue with temperature swings on the Weber PID controller. Weber allegedly delayed the release to address this issue.
At this point that's like...hearsay three times removed? I would put no stock in that "information" and at this point assume it's being spread by someone who would rather you buy "insert their favorite grill brand here."
 
That's the first time I have heard of the control being a PID. For the price, it needs to be a PID and be pretty accurate. I hope they delay release until they have their algorithm correct. It has to land as advertise.
 
I’m skeptical that they were having PID issues. That tech is so heavily used and works out of the box. I doubt they invented their own.

In other hobbies I’ve added my own pids to things (aurdiono and pi controllers) and there is very little to work out on the software and hardware side. Amateur hobbyists use pids all the time with more or less plug and play behavior.

maybe Weber tried to get clever and reinvent the pid controller but if they were having temp swings it was probably something else.

99% of product launch delays are manufacturing or supply line delays. It’s more likely they wanted to change suppliers due to tariffs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmtyndall
I’m skeptical that they were having PID issues. That tech is so heavily used and works out of the box. I doubt they invented their own.

In other hobbies I’ve added my own pids to things (aurdiono and pi controllers) and there is very little to work out on the software and hardware side. Amateur hobbyists use pids all the time with more or less plug and play behavior.

maybe Weber tried to get clever and reinvent the pid controller but if they were having temp swings it was probably something else.

99% of product launch delays are manufacturing or supply line delays. It’s more likely they wanted to change suppliers due to tariffs.
According to multiple media sources, Weber teamed with June to provide a new controller and software.
 

Attachments

  • Weber PID 1.PNG
    Weber PID 1.PNG
    796.6 KB · Views: 55
  • Weber PID 2.PNG
    Weber PID 2.PNG
    121.3 KB · Views: 54
Good info. If they teamed with someone else, I'm even more surprised the PID was an issue for them. But maybe when working with an external team, they expected one thing and got another. Still, having worked with PIDs, they are so dead simple to integrate into almost any controller, it then becomes superficial to managed damn near anything with them.

Clearly I have no idea what the problem is, just I would be shocked if in 2019 professional engineers actually ran into a show stopping problem with one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmtyndall
Good info. If they teamed with someone else, I'm even more surprised the PID was an issue for them. But maybe when working with an external team, they expected one thing and got another. Still, having worked with PIDs, they are so dead simple to integrate into almost any controller, it then becomes superficial to managed damn near anything with them.

Clearly I have no idea what the problem is, just I would be shocked if in 2019 professional engineers actually ran into a show stopping problem with one.

I don't think it'll be showstopping for them. Will it be perfect? Probably not, was there issues? Who knows maybe. There's nothing concrete that shows that they did or didn't have issues to be honest, just hearsay.

All that said, Rec-Tec still has real world experience and as much as I wanted to gamble on the Weber because I like their products, Rec-Tec still won me over with their customer service. I don't regret my purchase and I haven't even received the smoker yet. Someone said exactly how I feel earlier, if Weber came out and designed a better mousetrap (by a margin or by a ton) it's only going to push companies like Rec-Tec, Yoder etc to raise their game also.
 
I read that same post as well. He said that he heard from a friend who has a friend that he thinks works at Weber say there was an issue with temperature swings on the Weber PID controller. Weber allegedly delayed the release to address this issue. I don't know how much faith I have in a rumor from a friend of a friend. But you know how these things go, the more it is repeated in these forums the more it gets exaggerated and the higher the perceived truth.

I pre-ordered my Weber SmokeFire EX6 from Lowes yesterday. With the military discount (10%) it was $1,080. Here is another rumor: I believe I heard in one of the videos that Weber is providing something extra for customers who pre-order. I hope it is a grill cover!
Hey man - when you get your grill(congrats!!!!), come back here(not this forum but start a new thread) and share your results. Would love to hear about it. I'm still a Weber fan and will always love their products and super curious how the SmokeFire will work in real world grilling/smoking.
 
Hey man - when you get your grill(congrats!!!!), come back here(not this forum but start a new thread) and share your results. Would love to hear about it. I'm still a Weber fan and will always love their products and super curious how the SmokeFire will work in real world grilling/smoking.
I will definitely post pics and comments when I get it. My scheduled delivery is Jan 06 but only Weber knows how accurate that is.
 
The tease continues, there's finally a tracking number posted in my purchase history but it doesn't say which freight company picked it up so I can't even track it haha.

At least I know the smoker is on it's way!
 
55A2E6D6-72A4-4640-AE6F-B46D17EDF055.jpeg

it’s here and all put together! the wait for its arrival is now over and the wait to be able to smoke something on it is here!

it was fairly easy to assemble and went together well. You can just feel the quality with every part that you touch! Burn in is complete and she’s ready for the first smoke. Maybe I’ll do some ribs this weekend or something!
 
Congratulations! Hope you get to use it a bunch, look forward to hearing how it cooks for you. I've got one on the way myself - trying not to stalk the shipment tracking... :emoji_wink:
Oh I definitely stalked my shipment because they wouldn’t be able to deliver to my door because of my driveway.
When they called I setup a day and time to go pick it up from the facility and drove it home! Worked out great for me, a day early haha.
 
Congrats and the Bull is so pretty when new. Good luck keeping clean! I plan to get my a good cleaning on the outside this spring.
 
Congrats and the Bull is so pretty when new. Good luck keeping clean! I plan to get my a good cleaning on the outside this spring.
I have a feeling it’s gonna be difficult to keep clean but we’ll do our best.
I’m trying to figure out what to cook on it first! Need something fatty, hmm
 
  • Like
Reactions: kstone113
A spotless smoker is boring. A smoker without a little bit of smoke and grease build up is like a truck without a few scratches on it.

For the first cook, I would (and did) cook a pork butt on it. Will help you get to know it, and they are impossible to screw up.

Congrats on the new smoker btw
 
  • Like
Reactions: kstone113
A spotless smoker is boring. A smoker without a little bit of smoke and grease build up is like a truck without a few scratches on it.

For the first cook, I would (and did) cook a pork butt on it. Will help you get to know it, and they are impossible to screw up.

Congrats on the new smoker btw

Definitely good advice, with such a busy schedule I think I'm going to put a pork butt on in the wee hours of the morning on saturday before my son's soccer tournament so that I can use this beast! I can't go too many days without at least trying it!
 
I am thinking about rounding out my arsenal with a pellet grill. I have a Weber Genesis E-330 (previous generation) for whatever I want to cook on a gas grill (less and less all the time). I have a green Weber Premium Kettle, 22", a Weber Q1200 portable grill for tailgating, camping, and what not....due to shear convenience I think gas grill is best fit for portable, and I have a badass home built offset smoker, all 1/4" steel and weighs 900 lbs for smoking. I think I have every situation covered, but I am kind of geeking out about the pellet grills these days so I can have bbq even when I don't have time to tend the fire all day.....I know I voted for the SmokeFire but I am torn between that and the RecTec Bull....I might buy one of them in the next few months...

Then again....I also have a big charcoal basket that I built for the offset, and if I load that up and put 1 chimney of lit coals in I can get like 6 - 8 hrs of stable temps out of one load. Trouble is that takes like 20 lbs of coal lol But I can get away from it for a while too.....Hmmmm what to do what to do?'???
 
I'm coming in a bit late into this thread. I am also in the market for my first pellet smoker/grill. I had my heart set on the RecTec RT700 from the research that I did. I could not find any negative reviews on this grill and was all set to purchase, until I saw the Weber Smokefire. I lost about 2 weeks time in purchasing a grill because my intention was to order the RecTec RT700 on February 1st and it is now the 12th. I saw some youtube videos of the Smokefire that some youtube influencers did when they got invited to the launch party. It looks amazing. Love how it sears and you can almost cook over it with an open flame. Looking at this grill/smoker I had to have it cause it is the new kid on the block which nobody else will have. My problem from purchasing it the same as everyone else's....there is no real world testing done on it yet. I am sure it will not have any problems as Weber probably spent a lot of money in R&D on this thing but the RecTec RT700 is tried and true. I am still undecisive but hoping that by tomorrow morning I can make a decision. The RecTec RT700 does have an optional cold smokebox as well.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky