Pellet Smokers

[zwiller]

I was REALLY against pellet grills a long time but kept seeing @chopsaw posting really nice looking stuff from his Smokefire so it got me interested in one. I was flush one summer and by chance found one on FB Marketplace NIB really cheap and grabbed it. Wish I had got one a long time ago! Sooo easy to get access to the pot and you can tell they designed it with that in mind. WIFI is legit set and forget and intuitive. I cannot speak for other grills in that range but think pellet grills have come a long way so like Rich said check them all out and compare. Check out the Weber and other MFR forums to glean more info. I am picky AF but very happy with my results.

 

[civilsmoker]

Just food for thought

$899 Weber Smoque XL - 500 sqin rack 2 racks for total of 918, Temp range 180 to 500 , 20 lb hopper, ie 16 to 18 hours of burn time, 5 year limited warrantee, electronics and burn pot 3 years the shell is 5 years so a 3 year on the stuff that breaks, wifi

$799 GMG Ledge Prim - 530 sqin rack with 4 rack system total of 930, temp range 150 to 550 - can cold smoke peppers at the 150, 20 lb hopper, ie 16 to 18 hours of burn time, has a pizza unit unit, and rotisserie unit, 3 year warrantee, wifi

$899 (if you sign up) Recteq Deck Boss - 534 sqin rack with 2 racks total of 810, temp range 180 to 700, can do pizza, 30 lb hopper, ie 26 to 28 hours of burn time, 4 year bumper to bumper warrantee, dual band wifi

• No matter what the advertisements say you will need to vacuum clean all 3 of these....
• Reqteq has the largest bin, longest effective warrantee, the highest temp
• GMG has the lowest temp range for drying peppers as such
• Weber has a pull-out cleaning tray quick every smoke clean up, but scraping and vacuum will still be needed

Pick your flavor....last of note is you can likely get the Weber local, same as GMG, the RT will be shipped to the driveway.....

 

[civilsmoker]

I was REALLY against pellet grills a long time but kept seeing @chopsaw posting really nice looking stuff from his Smokefire so it got me interested in one. I was flush one summer and by chance found one on FB Marketplace NIB really cheap and grabbed it. Wish I had got one a long time ago! Sooo easy to get access to the pot and you can tell they designed it with that in mind. WIFI is legit set and forget and intuitive. I cannot speak for other grills in that range but think pellet grills have come a long way so like Rich said check them all out and compare. Check out the Weber and other MFR forums to glean more info. I am picky AF but very happy with my results.
View attachment 731536

The Smoke fire and replacement searwood are different than all the "plate" pellets and @zwiller is right about @chopsaw he has put up some killer cooks with his smoke fire weber. The searwood is very intriguing to me....but my RT is still going strong....

 

[Paulie Walnuts 440]

Just food for thought

$899 Weber Smoque XL - 500 sqin rack 2 racks for total of 918, Temp range 180 to 500 , 20 lb hopper, ie 16 to 18 hours of burn time, 5 year limited warrantee, electronics and burn pot 3 years the shell is 5 years so a 3 year on the stuff that breaks, wifi

$799 GMG Ledge Prim - 530 sqin rack with 4 rack system total of 930, temp range 150 to 550 - can cold smoke peppers at the 150, 20 lb hopper, ie 16 to 18 hours of burn time, has a pizza unit unit, and rotisserie unit, 3 year warrantee, wifi

$899 (if you sign up) Recteq Deck Boss - 534 sqin rack with 2 racks total of 810, temp range 180 to 700, can do pizza, 30 lb hopper, ie 26 to 28 hours of burn time, 4 year bumper to bumper warrantee, dual band wifi

• No matter what the advertisements say you will need to vacuum clean all 3 of these....
• Reqteq has the largest bin, longest effective warrantee, the highest temp
• GMG has the lowest temp range for drying peppers as such
• Weber has a pull-out cleaning tray quick every smoke clean up, but scraping and vacuum will still be needed

Pick your flavor....last of note is you can likely get the Weber local, same as GMG, the RT will be shipped to the driveway.....

Thank you for the in depth breakdown, much appreciated! I'm going to look at the RT models a little more. So far I am stuck on this smoque XL.

 

[SMOKEOCD]

I have not read anything about them "not being what they used to be". Several members have bought them recently and I dont recall any complaints or issues. Can you elaborate?

Sure, I’m on a specific Recteq forum where some members have been buying/owning multiple models over the past decade. Thinner metal, odd design choices, and an app that seems to get worse with each update. The decline seems to coincide with their equity partnership business deal.
Now, I’m really not bashing them, all companies do this over time and nothing is built like it used to be anymore. I didn’t want to come off as a Recteq fanboy and tell him it was going to be the greatest grill ever either. For the money, I don’t think I could have gotten a better grill. BTW: I have a 1070.

 

[zwiller]

I HAVE to tell this story with the OP having a Sopranos handle and talking about my Smokefire... My uncle and I go to do this Facebook Marketplace deal for the Smokefire. We drive 2hrs away and it is not in the nicest area. We're both getting shady vibes. I have $600 cash on me... Guy comes out with an other older guy speaking very broken English and mostly Russian. They got a box truck parked in the drive. They open it up and it's in there with some other stuff (getting a BIG Sopranos vibe at this point). I offer $500 as was advertised as NIB but box was open. They balk back in forth in Russian awhile and I am really regretting doing that and admit I am now worried there's a good chance I was going to be leaving sans money and grill. The balk gets more heated but eventually they concede and agree. We load up the grill and as are we leaving my uncle tells them goodbye in Russian! He is actually semi fluent. They are STUNNED. Uncle said the older guy was giving the younger guy the business for the open box. Think I might pay full retail next time!

 

[SMOKEOCD]

I HAVE to tell this story with the OP having a Sopranos handle and talking about my Smokefire... My uncle and I go to do this Facebook Marketplace deal for the Smokefire. We drive 2hrs away and it is not in the nicest area. We're both getting shady vibes. I have $600 cash on me... Guy comes out with an other older guy speaking very broken English and mostly Russian. They got a box truck parked in the drive. They open it up and it's in there with some other stuff (getting a BIG Sopranos vibe at this point). I offer $500 as was advertised as NIB but box was open. They balk back in forth in Russian awhile and I am really regretting doing that and admit I am now worried there's a good chance I was going to be leaving sans money and grill. The balk gets more heated but eventually they concede and agree. We load up the grill and as are we leaving my uncle tells them goodbye in Russian! He is actually semi fluent. They are STUNNED. Uncle said the older guy was giving the younger guy the business for the open box. Think I might pay full retail next time!

But then your story would be I went to the store and paid full price. Nowhere near as cool as this one.

 

[chopsaw]

I HAVE to tell this story

Remind me to tell you the one about the Craigs list 3 wheeler , and the girl with no pants , or maybe I did already .

 

[sandyut]

I didn’t want to come off as a Recteq fanboy and tell him it was going to be the greatest grill ever either. For the money, I don’t think I could have gotten a better grill. BTW: I have a 1070.

Nice. I love my RT700, its over a decade old. App update complaints are pretty standard. Not sure what folks expect. It works, thats all I want it to do. I miss the remote start but some jackwagon musta burned their deck down with it. I have been impressed with them overall.

 

[civilsmoker]

Thank you for the in depth breakdown, much appreciated! I'm going to look at the RT models a little more. So far I am stuck on this smoque XL.

I will point out that the smoque xl has the most unique fire pot deflector I have ever seen on a pellet grill, it's like a hybrid convection oven cover that helps minimizes ash from falling into the pot as it builds up.... Just know that the fire pot will get crusties in it so it will still need vacuuming, but the design is certainly alluring.....

 

[sandyut]

I will point out that the smoque xl has the most unique fire pot deflector I have ever seen on a pellet grill, it's like a hybrid convection oven cover that helps minimizes ash from falling into the pot as it builds up.... Just know that the fire pot will get crusties in it so it will still need vacuuming, but the design is certainly alluring.....

I will add, the "new" RT heat deflector is cast iron and is WAY better than the original SS version. Not only does it not warp, but the smoker seems to run a lot more steady. Not that I had big fluctuations, but now there are like none.

By new I mean they changed it a couple few years ago. After I bought mine years ago.

 

[civilsmoker]

I will add, the "new" RT heat deflector is cast iron and is WAY better than the original SS version. Not only does it not warp, but the smoker seems to run a lot more steady. Not that I had big fluctuations, but now there are like none.

By new I mean they changed it a couple few years ago. After I bought mine years ago.

Yup, I have the cast iron one, it works very well on dispersing the heat in the center.

Just some guts pics of the smoque.

The drip tray...

The under side.... note the deflector on the right

Ash will build up and need a vacuum clean...

 

[chopsaw]

the design is certainly alluring.....

Yup . Weber was onto something from the start . They had issues with the first SmokeFire , but the 2nd gen is a smoking grilling beast . Comes with some great features that other grills didn't at the time .

There is something about that Smoque that I really like . I noticed the grease trap , and thought it did the ash too . I think the Searwoods do , but I'm not sure . I like that the grease is contained in the grill instead of hanging outside the smoker .

I like the more compact body too . Not only looks good , but I would think it provides a function with heat movment and temp control .

 

[civilsmoker]

This is the deflector on the new Searwood....This is unique to the SW too.

The SW has the same removal dual pan (ie the drip pan and then the whole pan) set up as the their gas grills, this will minimize the camber vacuuming....ie down to just the burn pot on vacuuming

The secondary deflector....nothing really to clean here

This design reminds me of the genesis design where there is a secondary set of deflectors and a deep box area to minimize flare up and such.

I still have lots of life left on my RT 1250, however if I were looking a new grills today this would be on my list of considerations....it is more $$ than the Smoque but more versatile though. I will also mention that the weber components ie griddle and other things will fit in the top as well. To me that is huge because I already have many of those for my Geny and having a griddle in a smoke/gilling chamber would be very cool!

 

[SMOKEOCD]

Nice. I love my RT700, it’s over a decade old. App update complaints are pretty standard. Not sure what folks expect. It works, thats all I want it to do. I miss the remote start but some jackwagon musta burned their deck down with it. I have been impressed with them overall.

You can get remote start back if you’re willing to use the Tuya app.

 

[chopsaw]

This design reminds me of the genesis design where there is a secondary set of deflectors and a deep box area to minimize flare up and such.

The SmokeFire uses the same flavor bars as the Genesis . Problem was people did not keep it clean , or use a drip pan . The ash mixed with the grease , and being close to the fire pot it could pose a fire issue .
This is the reason it works awesome as a grill , and brings great smoke profile to smoked food .
From when mine was new . Open design . hard to see .

This is after an all day smoke . Ash falls into those slots , then into the drawer .
I used a drip pan for grease . Drop auger , which they changed in the Searwood .That has not been cleaned . This is what I had when I took it apart after an all day smoke .

You can see the open slots in this pic .

if I were looking a new grills today this would be on my list of considerations...

I have to agree .

 

[civilsmoker]

The SmokeFire uses the same flavor bars as the Genesis . Problem was people did not keep it clean , or use a drip pan . The ash mixed with the grease , and being close to the fire pot it could pose a fire issue .
This is the reason it works awesome as a grill , and brings great smoke profile to smoked food .
From when mine was new . Open design . hard to see .
View attachment 731572
This is after an all day smoke . Ash falls into those slots , then into the drawer .
I used a drip pan for grease . Drop auger , which they changed in the Searwood .That has not been cleaned . This is what I had when I took it apart after an all day smoke .
View attachment 731573
You can see the open slots in this pic .
View attachment 731574

I have to agree .

Ah, the Searwood had changed that vertical geometry for the ash and fire pot, ie and it falls on a thin pan now to help not build up heat.... and you can pull the pan and dump in less than a minute so I'm keeping my eye on this one...... who knows maybe I will need a 3rd pellet smoker making a 6th in the line up.....LOL

Additional note the Searwood moves grease away from the heat quickly and thereby avoids burn oil when grilling above 375 and this is a huge benefit to a cleaner cook.....

 

[Elf@shore]

Hey All,

I wanted to see budget friendly pellet smokers that are decent. Any recommendations? My budget is around $600-700 tops.

Budget Pellet grills : Check out BBQ Labs for a video and also Discount codes!
HI! I got a Grillas grills : Chimp model. Got it on a closeout model : 1.0 Wifi.
Its small, but ok for us 3 ! Has foldable legs to transport if needed.
I can lay 2 racks BBQ Ribs on the bottom rack,do a 3 rd on the top.
Top rack : can add Chix Pcs.
You can do 4 Pork chops on the bottom, Adding potatoes to the top rack.
Why did I buy it ?
Offers more then RT ! not to save $ too !
Comes with a top SS Rack !
SS grates, double walled body , no need for a cold weather blanket,
Cast Iron deflector plate, SS THICK Drip pan. SS burn pot,
Pid is awesome ! WIFI Of coarse !
Has a PRO : Smoke mode !
Temp Range is Decent!, Remember firing it up, smelled the nice flavor when doing a steak !
180 to 500 temp range
Has Augur and RTD adjustments, which I have not used yet.
There is a Pause button, so when you open up to check food, Temps do not Spike !
Pellets : can add 15 Lbs, Good for an over night.
If its too small?
Can take on VACAs?
Use as a back up to do a brisket or butt?
Also to keep food warm
Cook Yur sides in it and , keep warm.
The Stats are very close to RT 400 Patio, but by far offer more, Also cheaper $!
They ship Direct, No Middle man !
FREE SHIPPING!
Mine was on my front porch within a few days, No Damage !

 

[chopsaw]

Ash will build up and need a vacuum clean...

I had to go look this morning , because I thought I had heard no vac needed on these too .

The " chute " for the grease drop is removeable via a wing nut , so no tools . That way the ash gets scraped into the lower drawer , and no vac needed .
That's a big feature for the Webers , and one I can say is awesome . Quick and easy to clean .
Looks to me , from having a smoke fire , the new designs made sure to stop the mixing of the ash and grease . That's an improvement for sure .

 

[zwiller]

that the fire pot will get crusties in it so it will still need vacuuming, but the design is certainly alluring.....

I find it MUCH easier to clean with a few shots of compressed air. I tested it a few times without even breaking it down and it works great. Not sure if you can do that will all of them but it works for the Smokefire. On the Smokefire the pot itself burns quite clean but the area right below it is what builds up.