Weber Smoke Fire

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kruizer

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Sep 7, 2015
2,694
1,385
Central Minnesota
Just a heads up for any who are thinking about this smoker, you may want to look at Baby Back Maniac's review. He seems to have had some big issues with it. Grease fires and uneven heating, etc. Check it out.
 
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There have been all kinds of issues. I joined a Facebook group to see how it performs because I thought about buying one. All kinds of complaints. In fact, it seems more negative reviews than positive. I'm going to be holding off until they get things worked out...
 
BBM did several videos and they were all very insightful, but it seems like there's a new review with problems popping up every few hours right now. It's definitely not just some small problem that only affected a minor group, it seems to be a big chunk of the early adopters having the issues. I've been watching the videos the last few days and I can't tell you how many comments I've seen from people saying they had the same thing or cancelled/returned their order. It's a real mess.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty surprised at all of the problems. Have been following a few folks on different forums from the time they ordered until they starting cooking and they all have issues. Given how late Weber entered this market, I would have thought they put a lot more into testing. Hard to understand how they ended up with this big of a fail. I'm sure they'll get the issues resolved eventually, but that's going to take some re-engineering.
 
And this will be a big blemish on their pellet business if not beyond. Seems like a total failure. I have a 10+ year old Genesis - that has held up well, WSM was the same. but the SF is a mess...total do over is needed. Kinda wonder if they tested a prototype and then outsourced the production without retesting and thats where it went amuck? the disconnect is too big to understand.
 
Lucky me !! I still have my first Weber kettle bbq from 1979 . Had to remount the handles and vent but other than that it keeps me happy. The wife bought me a newer one and it works but everything is of lesser quality . One handle and the grills are way thinner material etc. than the old stand bye.
 
Harry Soo put a new vid out on it here 4 hours ago. Just getting ready to watch, but pretty sure I’m out on this grill. Wanted so badly to get one and love it. Guessing HS gonna fluff it up some given that it’s a YT subscriber’s grill and not even his own.
 
Wow, how can a company that has been in the BBQ business from almost the beginning, blow a product design this bad? Simple answer: they are a grill manufacturer not a pellet smoker manufacturer. Evidence: One smoke and there is significant amount of ash blown out of the pot and combined with grease right beside the firepot. Hmm... design doesn't even incorporate a grease drip tray to carry it to a collection point. :emoji_confounded:
 
from the pictures ive seen it appears that the biggest issue with the grill is lack of proper grease management. The Flavorizer system allows the grease to drop right by the fire.
 
Harry Soo put a new vid out on it here 4 hours ago. Just getting ready to watch, but pretty sure I’m out on this grill. Wanted so badly to get one and love it. Guessing HS gonna fluff it up some given that it’s a YT subscriber’s grill and not even his own.
I watched it and it's much more positive than the others, but it was basically a test of how not to get a grease fire and what you can do to prevent that. He did brisket and pork butt hot and fast, and removed them completely after 2 hours and took them inside to the oven. That's fine, but almost all of the problematic grease fire stuff seems to pop up during low and slow longer term cooks when ash mixes with grease and fat over several hours and clogs the drainage. They didn't test that. After cooking they go through the stuff you need to do to make sure it doesn't have a grease fire. That's all valid, but I think the point is you shouldn't need to treat a $1200 cooker with kid gloves to prevent it from catching fire. Harry even says something similar towards the end of the video in regards to the pellet chute being too shallow to feed properly.
 
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Wow, how can a company that has been in the BBQ business from almost the beginning, blow a product design this bad? Simple answer: they are a grill manufacturer not a pellet smoker manufacturer. Evidence: One smoke and there is significant amount of ash blown out of the pot and combined with grease right beside the firepot. Hmm... design doesn't even incorporate a grease drip tray to carry it to a collection point. :emoji_confounded:
I think they were so focused on making it grill well that they just sort of overlooked the low and slow smoking aspect. It's as if they took that part for granted and all their testing was just searing and hot and fast related stuff.
 
I think they were so focused on making it grill well that they just sort of overlooked the low and slow smoking aspect. It's as if they took that part for granted and all their testing was just searing and hot and fast related stuff.
You are probably correct. Their expertise is grilling and the design they came up with points to it. What I find so disturbing is that their engineers apparently knew very little about Low & Slow which could have been resolved by bringing in a few well known experts to try out their design BEFORE it went into production. Unfortunately this is somewhat of a repeated & classic mistake in the design/engineering field where the development wasn't properly managed to ensure positive results. Was the due diligence performed? SOP is to do complete tear downs of the competition's units to gain a more thorough understanding of the issues to be reckoned with, etc. If the organization is marketing driven, the timeline can also get pushed thus forcing corners to be cut. The end result is all we actually have to make a judgement upon: a pellet smoker made by a well known company whose design has some obvious and significant shortcomings. At some point soon Weber will have to respond and hopefully with a retro fix for those early adopters. In the meantime, don't be surprised if Weber's bottom line takes a hit. Unfortunately, their reputation already has a received unwanted marks with this new unit.
 
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You are probably correct. Their expertise is grilling and the design they came up with points to it. What I find so disturbing is that their engineers apparently knew very little about Low & Slow which could have been resolved by bringing in a few well known experts to try out their design BEFORE it went into production. Unfortunately this is somewhat of a repeated & classic mistake in the design/engineering field where the development wasn't properly managed to ensure positive results. Was the due diligence performed? SOP is to do complete tear downs of the competition's units to gain a more thorough understanding of the issues to be reckoned with, etc. If the organization is marketing driven, the timeline can also get pushed thus forcing corners to be cut. The end result is all we actually have to make a judgement upon: a pellet smoker made by a well known company whose design has some obvious and significant shortcomings. At some point soon Weber will have to respond and hopefully with a retro fix for those early adopters. In the meantime, don't be surprised if Weber's bottom line takes a hit. Unfortunately, their reputation already has a received unwanted marks with this new unit.
I totally agree. I can't comprehend how the grease fire thing wasn't caught if they did any sort of real-world user or beta testing. Surely during development they gave out some units to employees or friends to just let them use them in the real world, and surely some of those people went low and slow?
 
I totally agree. I can't comprehend how the grease fire thing wasn't caught if they did any sort of real-world user or beta testing. Surely during development they gave out some units to employees or friends to just let them use them in the real world, and surely some of those people went low and slow?

This is exactly what I was wondering. What were the baseline parameters they tested? If six 10lb butts fit on it, you better test it with seven crammed in there, because lord knows one of us is gonna do it. Blows my mind how bad this has been for Weber.
 
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I think their quality has been declining. otehr threads touched on it. nothing even close to this horrible, but handles, wheels, lack of support - cheaping out
 
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I bought one of the Masterbuilt 560 Gravity Feed grills the first part of January. That grill is a success, with the exception of wonky software app. Low and slow is easily done and with a temp limit of 700 degrees, can sear with the best of the other type charcoal grills.
I read about the Weber SF around the same time, and was on the fence about it. Glad I fell on the other side of the fence.
 
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ou are probably correct. Their expertise is grilling and the design they came up with points to it. What I find so disturbing is that their engineers apparently knew very little about Low & Slow

They do have some experience with low and slow. They make a little know product called the WSM :emoji_wink:
 
Got to see one of these in a local Ace just now. It was everything I hoped it would be in terms of the materials, fit, and finish. I reallllllly wish these things weren't having troubles
 
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